Lachie wanted a Vintage Steel bike, so he bought this Casati online from Europe and had it shipped over. He brought it in for me to refurbish and build before he rode it.
It was in pretty good condition, a bit of a dent in the top tube, but otherwise in great.
A full Campagnolo Record 8 Speed Titanium groupset, Mavic MA40 rims, Campagnolo Record seatpost, Selle San Marco Rolls saddle, Cinelli bars …
We gave it a thorough clean and replaced all the cables and housings. Then we put on some new tyres, bar tape and a bidon cage that matched the decals and a new chain, adjusted the gears and brakes and it was ready for action.
Phase II
Some years later Lachie brought the bike back to me. A few things had changed in his world and he wasn’t riding much any more, so he wanted to sell it.
Well, I had a few less Colnagos at that stage, so I thought that I might be able to take it off his hands or maybe sell it for him. It resided in the shop for a while without either of us really thinking about it or doing anything with it. Then it moved to my shed, my storage facility and back to the shop a few times. In the meantime, Lachie had been doing a fair bit of backyard entertaining and had borrowed my spit roaster – a large, whole pig/sheep affair good for about 80kg of beast (but that’s another story). Anyway, the spit roaster ended up living in his shed. Ultimately, we decided that a straight swap was the best deal for both of us.
So, once again it came back to the workshop and was stripped back and cleaned, everything checked, serviced, refurbished as necessary and rebuilt. I went for new tyres, again Vittoria Corsa with the tanwall and my favorite Specialized Classic perforated black leather bar tape – I kept the yellow Elite bottle cage.
Fully stripped and rebuilt, cleaned and serviced all components and a few minor repairs, some new bar tape, new tyres, new brake hoods and brake pads and a new Selle San Marco Rolls saddle.
Phase III
Recently, I gave her another makeover with a new set of wheels.
Added had picked up one of his famous bargains and while most of the bike turned out to be less than stellar, it had a set of Campagnolo Shamal wheels. We did a deal that involved me lacing up a set of wheels for one of his other projects. The Shamals were straight with only a few minor scratches and really just needed a good clean and polish. That was a couple of days work, but it was really worth it. The bike just looks amazing!
One of my favorite rides.
Size: 55cm
Seat Tube C-C 56cm, Top Tube C-C 55cm.
This bike is currently available for sale at The Bicycle Emporium.
SOLD.
Casati History & Links
The Casati bicycle brand was founded in 1920 by Pietro Casati. His son Gian Luigi would later inherit the company and continue the tradition of manufacturing fine steel bicycle frames. Information about the history of Casati bicycles is thin and far between on the internet, but the following facts were published in an advertising supplement to VeloNews in 1996.
Gian Luigi, or Gianni, started working in his father Pietros shop at the tender age of ten. This would have been around 1943. In the early days Casati was not able to sponsor any major pro teams, but did famously provide sponsorship to local amateur rider Gianni Bugno, out of a “strong sense of municipal pride”.
By 1996 the company was producing something like 1250 frames per year, of which the overwhelming majority were made-to-measure. In 1997 Gianni was grooming his own sons, Massimo and Luca, to take over the family business. The third generation of the Casati family continue to run the business to the present day.
Gianni produced frames which were notable for their single colour paintwork, even at a time when elaborate graphics and paint fading were in vogue. Gianni preferred to let his exquisite framebuilding details do the talking. In a catalogue dating from 1988 Casati bicycle frames are described as being “purosangue” (pure blooded), and boasts that “A particularly careful execution makes of every frame and of every bicycle a masterpiece”. In the mid 1990s Gianni Casati conceived a completely concealed internal cable routing, and introduced a variation on the old Legnano integrated seat binder bolt, albeit considerably more refined.
Top quality, flagship frameset from Casati. The Monza framebuilder has produced some of our favourite frames over the years, and their attention to detail is legendary amongst those in the know. Never content to sit back and relax, they consistently push the boundaries of what is possible with steel framesets.
You can find the current Casati models on their webpage or follow them on Facebook.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.