jamesdak
Old School Hero
Trying to confirm authenticity of this bike with Oscar Freire's name on it. Supposedly his training/practice ride from his first pro team.
I found Oscar on Instagram and messaged him but no reply. Olmo said it was a team bike after I sent them pictures to include what's stamped on the BB, "83 T".
I bought fully expecting it not to be genuine but the price was good for the frame build and parts. The more research I do though makes it seem like it just might be. I've found pictures of 5 other bikes like this with the riders name in the same style decal as this one. Those riders all show up on the Vitalicio Seguro cycling team roster. Some of the bikes have the same decals, some have some differences. There is a rectangular yellowing spot on the one chain stay where a decal used to be. This decal shows in some of the team pics online. The bike photographs well but does have a lot of touch up paint on it and other expected wear. The only marking on the bottom is 53 T. It does take a quill stem like in the team pictures. It came with this funky adapter setup. Limited clearance on the front fork. I put on a different wheel with a GP 4000s II 700 x 23 and it cleared but with only about 2mm. So for now I put on these smaller old GP 3000 700 x 23 tires I had laying around the house. Campagnolo 9 speed setup some parts say Titanium. It is a light Ti seatpost on it.
I got it from a guy who got it from Tony Tom at Bike Odyssey. It'll be so cool if I can confirm this was one of Oscar Freire's bikes. Certainly not the one he won the WC on in 1999 for the team but it sure does match up to some of the online pics of other team bikes.
How I unpacked it the day I got it. Seller sent with new tires which was cool but they were too big to clear in front once inflated.
Oscar's team picture from 1998. The MCI decal in this picture on the chainstay is not on the bike. But the paint has a yellowish rectangular spot at the same position. This bike is a bit different too.
Couple more shots.
I've been asking and searching around for awhile on this one. While it would be cool to tie it to Oscar for real it's still just a really nice ride for the price I got it.
This bike is small. I'm getting about 51.5 cm ctc for the seat tube and then a little over 53 cm ctc for the top tube. Getting about 118mm end to end for the headtube.
Too small for me but I will be riding it regardlessly.
Have I have it set up now:
The bike is not pristine, it has a lot of cosmetic wear, paint touchup, etc. No real damage though and I can't wait to see how it feels on the road.
I found Oscar on Instagram and messaged him but no reply. Olmo said it was a team bike after I sent them pictures to include what's stamped on the BB, "83 T".
I bought fully expecting it not to be genuine but the price was good for the frame build and parts. The more research I do though makes it seem like it just might be. I've found pictures of 5 other bikes like this with the riders name in the same style decal as this one. Those riders all show up on the Vitalicio Seguro cycling team roster. Some of the bikes have the same decals, some have some differences. There is a rectangular yellowing spot on the one chain stay where a decal used to be. This decal shows in some of the team pics online. The bike photographs well but does have a lot of touch up paint on it and other expected wear. The only marking on the bottom is 53 T. It does take a quill stem like in the team pictures. It came with this funky adapter setup. Limited clearance on the front fork. I put on a different wheel with a GP 4000s II 700 x 23 and it cleared but with only about 2mm. So for now I put on these smaller old GP 3000 700 x 23 tires I had laying around the house. Campagnolo 9 speed setup some parts say Titanium. It is a light Ti seatpost on it.
I got it from a guy who got it from Tony Tom at Bike Odyssey. It'll be so cool if I can confirm this was one of Oscar Freire's bikes. Certainly not the one he won the WC on in 1999 for the team but it sure does match up to some of the online pics of other team bikes.
How I unpacked it the day I got it. Seller sent with new tires which was cool but they were too big to clear in front once inflated.
Oscar's team picture from 1998. The MCI decal in this picture on the chainstay is not on the bike. But the paint has a yellowish rectangular spot at the same position. This bike is a bit different too.
Couple more shots.
I've been asking and searching around for awhile on this one. While it would be cool to tie it to Oscar for real it's still just a really nice ride for the price I got it.
This bike is small. I'm getting about 51.5 cm ctc for the seat tube and then a little over 53 cm ctc for the top tube. Getting about 118mm end to end for the headtube.
Too small for me but I will be riding it regardlessly.
Have I have it set up now:
The bike is not pristine, it has a lot of cosmetic wear, paint touchup, etc. No real damage though and I can't wait to see how it feels on the road.
