Restoration of a Ciocc
Ci�cc is Italian hi-craft steel & aluminum road frame. Founder Giovanni Pellizzoli's apprentices Stefano & Candido Bonati still continue the craft of early days.
This history I've learned:
In 1977, Claudio Corti, an Italian won the Espoirs U23 Worlds Road Race on a Ci�cc bike in San Cristobal, Venezuela. In 1978 a Ci�cc bike was ridden to a 2nd place in the Worlds road race in Nurburgring, Germany. The 1977 Polish National team rode Ci�cc frames. The Ci�cc name comes from a nickname given a young Giovanni Pellizzoli, meaning "poker faced". Also those Concorde's ridden by the PDM team in the late 80's and early 90's were Ciocc and Vitus frames and possibly others as well. Concorde was a Dutch wholesale company that farmed out to other manufactures to produce their frames and still do today.
I found this GREAT site with very high quality catalog scans and was able to find lots of Ciocc ads from the 80's.
Old Bike Advertisments
I'm still trying to narrow the age of the "my" Ciocc, but do have a better idea. Also this has been researched and I do not claim this to be the absolute truth, just what I have found out. Anyone wanting to add to or correct anything please email me. A great source of information:
Classic Rendezvous Web-site
The History of one Ciocc frame.
I acquired my used Ciocc frame/fork in 1990. By then it had been stripped of its original components. It is either Columbus SL or SLX in blue in color with chrome pantographed fork and chrome rear triangle. It already had a bit of rust under the top tube, I would imagine from someone sitting on a trainer. The rest of the frame was in good condition and ready to race. The bike was built up with mostly shimano stuff, with the only campy piece being the front derailluer. I really had no clue about components and just wanted the lightest and cheapest stuff! I loved how the bike rode...
Ciocc in Action! And rode and raced the Ciocc about 3 years before the "lighter and faster" bike bug got the best of me. So I traded in the Ciocc for a new carbon Trek OCLV. I didn't want to trade it, but I couldn't afford the Trek without a trade-in.... So goodbye to Ciocc in 1993...
Fast Forward to late 2002.....
I now have long since forgotten the OCLV Trek, it has been replaced by a
Merlin and that now is my light bike used for group rides and rallies. I started thinking I needed another road bike.... I said a "beater bike" to do rainy day rides, or social rides around town and easy days... I started shopping ebay... looking at really low end bikes..well that was a big yuk..... I then also began looking and admiring old Colongo's, Masi's, Pinerelli's, Bianchi's, etc... and of course Ciocc's! I really, really wanted an old Columbus steel Italian lugged bike to ride, just like when I first started racing..
I then remembered that a friend of my had bought this old Ciocc from this girl who became uninterested in riding several years ago...... After several emails we met and I bought this Ciocc. Yes, this is the exact same Ciocc I had before and had given up in 1993!!! It is a small cycling world, and I have much gratitude for this friend that bought this bike from this girl...
A few pictures of Ciocc today 11/02
The Ciocc was a bit worse for wear. It seems the Ciocc rode on a car trunk carrier and the bike would bang around and thus sustained lots of chips on one side, along with smaller chips elsewhere. The rust was still there, but not really any worse. And to my surprise the same components were there! The same lone campanolgo front derailluer and all the other mixed matched shimano stuff. It was a great first "second" ride. And I have come to realize that this bike will NOT be a "beater bike", but a nicely restored Italian classic.
Now the fun stuff begins.
Out with the old and in with the old... and new paint.... The bike really needs a new paint job to repair all the chips and rust... More on this later. For now I'm shopping for old Italian stuff to outfit the Ciocc after the paint job. I have always admired the shiny Campy stuff, but never able to afford it(And I still can't). So I will be shopping for mid 80's to late 80's Campagnolo and other period correct Italian stuff.
The list so far:
- 167.5 (52/42) Super Record cranks from 1984. $90 These came from Ebay. The logo is intact with very few rubmarks on the arms. The teeth don't look to worn down. My excellent bicycle mechanic said they looked to have been used very little. Some of the knicks on them he explained were from the cranks being stuffed in a bike holder and also from the toeclips being put on backward. Which is good and bad, since this probably means the cranks don't have too many miles on them, but suffered unneccessary knicks. They also have no dustcaps.
- Record Headset NOS, probably Mid-90's...$60 Acquired from the above mentioned bike mechanic. This will be put into use very shortly as my current headset is very pitted to the point of being notched!
- Cinelli Bike stem 80mm NOS $15, 1E model, has a very nice logo on front. $20 This also came from the bike mechanic. This also will be put into use very soon, since the stem on there now is way to short.
- Cobalto Super Record Caliper set used, 86/87 with one stone still intact. $25 Found these off a local bike classified listing. They are said to be take-offs from a Eddy Mercyx. They are in very good shape with only a little rust on the screws mounting the brake pads. The pads are in poor shape and will need to be replaced. Very happy with these and have already found a "fake" stone to replace the missing one.
- Cobalto Brake levers/hoods, NOS 86/87, these were a gift, but I happen to know the they came from a place called www.renaissance-cycles.com ...
- Super Record Down Tube shifters, NOS, $25 from ebay
- Dust Caps! I got 4 (2 sets) for $18 on ebay. They are in NOS condition! This is a good price as.. one retailer sells ONE dust cap for $9 when available and the sets on ebay generally go in the $20 range for one set.
- Gipiemme derailuer set, NOS $20, ebay from renaissance-cycles... Need to be a little different.
- Gipiemme caliper/lever set, NOS $49 from renaissance-cycles. The calipers are going to be used as parts for the Cobalto's.
- Campagnolo #18 catalog from 1985! $25 from Ebay. Very good source of info.
- Campy record 32-hole hubs with generic type sew-up rims. $100 from my favorite bike mechanic who also threw in a 12-19 7 speed freewheel (my knees hurt already) and also repacked bearings and cleaned-up very nice.
- Gipiemme seatpost NOS $17 from ebay
- Nuovo Record rear derailuer, much needed donation!! Looks very good after clean-up and is from the year 1984 which matches my cranks! It might need more pulleys. Also I was given a clamp-on front derailuer and record calipers which I hope to use for parts.
$419! HOLY CRAP!! THAT STUFF ADDS UP! But luckily I'm nearly finished with collecting parts (well that's not true, I'll always be looking!) and I plan on selling the shimano and the stuff not used to recoup some of the cost.
The plan now is to add some of the used parts and Gipiemme stuff to at least get the shimano stuff off the frame until the frame is painted. Most of the NOS Campy and best of the rest will be added after the paint job. The paint job is on hold until I CAN AFFORD IT!
But in the mean-time the Ciocc will make a great nice weather easy-day rider and a "pick-off" training bike. Fun, fun, fun.
Merlin Extra Light, Hard-day rider