3dvvitch 

Took this home from the shop where I work today. Seized bb cup and badly bent dropout have already been dealt with, but the paint and dent in the dt will take some effort. In terms of frame features, this thing has all the bells and whistles. Now I just gotta find a complete Super Record Gruppo 🤔...

droppedandlost 

what was the goal with that paint job?

P!N20

Sans fork? Loving the aero shifters and cable routing. My kind of project.

jdawginsc 

Was it stolen and painted at a bike chop shop...? Can’t think of any good reason.

gaucho777 

Nice find. Casati experts, is this a Gold Line model? It has the aero cable routing and DT shifter mounts similar to the Gold Line/Gold Line-S models I've seen, but it lacks the "tuning fork" seat stay treatment. Do you see rifling inside the tubes, indicating SLX tubing?

unworthy1

No expert but: anything made by Casati is worth saving. So good on the OP for recognizing the value, and I hope he can get a proper fork.

Andy_K 

Are you sure that's paint? It looks like it was dipped in milk chocolate.

jdawginsc 

Sometimes you feel like a nut...

3dvvitch 

That would be fun but ​​​​​I think it might be a Cronox. No SLX style rifling. Of course I haven't been able to find any pictures that depict the exact same paint scheme (no chrome on stays but rather "casati perfection"). I honestly can't tell if it's an unusually dull cromovelato or just an unusually lustrous red.

EDIT: found a paint match at www.bikecult.com/works/archive/04bicycles/casatiRDV.html

Doesn't give me a lot of information though as far as model designation, year etc.

3alarmer 

...I painted a bike like that once, with a brush, to make it less attractive to thieves. It wasn't a Casati though, it was a commuter. Some of the original paint jobs on these were pretty nice. They are a PIA to recable though.

Drillium Dude 

It is indeed a Perfection. With the exception of the gear lever mounting, mine is identical:



Or was, before gugie got his hands on it:



Do you have the fork? If so, you can build quite the awesome bike starting with that frame/fork. Like to see it again once all that orange stuff is gone. Built up with an original fork, it'll be a super ride. Cabling up the derailleurs can be tricky - as can keeping them in adjustment - with the internally-cabled system.

I suspect this will build up into a favorite if you like to go fast and look cool.

DD

Andy_K 

Here's a Gold Line that had the same gear lever mounting.



Beautifully built bikes

merziac

Or vomit.

AngryScientist 

That's a project for sure! I dont see the dent in the DT, how bad is it?

What's the back story, how did this one end up in the shop?

What are the plans to get this back on the road? If it were me, with as rough of shape as it appears to be in, I think I would want to have it media blasted and inspect it pretty closely to make sure there was enough of it left to warrant a proper restoration.

Good luck!

smd4

I think a bike like that deserves to be restored better than new--i.e., chromed head tube lugs/chain stay, correct fork, awesome paint and correct decals. What a find.

tiger1964 

That's more charitable the the description I was thinking...

3dvvitch 

I work at the CCC in Portland, it's a nonprofit bike shop largely funded through donations of whole bikes, frames and parts. I'm one of the used inventory processors (and do some eBay sales) so I keep a close eye on everything that comes through and have made a habit of housing orphaned gems in rough shape.

I wasn't there when the Casati was brought in but my coworkers tell me it was literally dropped on the ground by a surly fellow in a truck who didn't like being asked to take donations through the front of the shop. It was accompanied by a Viner, a TSX Giordana and a Bertin [Bertoni], all of which were in varying states of disrepair (but not as bad as the Casati).

And yes I'm either going to have it media blasted or chemical stripped. I'll also try rolling out the dent, it's pretty bad. If it's not ridable it will be wall art. No fork sadly, so I'll have to find something that's not too sacrilegious to pair with it. I'm also not rich enough to give it the paint job that it deserves, so it'll probably get something tasteful but unobtrusive until the next owner does something fancier with it.

Thank you! I don't know why I just assumed that Perfection was being used as an adjective rather than as the model name 😅

unworthy1

"...It was accompanied by a Viner, a TSX Giordana and a Bertin (I think), all of which were in varying states of disrepair (but not as bad as the Casati)"
Sheesh! This Surly Truck Man had some real quality in his dump run, wonder where he collects such "trash"!
I have to put CCC on my must-visit-list when I'm next up in Portland, keep up the good work and keep the flame!

zandoval 

Can someone tell me more about this shifter set and the shifter boss?

billytwosheds 

I had a Casati at one point but it had some heavy corrosion so it was parted out and frame moved along. Same or similar shifter setup.

Album: Casati Perfection

aceves 

Hi BF Members!

I have a Casati Gold Line and this frame looks very similar to mine. I am not familiar with the Perfection, so I cannot comment on that model. I will post a pic of my Casati below. Great find, 3dvvitch! Definitely a great frame to build up. Love the details on all these Casatis.

aceves

P.S. The color of mine is root beer brown/burgundy.

3dvvitch 

So, is it forgivable to build a Casati with Japanese components, provided that they're sufficiently rare and fancy??? I don't have Campagnolo, but I've got something else (that isn't Dura Ace)...

jdawginsc 

I think you could build it with a mix of Simplex, Shimano Altus and Schwinn cranks and it would be awesome as long as the poop paint is exorcised...

But if you are thinking of 600Ex or SunTour Superbe, or Sprint, it will be a lovely bike!

Andy_K 

Forgivable? It depends on whose forgiveness you want, I think. The real problem is that those Casati pantographed shifters are Campy. I've got a bike that mixes Campy, Shimano, SunTour, Tektro, and Gevenalle components, so even on a bike as nice as this Casati could be, I'd probably think it's OK as long as you ride it. The pink one I pictured above was built with a Gipiemme crankset and front derailleur with the Casati shifters and a Campagnolo Victory rear derailleur. IMO, the Victory RD was the most egregious part of the build.

Andy_K 

This is my favorite thing about these Casatis. The shift cable goes directly into the downtube from the shifters and then emerges from the back of the chainstay. It's very slick.





I don't even want to think about how hard it is to run the cable through there though. I never had to do it.