Re: [CR]Bikes in the Cinema

(Example: Production Builders)

From: "Aldo Ross" <swampmtn@siscom.net>
To: <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <20010830135653.60633.qmail@web10906.mail.yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Bikes in the Cinema
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 14:57:00 -0400


----- Original Message ----- From: Tom Dalton <tom_s_dalton@yahoo.com>
> As the shop keeper is
> handing it over he says in Italian, "the bars are
> Ambrosio, the frame Bianchi, the fork Legnano, the
> changer Vittoria Magherita (sp?)..." (snip)
> BTW, would the Magherita have been used on a utility
> bike in 1940?

I imagine a bike built-up from mismatched parts such as Bianchi frame and Legnano fork might well have used a Vittoria "Margherita" shifter, but since racing continued in Italy throughout the war, and new parts probably weren't being made, the "Margherita" would have been worth more to a racer. But if there was an old, used unit lieing around...

Can you imagine a Legnano-green fork on a celeste Bianchi??? Talk about rejection! And consider the (cycling-specific) irony, at a time when Italy was about to be divided into two camps - Coppiani and Bartaliani... (or in other terms, Bianchi-Ursus vs Legnano-Pirelli).

That's why you should never wear a "Legnano" jersey while riding a Bianchi, and vice-versa. Bad kharma.

Aldo Ross,
Monroe, Ohio