OK, so it’s not brand new. It came from St. Vinnies so You know it was cheap. I had been looking because I wore out the suspension on the Walmart special I have been riding. I figured if I picked up some cheap junker to get me through a few months that would be OK.
Yesterday I see a bunch of bikes at St. Vinnies so I stop by. I notice this one raggedy looking old road bike with 2 flat tires and rust spots on one wheel. I figure, “what a junker, but it is complete and it has a funny name on the crest and the other parts like brake calipers”. Being fairly computer literate I figure I should look that name up when I get home. Here’s what I found at wikipedia:
Campagnolo, one of the most prestigious names in cycling, is an Italian manufacturer of bicycle components with headquarters in Vicenza, Italy.
Damn… I went back and bought it. I’ll do some more investigating but it was built by a guy in Van Nuys, CA with all Campagnolo parts. It is a mid 70’s (vintage) serious butt kicking road racing bike that has sat in someones back yard for a long time.
I got it in the shop and cleaned it up this afternoon and within 45 minutes it was ridable. All the major components are in good shape and holy crap it’s fast. Someone put some handlebars on it that just wont do, but other than that it is a serious go fast bicycle.
I’ll keep you upto date as I learn more about it. I’ll also try to avoid adding speeding to the list of things EPD wont let me do on a bicycle.