Eye candy - another in a continuing series

Some things are just classics, no?

These are photos of our friend's MONDONICO Ultra-FOCO. Steve Fellini was measured personally by Antonio Mondonico in Italy in 2003 during a CycleItalia tour*

Since that time this bike has made a trip or three across the Atlantic to be ridden in Italy during our tours, but since around 2010 it's been in the USA. It's been shipped out to us a time or two for overhauls or rebuilds, but Fellini decided it was time for a repaint and...

...a more classic look. He chose to go back to a triple crankset in addition to the classic Cinelli bar and quill stem. While we understand the appeal of the threadless setups, they have NOTHING on this when it comes to aesthetics. Larry jokes threadless looks more like plumbing than cycling!

Antonio Mondonico disliked most of the lugs designed for this tubeset so he chose to fillet-braze the headtube area as well as the seatstay cluster. His autograph on the toptube is a nice touch provided by the painter, CYCLESMITHS who also painted (actually, repainted, since the original, Italian paint job was damaged in shipping) this bike back in 2003.

CYCLESMITHS also added Fellini's name on the other side. The steel fork was chromed and threaded for the classic headset and quill stem.

The polished alloy parts just look right on this bike. Perhaps Fellini will find a pair of vintage 10-speed Ergopower levers with polished alloy blades some day to complete the look? The carbon looks a little out-of-place but Larry has a similar set on one of his bikes because they work just fine and 10-speed polished Ergopower levers from the higher-end Campagnolo groupsets are rather expensive these days... if you can find 'em.

A vintage Campagnolo polished titanium seatpost looks just right. This was installed with the original components back in 2003.

Same for the silver wheel rims. Of course a shiny set of vintage Shamals would look great too, but these old Mavic Opens ride so much better!!!

Fellini should have his bike back in a week or so.

*While Antonio Mondonico has retired, we're working on a way to offer Piedmont Cycling Resort (and guided tour guests if you come early or stay later) a chance to visit the workshops of other Italian frame-builders. Maybe you'd like a made-to-measure carbon frame from Favaloro or a classic steel GIOS? Contact us if the idea interests you, we're happy to help!