Literally within an hour of dropping a frame in the mail (much to my ladyfriend’s delight), my buddy texts to see if I’m home (I’m not) and proceeds to drop off this hunk on my patio (much to my ladyfriend’s dismay – though she does appreciate the colorway).
It is a brand that I’ve never come across. Thought you all would appreciate this finely speckled specimen! First level of research says Battaglin (Italian) made (and still makes) some nice steel frames. This one is literally a hunk of steel though… haven’t weighed it but it must outweigh a couple steel and aluminum frames I have by a couple/few pounds!
Another singlespeed? Leverage that heavy weight for traction in the snow? Both?!? Now on the hunt for the right quill stem and an Italian bottom bracket…
by consectatio-novellus
1 Comment
I love Italian mountain bikes, they’re kinda rare for the most part because the Italians didn’t know what to make of mountain biking when it first appeared. THey thought it would just be a fad so most Italian companies dismissed it for a few years. Campagnolo was TOTALLY caught off guard and that’s how Shimano took over the industry. Before that Campy had almost total industry dominance on racing bikes. Campy’s first mountain groups when they finally did release them were considered total flops. They were HEAVY.
Yeah Battaglin road bikes were up there in my day. (THere were literally thousands of independent frame builders in Italy in the 80s.) You can see how upright the head angle is on this. When you build it tell us how the steering is. It’ll probably be fast and squirrelly.