£3-4k, Preferably Italian

felix500

Any suggestions?

hopper1

Alpha Romeo GTV... Few bob change.

stuaff

How about Viner Perfecta or Mitus Plus...see http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/Viner.htm 2010 prices will be up on this year's by at least 10% (can't remember the sticker prices on the bikes at Earl's Court, but the Maxima frame set's going up from £2900 to £3200).

akkers

Look 586 with Campag Record - I have it and its the nuts

giant_man

You have quite a choice. The obvious ones are obviously Colnago, Pinarello and De Rosa, or Wilier but don't forget about lesser known marques such as Milani, Casati, Ciocc, Somec, Gios etc.

Right now, for a quality steel bike, I would go for a Milani Acciaio Puro, just gorgeous ....

http://www.ciclonline.com/videogallery/ ... -puro.html

and for a carbon framed bike I would go for a Wilier Cento Uno Superleggera, for if the budget was a bit more, a Pinarello Dogma.

giant_man

akkers wrote:

Look 586 with Campag Record - I have it and its the nuts[/quote]
Very nice except that it's French ....

stuaff

giant mancp wrote:

akkers wrote:

Look 586 with Campag Record - I have it and its the nuts[/quote]
Very nice except that it's French ....

True...but strictly speaking Pinarello use Taiwanese frames...nothing wrong with the bikes, mind!

balthazar

I doubt this is the kind of thing you're after, but I couldn't resist it:

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/id41250.html

Or something beautifully odd from Dario Pegoretti.

Chip \'oyler

Get a Viner. The top end ones are hand made in Italy. And they are superb.

If your budget can stretch to it the Maxima is worth the money. And next year's 2010 Maxima has been upgraded to the RS which now has a custom made rear triangle. So all the frame can be tailored to your weight, riding style etc.

stuaff

Chip \'oyler wrote:

Get a Viner. The top end ones are hand made in Italy. And they are superb.

If your budget can stretch to it the Maxima is worth the money. And next year's 2010 Maxima has been upgraded to the RS which now has a custom made rear triangle. So all the frame can be tailored to your weight, riding style etc.

The RS is actually an addition to the range- about £4300 for the frameset- regular Maxima continues, seemingly with the '09 paint job from the catalogue pics.

giant_man

StuAff wrote:

giant mancp wrote:

akkers wrote:

Look 586 with Campag Record - I have it and its the nuts[/quote]
Very nice except that it's French ....

True...but strictly speaking Pinarello use Taiwanese frames...nothing wrong with the bikes, mind!

yeah good point, it's getting harder to find Italian frames actually made in Italy, which is the worst thing to happen in cycling in recent years imo.

akkers

giant mancp wrote:

akkers wrote:

Look 586 with Campag Record - I have it and its the nuts[/quote]
Very nice except that it's French ....

he said preferably italian..... of course Look is french but its in his price zone and well worth a look.

Chip \'oyler

StuAff wrote:

Chip \'oyler wrote:

Get a Viner. The top end ones are hand made in Italy. And they are superb.

If your budget can stretch to it the Maxima is worth the money. And next year's 2010 Maxima has been upgraded to the RS which now has a custom made rear triangle. So all the frame can be tailored to your weight, riding style etc.

The RS is actually an addition to the range- about £4300 for the frameset- regular Maxima continues, seemingly with the '09 paint job from the catalogue pics.

I didn't realise that Stu. I was led to believe it was replacing the Maxima. Seems strange saying 'regular' Maxima

The buggas have now made me think I don't have the 'ultimate' frame, and now I know there is one out there that's better :roll:

redddraggon

It's not Italian, but what about a Parlee?

bobpzero

definitly not italian a lot closer to home
http://www.factor001.com/
remember to hit the mute button on the slidy out panel at the bottom right corner of the video.

balthazar

bobpzero wrote:

definitly not italian a lot closer to home
http://www.factor001.com/
remember to hit the mute button on the slidy out panel at the bottom right corner of the video.

For all the "clean sheet" bicycle designers that drop in from elsewhere periodically, it's a little depressing how dirty their sheets already are. This is like all the others that dribble out of bored design studios every year or two: a teenage boy's fantasy about a bicycle a bit cooler than the ones he can buy now. A new bottom bracket and yet another headset standard does not an interesting bicycle make.

/rant

tyskie

I was looking at the Zullo Vergine yesterday and was thinking............

