thekidmalone
Old School Hero
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Hello everyone,
I picked up this frameset in a local on-line auction early last year, and didn't know exactly what to do with it for the longest time. First, a friend and fellow vintage road bike lover suggested that I do a resto-mod/neo-retro build on one of my other Ferraroli road frames with the lugged, wishbone monostay. I was reluctant to do so on that one, which is Swiss-made and silver-brazed, but I could consider it on this Japanese-sourced frame.
Second, I looked all over for a suitable seat post in grey, hoping to get a match to a TTT bar and stem that I had. Unfortunately, since the Japanese Ferrarolis use 26.8mm seat tubes, I was unsuccessful. Then, I found the pictured NOS American Classic post in white on eBay, and the build started rolling. I painted the Nitto stem to match, and ordered some white lever hoods.
Third, I saw the Brooks Colt saddle and leather bar tape in purple, and knew I had to have them for this bike. I don't normally ride with Brooks saddles, but I have, and like the way that one sees the purple leather color suspended above the frame by the white stem and post, but looking down through the gradient on the frame, one can see it repeated somewhere within the fade.
Finally, I built the bike with modern parts left over from my BMC teammachine SLR01, but the wheels just looked too dark and heavy with black-walled tires. Thankfully, Continental make the brown-walled Grand Prix Classic tires in the same 700 x 25 size as the Grand Prix 4000 S II tires which came off the bike. The wooden bar end plugs are a near-perfect match.
This frame is a bit too small for my long legs, but my preferred 177.5mm crank arm length helps in that respect. I also have a larger, older, Swiss-made Ferraroli frame in the midst of a more period-correct build, but that's a project for another post.
Thanks for your time and attention,
The Kid
I picked up this frameset in a local on-line auction early last year, and didn't know exactly what to do with it for the longest time. First, a friend and fellow vintage road bike lover suggested that I do a resto-mod/neo-retro build on one of my other Ferraroli road frames with the lugged, wishbone monostay. I was reluctant to do so on that one, which is Swiss-made and silver-brazed, but I could consider it on this Japanese-sourced frame.
Second, I looked all over for a suitable seat post in grey, hoping to get a match to a TTT bar and stem that I had. Unfortunately, since the Japanese Ferrarolis use 26.8mm seat tubes, I was unsuccessful. Then, I found the pictured NOS American Classic post in white on eBay, and the build started rolling. I painted the Nitto stem to match, and ordered some white lever hoods.
Third, I saw the Brooks Colt saddle and leather bar tape in purple, and knew I had to have them for this bike. I don't normally ride with Brooks saddles, but I have, and like the way that one sees the purple leather color suspended above the frame by the white stem and post, but looking down through the gradient on the frame, one can see it repeated somewhere within the fade.
Finally, I built the bike with modern parts left over from my BMC teammachine SLR01, but the wheels just looked too dark and heavy with black-walled tires. Thankfully, Continental make the brown-walled Grand Prix Classic tires in the same 700 x 25 size as the Grand Prix 4000 S II tires which came off the bike. The wooden bar end plugs are a near-perfect match.
This frame is a bit too small for my long legs, but my preferred 177.5mm crank arm length helps in that respect. I also have a larger, older, Swiss-made Ferraroli frame in the midst of a more period-correct build, but that's a project for another post.
Thanks for your time and attention,
The Kid
