In a message dated 4/7/04 9:02:59 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
heine93@earthlink.net writes:
> Back then, there also was more rider preference. Coppi had his seat
> all the way down, Koblet (see below) actually had his bars quite a
> bit lower than his seat. Not like a modern bike, but much more so
> than Coppi. (Of course, Koblet was very tall, and maybe they just
> didn't want to build a frame taller than any they had made in the
> past, so he had to make do with a compromise.)
>
I have an issue of BiciSport that is a Coppi special edition from 1985. In looking at numerous pictures of his seat height, there are a couple where it appears his seat is set so that there is 3" to 3.5" of pillar below the seat clip. There are MORE pictures where the seat post shows 4" to 4.5" below the seat clip. My observation is it seems he ran it lower while climbing and higher on flat stages. I just found one particularly clear picture of him standing next to the bike. The steel stem is raised from the headset 2 1/2 to 3 fingers (the old rule of thumb for max height) and the pillar below the clip is between 4" and 4.5", with a leather saddle that doesn't look overly lowered, if at all. A later picture in the section shows his bike fitted with a single sided Simplex shifter and a rod/lever Simplex front, that may be 1948? The same basic relationships appear in the pictures of the book, "The True Story FAUSTO COPPI", his biography by Jean-Paul Oliver.
I agree with Jan that the bars are not a lot lower than his seat, I have to disagree that Coppi's seat was ever "all the way down". I haven't seen a single picture like that from the period of his peak career. Certainly low by today's standards and I agree with all Jan's general assertions.
Stevan Thomas
Alameda, CA