Bike Spotting Romania

Although not a definite rarity, the Look KG96 is an odd frame which for me hits that sweet spot I've been talking about. Made out of Carbon, Kevlar (!), ceramics and with a more unusual FIR gruppo, it speaks of the incredible lengths of experimenting researchers went to at the dawn of the composite materials. Too bad for those moronic handlebars.

Vetta bikes are hand crafted in a small Padova workshop by a family of craftsmen three generations old. Started in 1947, the shop is now run by Antonio and Ferruccio Taverna who exclusively build the frames by hand. Here you can find a series of photographs featuring the craftsmen and their workshop.

Some scalper bought this and is now reselling it at almost 300% of the original price. This sort of market speculation has brought up the bike prices up more than 400% in the last 2 years in Romania. I guess bikes are starting to be "in" at last and hopefully drivers and pedestrians alike will be more aware of this method of transportation. 

I've always had a fascination for lugged carbon bikes. Some of these things were hand built (as the label says on this one) with the intention of carrying on the tradition of craftsmanship that had defined steel bikes for decades. Little details such as the Trek logo stamped on the rear fork tube is giving me that tingly feeling you get when you see any classic road bike that looks like a tremendous amount of time and attention to detail has been spent on making something that craftsmen were proud of. Not such a rare piece, but I imagine that in the early days of carbon few were bought due to prohibitively high costs.

This is probably mid to late 60's (just a guess), quite a rare sight. As most more or less successful cyclists, Ferdinando Terruzzi established his own brand and workshop after winning a more or less distinguished award. In this case it was Gold at the 1948 London Summer Olympics in London for Tandem with Renato Perona. A short, interesting read about Terruzzi's antics in the 6 day racing circuit can be found here.

Guadrini is a custom bike brand from Casalmorano in Cremona, Italy established by Enrico Guadrini of the G.S. Salvarini Team. Guadrini branded/crafted bikes are pretty rare and I have never seen an aluminium one before.

Somewhat rare Colnago frame, repainted (ruined in my opinion) by owner. It's quite common here to see nice/rare frames/bikes being destroyed by unwitty owners that repaint and rebadge them clumsily. Here's a properly restored identical frame.  

Sold in 2011, I have seen this bike around town on multiple ocasions. More info on this bike can be found here (although in german).

This guy usually sells fake, rebadged/repainted bikes but this one seems legit. More pictures here.

This one truly has its place in the big heap that is "the ones that got away".

Size 61 Mavic Headset and Bottom Bracket

Size 58. Campagnolo Chorus Grouppo except front derailleur which is Record Saddle: San Marco Rolls Handlebars: 3ttt Wheels: Aluver Lightning 8-8.5 Kg

Carbon Frame + Aluminum fork Campagnolo Record headset and front derailleur, rest of grouppo is Shimano ITM Racing Handlebars Areo Stem + Cyclocomputer  2x8 Speeds

Frame: Reynolds 531, Mufe profesionale Nervex, Chromed Fork Model: Grand prix Sieger Crank + Bottom Bracket: Magistroni Italy Pedals: Lyotard Saddle: Mertens Coureur Leather Stem: Philippe Hubs: Campagnolo Record Imported from Austria

Basso / Botosani / 650 RON