Rare Italian Bicycles

Canuk

Retro Guru
Only two rules: must be Italian, and not the everyday! This is a thread for bikes you rarely, if ever see on auction sites 😎👌

To kick off the Colnago Master Dual: basically the forerunner of the Carbitubo with split down tube. Saronni apparently 'loved it '!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20241103_184941.jpg
    IMG_20241103_184941.jpg
    155.2 KB · Views: 9
  • IMG_20241103_185020.jpg
    IMG_20241103_185020.jpg
    341.9 KB · Views: 10
  • IMG_20241103_185002.jpg
    IMG_20241103_185002.jpg
    336 KB · Views: 9
  • IMG_20241103_185033.jpg
    IMG_20241103_185033.jpg
    349.2 KB · Views: 8
  • IMG_20241103_185046.jpg
    IMG_20241103_185046.jpg
    177.9 KB · Views: 10
To kick off the Colnago Master Dual: basically the forerunner of the Carbitubo with split down tube. Saronni apparently 'loved it '!
Some old racers hated it because of the dust and crap thrown in your face by the front wheel!
The ti version twin downtube tended to crack at the bb join, rare to see one unrepaired, I don't know if the steel frames had the same problem - they are a lot rarer.
 
Okay, so I'm breaking my own rules here, but there's a tenuous Italian connection! This is a Marotias, from Eastern Spain, one of the very rarest of bikes available. Normally only found in collections, and almost never resold online. They tend to pass from one collector to another. This one famously with drillium components featuring Super Record and ultralight Zeus Titanium bottom bracket, front and rear hub spindles, skewers and aluminium cassette.

It's a regular Reynolds 531 tubing frame, but silver soldered and the entire bike incredibly only 8.2kg! You'll never see these on eBay. Merckx famously commissioned one to replace his Colnago/Kessels and they also built race bikes for Luis Ocana, Pedro Delgado and time trial specials for Indurain. Merckx rode his Marotias painted as a Colnago, which I suppose him being the star no one would argue with. Allegedly his favourite frame and borrowed the geometry and style for his own Corsa Extra range of bikes.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1690.JPG
    IMG_1690.JPG
    599.7 KB · Views: 6
  • IMG_1680.JPG
    IMG_1680.JPG
    307.8 KB · Views: 6
  • IMG_1684.JPG
    IMG_1684.JPG
    252.8 KB · Views: 6
  • IMG_1671.JPG
    IMG_1671.JPG
    447.3 KB · Views: 4
  • IMG_1672.JPG
    IMG_1672.JPG
    307.8 KB · Views: 4
  • IMG_1694.JPG
    IMG_1694.JPG
    260.7 KB · Views: 4
Colnago Master Equilateral Track
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20241105_160547.jpg
    IMG_20241105_160547.jpg
    141.8 KB · Views: 0
  • IMG_20241105_160614.jpg
    IMG_20241105_160614.jpg
    345 KB · Views: 0
  • IMG_20241105_160559.jpg
    IMG_20241105_160559.jpg
    326.2 KB · Views: 0
-----

this is a Dutch marque so not a good fit in the thread ;)


-----

Hah! The Dutch (and the Belgians, for that matter) do "Italian" better than anyone.

This is my Giovanni, with the brand's owner, Pietro Ingoiatore:

9836fb8c-9c4b-48c4-8b89-bf5ec0690bda.jpg
 
Back
Top