jetboy 

I have had my eye out for a Billato (STOP auto-correcting that to Billero!!) built Brain tubing frame and suddenly this one appeared on craigslist listed as "women's road bike"
It was very reasonably priced and I grabbed it even though its too small for me- figuring it would fit well enough to at least get to try one out.
as picked up:


the 9 speed Veloce set was all gummed up but a bit of cleaning and it freed itself- needed a front tube and a general wipe down. unfortunately i finally got to ride it after it got dark- so here are some "artsy" pics. ill do more in the light if people want them later. I was really sort of hoping i could make it fit... but that seat post is pretty high... and may need to go up a hair even then.

Rides real nice-, tires are old rubber so thats a bit rough- and the wheelset is Scirocco 20, which are smooth and straight as all heck, but not lightweight by any means. they feel like wheels you could kill a man with and then just snap it back on and ride away.






cant see in the pics but the paint is a bit beat up- but no damage. figured I'd share as its the nicest Marin bicycle I have ever seen- and a cool 90s steel frame!

Wildwood 

I owned the exact bike in a size 61cm with 180 cranks.
The shaped tubeset made for a responsive ride.
And yes the wheels were hard to spin up, but held speed well.

edit: May still have the little Road Bike Catalog from Marin - 1999, i think.

cyclotoine

nice, I had a 2000 Treviso. now I have a 2002 Treviso (frame only original part) with a carbon fork (3T funda pro). 17.5 lbs. the welds are impeccable and it an amazing ride.

dddd

My Vicenza is Billato-built, welded aluminum frame with carbon fork.

It's perfectly ride-tuned, and takes rough roads at speed while nothing about the ride says it's aluminum.

Gruppo is 9s Veloce, and I got the bike cheap as it was a retired rental. The paint is along the lines of a Colnago, so with Ksyrium SSC's it has a bold look.

verktyg 

Some folks look down their noses at Billato built frames but little do they know how many of the most holy scared Italian marques used Billato to make some of their top models.

I have 3 Billato built frames and while not fancy, the workmanship is impeccable.

One is a late 80's Billato built Giordana frame designed by Dario Pegoretti that I need to build up.

The other 2 are a matched set of 1991 Lemond TeamZ bikes. The frames were imported and painted by TSD (Ten Speed Drive). One has never been on the ground and the other has less than 200 miles on it.





verktyg

jamesdak 

Those must have come with the Scirocco wheels. That's the 3rd one I've seen with those exact wheels.

I'll echo the above comments of the quality of Billato's work. I've got 3 Lemonds and 2 Giordana's made by them and all are top-notch.

That said, the GAN GLX does have the brake bridge on backwards compared to everyone other one of their bikes I've seen.

jetboy 

that is just proof that they are, actually, hand made!

juvela

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Trying to figure out the piece of equipment which can be seen through the window in this image...

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikeforu...e4d1c083ce.jpg


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jetboy 

hah. sorry, should have turned off the lights. that is the kitchen.. and what you are seeing is a bunch of crap on my back porch and some pots and pans hanging inside.

3alarmer 

Show your Billato Built Bike - Any Make

jetboy 

I seem incapable of getting a standard pic of the bike. somehow I got rainbows on this one. cleaning up nicely. lot of dried on grime from a damp ride and then thrown in storage for 10 years. everything has a sheen of oil and dirt..



wait- got it-

jetboy 

yeah, they sort of went totally generic as far as I can tell. maybe their bikes are ok, not sure, but nothing that stood out from the crowd like your Argenta.

juvela

-----

thanks very much for the response.

figured there were two possibilities - either it was a piece of equipment such as drill press or theatrical lighting...or it was a jumble of smaller items.

choice "b" it is!

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Wildwood 

Yours must be 1998, which i believe was the first year Marin offered these Billato bikes.
Here's the (almost similar) bike from the next year.
Different fork/stem.
Mega Tube was the name of the shaped Brain.

edit: Bought mine, the 1998 version with quill stem and curved fork, in late summer 1998 for $899. The next bike down the line was a Thron tubed bike with Mirage group for $799 on close-out.

bdooner

Tried my best to place this in the proper thread. Between Marin, Billato and the mention of another Argenta I think I got it right.
I know pics, pics, pics. Perhaps later in the week. I think I can accomplish this without them.
So, I got a hold of a 2001 nos Argenta. It matches Bikepedia's description exactly, except frame only.
The bike is Columbus Zonal, with very nicely finished tig welds. The one 3/4 in. section of unfurnished tig shows a nice " stack of dimes ".
It came with Campy Datona as a complete bike, in the $2000 range. Upper middle heirarchy I'd think.
There is no Columbus decal re Zonal but I trust Bikepedia in this regard. It makes sense for that era of Marin. Per members descriptions of the '99 and 2000 bikes I'm thinking this one could be a Billato manufacture.
Any opinions?

abellanti

cool frames...do you have the one with the number tab?

jamesdak 

Yep!


I thought I read somewhere that the Gan ones with the number tab were limited in number but maybe I'm wrong.

abellanti

nice, I read somewhere they were limited to 100 frames imported into the US?? Either way, I haven't seen too many.

jamesdak 

Yep, I've seen that before somewhere too. Just have not been able to verify it.