1978(?) Moser Special

[PhillB]

So, I'm not often found around these parts... my cycling history has been BMX and Mountain bikes for the last 40 years I love restoring classic Mountain bikes....BUT I was strangely attracted to this rather sad looking road bike and so I bought it. The reasons were perhaps not the best, I'll be honest, I thought it was an early Fransecso Moser (turned out it is not!) It was actually built by Moser Cicli, who still have a shop in Trento, Italy.

When I finally got it, it was clear that it was in need of a complete restoration. Whilst many of the Pantographed parts were not in bad condition, rust had got into the frame and the paint actually rubbed off on your hands. Whilst you can't really see this in the original photo, it needed some attention

So I stripped the bike and repainted - 3 coats of primer, 3 coats of red, some Spray.bike kierin flake (for a bit of sparkle) and then 3 coats of SprayMax 2k Clearcoat.



I managed to secure some replica decals from a company in the Netherlands (https://www.unlimitedwebshop.nl/) and applied those (before the clear coat obvs ;-))

I painted in the heart shaped details on the lugs by hand. It came with an old Mavic Wheelset which were shagged (technical term). I fancied making it quite blingy so I bought some chrome rims from Brick Lane Bikes and laced them to some large flange Campagnolo Nouvo Tipo hubs ( I'm a sucker for a large flange).

Meanwhile I cleaned and polished up the aluminium parts and restored all the components with Autosol and Mothers. The pantograph elements were repainted using a black acrylic paint pen. Everything was stripped down, cleaned up, re-greased and reassembled.



Once the clear coat had hardened, it was time to put it back together: The old Iscaselle Saddle was not to my taste so I replaced with a Concors Saddle.



Bar tape added and Dia-Compe Guidonnet Brake Levers ( I don't like traditional drop bar brakes, but that' s another story)


and then I left it for 6 weeks. partly because I had other projects but mainly because I wanted the clear coat to properly cure.

I took it out for a proper test ride this evening. It is awesome. very smooth and fast. there are a definitely a couple of things I need to fine tune .




I hope you think I have done this old Moser justice in it's restoration. I'm not sure whether it is 100% accurate in its build and to be honest I don't care too much, I've used a bit of artistic licence

I've since learned that it is not a Fransesco Moser, but rather a Moser Cicli bike, but other than that I don't know much more. I'm not even sure it was made in 1978, but it is certainly from around that time.

If there are any of you that know anything about these bikes, I'd love to know more

 

[vtwinvince]

Nice work on a worthy project, the radial lacing is a cool touch.

 

[jim haseltine]

Moser is a common surname in the Tyrol region of southern Austria/northern Italy.

There is Cicli Moser and there was Cicli F Moser, both originally in Trento. The first was a shop opened in the 1930s by Ermanno Moser after he retired from professional racing while the second was a bigger establishment - more of a full-blown factory formed by Francesco Moser (no relation as far as I know) in the latter years of his career by (I believe) developing his elder brother Aldo's frame building business (Aldo Moser frames also carried 'Moser' branding, so that's 3 different types of Moser frames). Cicli Moser passed on to Ermanno's son and then more recently to a couple with no connection to the family and is still in business. I believe that what remains of Cicli F Moser is now called F Moser Bikes and is owned by Fantic Motor.

Cicli F Moser was behind an outlet called Moser Sport here. The pylon with the stylised cycle on top at the edge of the car park bore Moser Sport branding until 2018/19. Moser himself now runs a vineyard and winery (with a museum of his bikes) about a kilometre away.
Cicli Moser is still here.

 

[PhillB]

Moser is a common surname in the Tyrol region of southern Austria/northern Italy.

There is Cicli Moser and there was Cicli F Moser, both originally in Trento. The first was a shop opened in the 1930s by Ermanno Moser after he retired from professional racing while the second was a bigger establishment - more of a full-blown factory formed by Francesco Moser (no relation as far as I know) in the latter years of his career by (I believe) developing his elder brother Aldo's frame building business (Aldo Moser frames also carried 'Moser' branding, so that's 3 different types of Moser frames). Cicli Moser passed on to Ermanno's son and then more recently to a couple with no connection to the family and is still in business. I believe that what remains of Cicli F Moser is now called F Moser Bikes and is owned by Fantic Motor.

Cicli F Moser was behind an outlet called Moser Sport here. The pylon with the stylised cycle on top at the edge of the car park bore Moser Sport branding until 2018/19. Moser himself now runs a vineyard and winery (with a museum of his bikes) about a kilometre away.
Cicli Moser is still here.

Thank you for the info. I think, given the trident emblem that it is a product of Cicli Moser that you mention

 

[jim haseltine]

I've had my wrist slapped - the name of the shop is actually 'Moser Cicli', not 'Cicli Moser'. It's not unusual for me to transpose words in my native English so it's no surprise that I do it with a language in which I have no formal training.

The great Francesco's vineyard is Villa Warth which is accessed via a short but winding climb from the north of Trento. It's also listed as an 'Agriturismo' which is usually a sort of casual bed&breakfast on a farm, similar to (but not the same as) a French gite but I suspect that in this case the term is used because of the guided tours of the estate and winery.