hello all, (i'm flattering myself). just finished my basso (most recent project).
56 cm basso.
i was driving down the road one day, saw a garage sale on the side o' the road and a few bike frames, so i stopped. one frame was some garden variety nothing. the other, though hidden by a hideous orange and yellow paint job was a vintage basso. got it for $5.00.
stripped the frame, now it is bare metal, coated only with gun oil to keep down the rust.
sourced all of the parts as cheaply as possible (over a six month period). found a few great suppliers, who also are very reasonable. for tires, i found a great site called world class cycles (only the good stuff at extremely good prices v. retail).
after piecing the bike together, it rides great. three things stand out. the bottom bracket and headset are gold. the hatta njs parts are the smoothest i've ever felt. no kidding, like a hot knife through butter. the other surprise is the tufo tubular clincher tires. try riding tires at 175 psi. you roll forever, no effort needed to move. i cannot even begin to compare the ride quality with any other tire i've ever bought except for the traditional tubulars that i used to have on my old colnago super. clinchers just seem to be missing something.
parts list
florman vintage stem, sourced from a great vintage parts site called velostuf. campy super record high flange hubs laced to mavic open pro rims. campy cranks and chain ring. campy super record sl pedals. campy super record sl seat post (drilled by myself, i'll do another seat post and show / post the process and results). sakae england handlebars. modolo
inter. pat. professional brakeset with scott mathauser pads. shimano 600 "arabesque" rear derailleur. vintage shimano clear cable housings. early campy record friction shifter sourced from cyclart. Brooks B-17 from ben's cycle. hatta 9400 bottom bracket and hatta swan deluxe headset (both njs), sourced from njs supermarket. tufo tubular clincher tires (175 psi).
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