Gino Bartali has long been a hero of mine, not only because he won the Tour de France twice (and ten years apart!), but for risking his own life on multiple occasions in his effort to save the lives of Jews during World War II. If you are unfamiliar with Bartali's life story, I urge you to read Road to Valor by Aili and Andres McConnon. In my opinion it is head and shoulder above typical books in praise of famous athletes.
I quote from the McConnon text: "In his retirement, Gino focused full-time on several ventures that he had started on the side during his final years of cycling. As early as 1949, after years of racing for Legnano, a professional cycling team owned by the second-largest bike brand in Italy, Gino convinced himself that he could earn more money by launching a professional team and his own line of bicycles." Things went wrong for Bartali's business venture almost from the beginning.
McConnon continues: "...the cyclist quickly realized how unprepared he was to help run a bicycle factory and business. 'It's one thing to ride on (a bicycle) and push it at high or impossible average speeds in storms and in the battles of a race. it's another thing to administer its production and sales,' he said. His professional team fared no better. They lacked the money to compete with established teams like Legnano and Bianchi when it came to signing good cyclists, leaving them with a group of third-string racers whom most saw as a joke. Even Gino could find nothing redeeming about the experience, and later regretted it deeply. 'If I had remained with the Legnano team, I would have won more races which were lost because of our inferior bikes.'"
The bicycle you see here has been identified as a Bartali team bike. The Bartali team? Perhaps. If so, and if it is one of the "inferior" quality bicycles Bartali refers to, I do not know, nor do I care. The very thought that it might have been ridden by one of Bartali's team members (I dare not say "Bartali himself") is enough to make me cherish this bicycle. It is pictured here just as I received it from Italy, save for the Bartali banner I added on a whim. The bike retains its original French Gray paint; there is no metal head badge (a weight saving measure common to team bikes, I am told). It is equipped with the Campagnolo Cambio Corsa gear, which fits the timeline of Bartali's racing team.
I quote from the McConnon text: "In his retirement, Gino focused full-time on several ventures that he had started on the side during his final years of cycling. As early as 1949, after years of racing for Legnano, a professional cycling team owned by the second-largest bike brand in Italy, Gino convinced himself that he could earn more money by launching a professional team and his own line of bicycles." Things went wrong for Bartali's business venture almost from the beginning.
McConnon continues: "...the cyclist quickly realized how unprepared he was to help run a bicycle factory and business. 'It's one thing to ride on (a bicycle) and push it at high or impossible average speeds in storms and in the battles of a race. it's another thing to administer its production and sales,' he said. His professional team fared no better. They lacked the money to compete with established teams like Legnano and Bianchi when it came to signing good cyclists, leaving them with a group of third-string racers whom most saw as a joke. Even Gino could find nothing redeeming about the experience, and later regretted it deeply. 'If I had remained with the Legnano team, I would have won more races which were lost because of our inferior bikes.'"
The bicycle you see here has been identified as a Bartali team bike. The Bartali team? Perhaps. If so, and if it is one of the "inferior" quality bicycles Bartali refers to, I do not know, nor do I care. The very thought that it might have been ridden by one of Bartali's team members (I dare not say "Bartali himself") is enough to make me cherish this bicycle. It is pictured here just as I received it from Italy, save for the Bartali banner I added on a whim. The bike retains its original French Gray paint; there is no metal head badge (a weight saving measure common to team bikes, I am told). It is equipped with the Campagnolo Cambio Corsa gear, which fits the timeline of Bartali's racing team.
Gino Bartali Team Bike ©Daniel Dahlquist