1988 (?) Antonio Taverna Vetta Mountain bike

PhillB

GT Fan
So, more rusty old junk arrived today, this time from Italy. I saw this one for sale on line and although I had heard of Vetta Road bikes and knew that the Tavernas had made frames for a number of other badges during their time, I had no idea that they made mountain bikes.

I was curious and the fact it had lugs, a Squirrel logo, AND Chainstay brake mounts, it was a bit of a no brainer.
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From the soft focus photos on line, it was impossible to see the huge lumps of bubbling rust on the underside of the frame though and my heart sank a little when I saw this.

Still, that's part of the game, isn't it? Some you win, some you don't, although this one is not lost...yet!

I set about seeing how bad the bubbly bits were, expecting to find holes . Turns out - Quite bad, but, most importantly, not fatal it seems.

When I see rust like this, I get the urge to 'kill it now' as if the rust will eat through the whole frame in the next 15 minutes 😄 I know it is daft, but I set about doing it anyway.
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It does mean a strip and repaint though, which wont be until the spring now. It's quite unusual though so it'll be worth it.

I'll also have to find a way to reproduce those decals too.
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There's not much online about Taverna-built mountain bikes that I can find. What little information I can suggests that they used the Squirrel logo between 1985 and 1989. There are no markings to indicate a year that I have found yet. The Taverna's are based near Padua in Italy. This Vetta is a completely different Vetta than the Swiss company that make saddles and other components. (A bit like the various Mosers!)
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Interesting little details like the seat stays bridge and the bottle mounts
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The fork crown design is interesting too.
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If anyone has any info about Antonio Taverna Vetta Mountain bikes I would be really interested to know.

This one will be a slow burn, but I'll update as and when.
 
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