I'd like to thank all the contributors to the Miele thread. Although it is outside of the list "timeline", I have owned a Miele "Gara 88" since it was basically new. I knew very little about the origins or history of this brand, but the example I have is a very nice piece of work and rides surprisingly well. My father purchased this bike in late 1988 to use in triathlons (he was also running marathons at the "senior" level at this time). It was the first bike my father had ridden with steep angles, short wheelbase (only 970mm or 38-1/4"), and only a little over 1" curvature to the fork blades. My dad didn't feel comfortable with the ultra-fast response of this frame geometry, describing it as very "twitchy". I told him to give it some time, that he would become used to it if he gave it a chance. He had kept his older bike (a mostly Dura-Ace equipped Fuji - that I have a very cool picture of him racing in 1986!) and continued to use the "old familiar" while the Miele hung in the garage unused. During the winter of '89-90 while I was home for a visit, my dad asked me if I wanted the Miele. I graciously accepted as the only road bike I had at the time was an early '70s Jeunet "Captivante" (a competitor for the Peugeot UO8 of the day) which I'd picked up at a yard sale just to have "something" to ride - I still have the Jeunet incidently.
Some details of this Miele:
Frame is Columbus Tubi Rinforzati Cromo Molibdeno "Cromor", seat tube 53.5cm C-T, top tube 53cm C-C, chainstays 40cm C-C. Braze-ons include 3 top tube brake cable, downtube shifters, underside bottom bracket cable guides, front derailleur attachment, rear derailleur cable stop, seat and downtube waterbottle bosses, and a very nice chain "keeper" on the drive side seat stay for wheel changes. The lugs are a medium-point style, slightly "thinned". The head tube lugs have small triangular cutouts on the undersides only. Bottom bracket has oval cutouts at seat and down tube insertion points. Seat cluster is tidy with a recessed allen bolt fastening. Rear brake mounting is a nicely contoured piece that says "Brev. SILVA Dep." above hole for recessed brake bolt. The dropouts have no name visible, but have axle positioning screws. No chrome on the frame whatsoever. The fork is Columbus Foderi Forcella "Cromor" with a full sloping crown with triangular cutouts on the outside and long pointed stiffeners on the inside. The entire fork is chromed, there is no paintwork. The bicycle is equipped with a complete Shimano Ultegra group, and is SIS 7 speed with SLR aero brake levers. The stem is a Cinelli 1-A and the bars are Cinelli 64-40. You can see on the underside of the bars where the holes were hand-drilled, then radiused, for the brake cable routing. The rims are 32 hole Ambrosio Durex with "Mielle by Ambrosio" labelling. The seat (Velo), toe straps (BRC), and handlebar end caps all have "Mielle" logo on them. The lugwork and brazing is very clean and tidy on this frame, but the most striking thing is the quality of the paintwork. It is a "silver-ish" white with a red pearl in it.... subtle but gorgeous. Decals, not stickers (excepting the Columbus ones).
If I had to bet on it, I would agree with David B.'s comments below that this frame was made in Italy. This was a near (if not) top-of-the-line Mielle road bike when new.
Although this bike is really too small for me, it will remain part of my collection because of the obvious overwhelming sentimental value to me. As an interesting aside, my father ended up buying another "NOS" Mielle Gara 88 at a discount in the fall of 1990 which he still has today. That bike has been upgraded to a modern full Campagnolo 9-speed Veloce gruppo (he likes technological advancement more than he relishes history!). Dad doesn't run marathons anymore, the "impact" is too hard on his knees. This past summer, on his *70th* birthday, he rode a timed 100 kilometer ride with his local club.... and "still" finished in the top 25% of ALL the riders! Hat's off to you Dad.... pretty tough shoes to fill for me. And to think that I was the one who got YOU started....
Sorry about the length, sorry about the somewhat "off-topic", but I just had to get the story out. Happy Holidays all,
Brad Orr Alberta, Canada
At 04:49 PM 12/17/02 -0500, David Bilenkey wrote:
>No this brand name (that Lawrence is speaking of) is the name and line of
>Jim Miele, if I recall his operation was just outside of Toronto, Ontario,
>Canada. Mississauga I think.
>
>I think initially many of Miele's high end bikes were jobbed out of various
>frame shops in Italy. The quality varied. Most (if not all) of the mid and
>low end bikes were from Japan and later Taiwan. I have a circa '83-84 really
>nice all Suntour Superbe Pro Miele for my wife, all Ishiwata 022 with
>Suntour dropouts. Beautiful bike, not low end at all. Unfortunately she
>doesn't ride it, but it's pretty.