Dreamy Tommasini

a blog dedicated to my Tommasini Super Prestige build

[dreamytommasini]

After having issues with a seller on eBay who sent the wrong tubular tyre, I had to change my approach.

I ordered a pair of Vittoria Corsa Evo SC tubulars from Saint Cloud in Fitzroy. They did an awesome job glueing them to the Galli’s.

Once that was complete I was finally able to take it down to Shifter Bikes in South Yarra to get the custom Busyman Bicycles bar tape wrapped.

Dan is considered one of the best bike mechanics in Australia and best known for his skill with building wheels. I guess with those skills, wrapping bar tape isn’t very difficult. But damn, he has great attention to detail for doing it. It took him no longer than 30 minute and he did a symmetrically perfect wrap finished off with some simple chrome style bar ends.

Could not be happier!

Related links:

http://www.saintcloud.com.au

http://www.facebook.com/BusymanBicycles

http://instagram.com/shifterbikes

[dreamytommasini]

After going all through eBay and finding no fairly priced RDs for what I needed to keep everything co ordinated and matching. A great bloke in Sydney, Peter from Retro Bikes had one! It runs really well and has a lot of tension in the spring. One more hurdle leaped!

[dreamytommasini]

It's been a long time since my last update. A lot has happened in the last few weeks, a lot of painful issues and hurdles to get passed. I had planned to complete the build on my own, at least the main part and leave the tubular glueing and bar tape wrapping to the pros. I managed to get the groupset, the levers and cabling all done. But I ended up having to source a new RD because the spring in the one I had didn't provide anywhere enough tension. Also found out that I needed a special step down ferrule for the rear derailleur cabling. So back to eBay and the sources I had found through the process.

[dreamytommasini]

The building process has begun! The first part to install was the headset. Which required a special tool to install it. I decided it would be cheaper to have a bike shop do it. So I took it to Pony Bikes. Sasha there really knows her stuff and always does a good job. She quickly found out that the steerer was just short for the headset. So she ended up facing a few mm's off the frame and the fork to get it right. I was initially very apprehensive of this, but she did an awesome job and I can't tell a difference. To top it off, she polished them to get a sweet shine. (Photos from Pony Bikes Facebook page)

[dreamytommasini]

The groupset finally arrived, maybe a bit later then expected, but its here! The guy I bought the set from was one of the main cogs in the process of finding the right parts and helping with what to look for. I can’t thank him enough, especially as a complete stranger, only speaking through eBay. 

It all looks great, obviously with a couple of rub marks here and there, but it has definitely been taken care of until now and will look perfect on the Tommasini frame. As I stated in an earlier post, it is the Chorus groupset of the C-Record era, a series from Campagnolo that really emphasised beautiful design which helped to set them apart from the Japanese competition. 

The attention to detail in the craftsmanship and how it all operates just feels amazing. I can start installing it all now!  

[dreamytommasini]

Sheriff Star Hubs... These are massive drool worthy Campy hubs of the C-Record era. Still regarded as one of the best designs ever made. Once I found out about these gems I made it my mission to find a set. With awesome luck and good timing these were put onto eBay and I found them in the hour they were listed. Negotiated a price and here they are! Laced to nice late 80s style rims, Galli Paris Roubaix tubulars. With a nice Dura Ace 7 speed freewheel. Conveniently they are true and feel solid, but to be sure I am going to have them checked over. I can't wait to set these up and see how they run!

[dreamytommasini]

Bit delayed on this one. So, two separate parts, one post.

They arrived on the same day, the beautiful pantographed Cinelli stem directly from Tommasini. As well as a new Giro Di Italia 40cm drop bars.

The stem looks amazing, it’s brand new too! The bars are the favorite for classic style road bikes, they have a comfortable drop and I got them in 40cm length as that seemed to be the correct size for my measurements.

They make a beautiful match and with the busymanbicycle tape, they will look amazing!

[dreamytommasini]

Campagnolo Aero Pedals... gees, what a beautiful looking design! I bought these from a guy in Germany and they just arrived yesterday. They are a unique design which look awesome with the original Campy toe clips. 

I was super excited once I unboxed these to find the condition was better than I imagined, hardly any marks and really clean. But they didn't go without presenting a problem. I quickly found out that they were completely bound. One pedal had very stiff movement if forced, the other was locked and wouldn't move. 

This issue was not described in the listing and could cause the pedals to be useless. I opened them up to find out that it was pretty obvious what the issue was; they were bone dry and the grease that was in there looked more like cement. I predict these pedals haven't been used for a long time.