UNDERSTATED BUT BEAUTIFUL

I wonder if the missus will mind me spending another shed load on another bike.

ynyswen24

Pegoretti...

Mosquito Bikes in that London sistribute them.

Good enough to be rebadged and win several Grand Tours, and Dario Pegoretti seems like a real gent.

giant_man

bobpzero wrote:

definitly not italian a lot closer to home
http://www.factor001.com/
remember to hit the mute button on the slidy out panel at the bottom right corner of the video.

God did it have to be so damn ugly? good grief ...

felix500

Thanks for the suggestions. There's some good stuff here, albeit probably straying above the £4k ceiling in places. Viner, Somec, Casati and Milani are probably the front runners at present.

ugo.santalucia

Well, I don't know you...

If you want carbon, you might as well save money and buy a Planet X or other horrible stuff you find on the web.

If you want to invest in a beautiful bike (and I would, with that budget), then I would go either for Colnago Master or Tommasini Tecno. Record components (or Chorus) and a good set of hand built wheels... something like Open Pro.
This would be a classy bike that rides well, and is a look at outside the cafe'

feltkuota

There can be only one.... Kuota KOM, weighs nowt and is as pretty as a picture...Probably the most important thing though is that it rides like a dream..

Harry182

+1 for Parlee.

Chip \'oyler

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Well, I don't know you...

If you want carbon, you might as well save money and buy a Planet X or other horrible stuff you find on the web.

If you want to invest in a beautiful bike (and I would, with that budget), then I would go either for Colnago Master or Tommasini Tecno. Record components (or Chorus) and a good set of hand built wheels... something like Open Pro.
This would be a classy bike that rides well, and is a look at outside the cafe'

Why? There are plenty of carbon bikes out there that are beautiful. The Colnago EPS in the Zabel or Saronni retro colour scheme for instance.

ugo.santalucia

Chip \'oyler wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Well, I don't know you...

If you want carbon, you might as well save money and buy a Planet X or other horrible stuff you find on the web.

If you want to invest in a beautiful bike (and I would, with that budget), then I would go either for Colnago Master or Tommasini Tecno. Record components (or Chorus) and a good set of hand built wheels... something like Open Pro.
This would be a classy bike that rides well, and is a look at outside the cafe'

Why? There are plenty of carbon bikes out there that are beautiful. The Colnago EPS in the Zabel or Saronni retro colour scheme for instance.

I don't quite get it... why would i want to buy the latest carbon product that looks like Saronni's bike? If I want a bike that resembles Saronni's one, I should probably buy steel, no?

That's my opinion, anyway. I don't see much of a difference between an Italian carbon frame and an american or any made in Taiwan one... If you want something a bit more unique and exclusive and Italian... I think you are looking at a nice steel frame with tasteful components (NO to ZIpp or Cosmic wheels, for instance)

balthazar

ugo.santalucia wrote:

If you want to invest in a beautiful bike (and I would, with that budget), then I would go either for Colnago Master or Tommasini Tecno.

Love that in gold:

ugo.santalucia

The Tecno is a stunning frame in any colour. Tommasini builds custom frames too... infact, unlike Colnago, you don't buy from a set of sizes but you order your frame to be built with the right specs.

Although you can get theme over here, I am planning a trip to Tuscany next year, which might include a visit to their factory in Grosseto.
If the pound doesn go down to 1:2 against the Euro that is...

andyrr

Pegoretti -is he still building frames ? I know he was ill for a while but he started building frames again. Uses steel and aluminium I think.

upsetter

Don't know where you are based but if you are looking for some italian exotica you could do a lot worse than visit the guys at racescene in Barnsley - Casati, Somec etc... Take a look at there website - http://www.racescene.co.uk/.

I have a Casati Laser Pui on order for the end of this month.

They do the full cycle fit service and are attentive to detail and your requirements, they are also extremely nice people.

balthazar

andyrr wrote:

Pegoretti -is he still building frames ? I know he was ill for a while but he started building frames again. Uses steel and aluminium I think.

I put a picture of one of his on the first page! Keep up!

inseine

I'm not a great fan of all this retro stuff, had that back in the day but things move on. If you must buy some old steel thing make sure you choose the equipment carefully. At the Paris show they had some lugged steel frames with fancy paint jobs and chrome which are OK if you like that sort of thing but with Dura Ace groupset on, for example, they are God awful. You'd have to use old Chorus or something before they got lots of carbon bits.