jamesdak 

Finally landed another frame I've lusted after for years. In a perfect world I would have one of the American flag themed Motta bikes but while they are out there I've never caught one on sale in my size. Stumbled on this beauty, made an offer, and BAM! The frameset just arrived and man is it nice with a metallic sheen to the pink paint. Not mint but in really good shape and even the chrome is quite nice. A little bit of rust spots on some of the chrome but it should clean up just fine. I had asked the seller about the spacing on the rear expecting it to be 126mm. He said it was 130mm but I was really expecting it to be 126mm when it arrived. I was wrong, it really is 130 so now I've got some build questions to address. Cheapest route for me would be to use the new Ultegra 6800 groupset I have but somehow that feels wrong. I do have the silver Record groupset I recently picked up or a dang near mint DA 7700 setup. Campagnolo seems right on this but then so does a black groupset over a silver with all the black on the frame. Gonna have to think about this one. A quick check with the scale has the frameset right at 7 lbs even with the BB and headset installed. This is going to be a cool one no matter how I decide to go with it.

Some pictures as she came out of the box:


I'm thinking a Giro d'Italia theme.

Decal is showing some age/wear

The paint is really nice!

Campagnolo Headset on it already

Rounded tubing not the Giilco shaped like some of them.

Those distinctive coke bottle stays, had to get one with this feature!

I've got no idea yet what tubing it's made of or the age. The 130mm rear spacing seems in conflict with only one set of bottle cage holes.

I've also got a "Crap" frame coming in shortly. I won't decide on this build until I get that one in also. They may both compete for that Campagnolo 8 speed Record Group. Next few weeks are going to be fun!

Caliwild

Sexy time!

Robvolz 

maybe go with a campy 8-speed.

See my newest post (about to write)

Soody

Absolutely gorgeous frame. Any of those groupsets would look good. To me the critical thing is having silver spokes and silver hubs.

AdventureManCO 

Always enjoy seeing your builds and projects. What pedestrian C&V'ers (like me) do with Gitane's and Miyatas, you do with Giordanas and Mottas... A+++++++++++

obrentharris 

Fabulous! I am pink with envy.
Brent

due ruote 

That is glorious. Personally, I'd go with a silver group, black saddle, housing and tape. But your builds are always impeccable, and I'm sure it will look great no matter what you choose.

celesteguy 

This is straight up bike porn. Shame on you, sir.

Rkopec

That's a beauty! Congrats.

jamesdak 

Well the plan was to clean, polish, and wax the frame this afternoon as well as service the headset and BB. I also want to gently try and clean the little rust on the chrome. But....like an idiot I let the VA give me that final Covid booster and a flu shot yesterday. Been feeling like crap since around midnight and still running a fever. So this will have to wait for another day or two until I feel like I'm alive again or blissfully just die.

I'm also beginning to wish I had grabbed the cheap silver Sirocco wheels that were listed over on PL. Those and the 8 speed would have been the ticket on this. Something tells me I'm not going to be able to keep this one to a parts on hand only build.

Bianchigirll 

Sexxy!!!

shoota 

Wowzors. Whatever you pick I can say for sure 6800 is not the answer

darkmoon

Another example of Italian talents.
Anybody expected this color scheme?
Beautiful, sexy, foxy, attractive, charming, magnetism, I cannot take my eyes off form this Gianni Motta.

Any parts set will be OK.

I'm looking forward to see the completed bike

Congrats

jamesdak 

Hmmmm......it may freak out the purist. But the Superbe stuff I have may just look great on this. Just playing around this morning but this would also solve my no silver Campagnolo wheels problem. If I got with the Superbe that crankset would look great and it would free me up to being able to use any wheelset since I'd be friction shifting. So that means anything from these brand new Zonda's to some all silver Dura Ace wheels, to the black Cane Creeks or black older Mavic Tubulars or those heavy black rimmed silver hub/spoke wheels that came on the Olmo. Heck maybe even steal the beautiful silver Superbe tubulars off the Opus III....

All the black and chrome on this one gives me so many options.

I do dig the crankset on this.

I just need to find some Superbe Brake levers or compromise with the nice looking TRP RRL levers with black hoods.

jon c. 

Beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful.

jamesdak 

Well, with the not so wide Zonda wheels a set of Conti 4000s II 700 x 28 clears the front and rear just fine. The Superbe brakes clear just fine too. But when I tested fitted the 8 speed Record brakes the rear was too close for my comfort zone. Front is fine. Now I may be able to get more clearance by where the wheels winds up in the dropouts and with a spacer on the rear brake. Or not run 28's. I just had those easily available to play with today. It looks like the "crap" frame is due in Monday and then I can finally get serious about deciding on these two builds.

jamesdak 

Still messing with it. Put on a more classic set of wheels with black rims, silver hubs and silver spokes. Tried both the Suntour and the Record crank. I've got to admit those black chainrings just look the part on this to me. Guess tomorrow I can try it with all silver wheels to see how it looks.




Makes me wonder something else too. I've had the second Giordana XL listed locally all year with no real interest. I've been debating pulling the Campagnolo parts off it and then listing the frameset. It certainly won't be a classic build then but those parts may just match up well to this. Hmmmm....

delbiker1 

Wow, James, just eye catching, imo, the black rings. That really works with the bike.

jamesdak 

Still messing around with this. Put in a setback seatpost at first to adjust saddle position and then measured for what size stem I need. Of course that turns out to be a 90m the size I don't have, LOL! Then I put on the black seatpost and saddle just to check appearance. I think this is one of the few times I'll go with a black seatpost and silver stem. The only setback black 27.2 seatpost I have is a C.F. Chorus one but the clamp is shiny silver. Not sure I like that look plus that seatpost always fits tighter than my other 27.2 and I'd need to hit this seattube with the ball hone or something less aggressive to get the Chorus seatpost in. Time to do a little shopping I guess.



Plenty of time to sort this all out as winter is still going full blast here and the snow is piling up. Broke through the crust at the back of the house this morning while clearing the area around the exhaust for my gas fireplace. I can honestly say the snow there is about waist deep because that's how far I sunk in. Good thing I had a shovel in hand or I may still be there, LOL!

rccardr 

Hmmm…following the same aesthetic thinking, maybe a silver front brake and black rear one.
I’d also seriously consider painting that stem a similar pink.
Looks nice, Jim!

botty kayer

In my experience the Conti GP4000s ii blow up fatter than quoted and the newer versions are closer to quoted size, so I'd wager you can get some 28 x Conti GP5000 in there no problem. But I see you now have tyres with pink lettering so maybe you're going a different route already. I think it would look best with Vittoria Corsa gumwall tyres.

And I agree with you and think the black/carbon post and silver stem option is the way to go...which of course begs the question, are you going to do the same with the bar tape and have black saddle and white tape?, all white?, all black?, pink? Other?

jamesdak 

This is the "crap" frame I've been waiting for. Now I can get serious about deciding which bike get's which parts.

jamesdak 

Yeah, I realize the 4000s go large. That's why I grabbed the 700 x 28 Clements on it in the least picture. Ultimately it may get some Veloflex's anyway. I'm thinking pink tape right now with black cable housing. Doc's idea about silver/black brakes has me doing more thinking on this.

jamesdak 

Well......sometimes I miss the obvious. As I continue to debate the build on the Motta and the Krapf it dawned on me last night that the Superbe FD I have is one of the endless band ones and won't fit either bike. Duh! So I'm leaning towards using the Record 8 speed on this despite really liking how the black chainrings look on the Motta. Although, I may see if there's some classic looking black chainrings around that fit the 135 bcd Campagnolo crank arms. Then I can use any one of my available black Campagnolo freehubbed wheelsets. None of the wheelsets are Campagnolo 8 speed but I'm pretty sure I have a converted Veloce 9 speed cassette, or at least the conversion spacers, in my stash. Going this route just means coming up with a cable kit (black housing I think) and putting 'er together. Now how many more times will I change my mind before I decide, LOL!

jamesdak 

Quick mock up with the full silver groupset on it. I'd say black housing, silver bars, pink tape if I go this route. I also think I'd prefer an all silver wheelset which I don't have right now in Campagnolo flavor.


Those crazy cool old silver Shamals would look amazing with this but they are crazy money these days for a decent set.