So I spent my afternoon pulling them apart then working hard on getting the cemented grease off with a degreaser, then applied some good quality grease and re-built them. Now they are flawless and spin perfectly! 

[dreamytommasini]

Straps arrived! Still waiting on the pedals, they were the last thing to be sent. I didnt want to just get standard MKS straps, so I found these French "Christophe" straps in white leather. They have a nice vintage finish and will go well with the white details on the build. 

[dreamytommasini]

Not one day has passed this week without something arriving in the mail. 

I decided on going with a full Campagnolo (C-Record era) Chorus Groupset, so to keep everything all tied together the rest of the parts are of the same style/era. 

So the latest piece to arrive is the Chorus headset. It's in really nice looking condition, without going down the NOS path (way too expensive). I am surprised this even arrived, considering it was sent in a flimsy and falling apart cereal box. Though somehow it managed to arrive okay.

Next step will be getting the headset properly fitted to the frame.

[dreamytommasini]

Yeaaahhh! The main event arrived! 

All the way from Hungary and in the grand scheme, it arrived pretty darn quickly too. The seller packaged it up really well and it looks as awesome as it did in the pictures. A few minor marks and blemishes in the paint, but I expected that. 

The first thing I noticed was how light it was. Far out! And the paintwork is beautiful, truly a work of art. Any loss of paint only reveals the chrome undercoat anyway, which is a really nice touch. 

This bike is going to look amazing! 

[dreamytommasini]

I have a feeling the postman is going to be dropping off parcels to my house all week and next week. So far I have sourced all the parts for the build from around the world. The first to arrive (which was a bit of a suprise) are the Vittoria Rally Tyres. I decided on these as they are era specific to the frame and should perform well. I may eventually upgrade these depending on how they perform. 

[dreamytommasini]

Busymanbicycles! What a legend! I can’t remember exactly how I found out about him. But he has been re fitting bars and saddles with the finest leather and craftsmanship I have seen. All made to order in pure artisan style. I managed to squeeze into his massive waiting list and have some custom bar tape made. We decided on a unique design using perforations to create the Tomassini “T” with the purple underneath. I picked the tape up the other day. The leather feels great and Mick is a really nice guy. I have already booked in to have the saddle re upholstered in the future. Next step is to have the tape fitted to the bars by Dan at Shifter Bikes

http://busymanbicycles.blogspot.com.au http://instagram.com/shifterbikes

[dreamytommasini]

Here she is! This is the sellers photo. I will take some photos when it arrives

[dreamytommasini]

[dreamytommasini]

Dreaming of a Tommasini Super Prestige

So begins my adventure to acquire and build up my dream bike. As does a life story of how this came together. I have always loved riding, whether its a bicycle or a unicycle. My real passion for road bikes began around the time fixies were becoming a huge hit in 2008/2009. In hindsight, the bike I got was pretty crappy, it was a custom build from a guy near my old place in Frankston. It was likely an old repco frame resprayed black and red. I loved it, needless to say. But since then, my curiosity grew a lot. I eventually got rid of that frame and got a 70s style track frame (make was unknown). It was my pride and joy. But I always lusted after the italian bikes. Not just any italian frame though, the Colnago, Bianchi, Olmo etc didn't interest me as much; it was always the Tommasini! 

Considering it was the same name I was referred to by my mother while growing up, it tapped into nostalgic memories. But once I got passed the name and found out about the workmanship and heritage, I couldn't help but lust for one. Although, being a student at the time, affording a Tommasini was well out of sight, so I just left riding it to the nights (in my sleep).

Several years passed and motivation from friends to start riding again re-sparked the passion for cycling. As did the urge to build a new steed. This time however, I wanted a bike that I could have for a long time, something with gears and suited to riding long distances. So the search began! 

Hello eBay/Gumtree!

I found several nice complete-builds that would have suited, but they didn't fit the bill entirely. So I went into the "refine search" tab and extended the search to worldwide (initially looking to see what else was around without planning on buying anything). I managed to stumble across a mid-late 80s Tommasini Super Prestige in the perfect size and in an awesome purple/chrome colour. My memories of lust for a frame like this instantly re sparked and before I knew it, I was hitting "buy it now".

So now I am at the beginning of a very exciting journey, to build a dream bike.

I don't like doing things in half measures, so I decided to create a blog dedicated to the process of building it up to a beautiful end result.