While my friend’s super commuter, this 1960’s Bartali, has been carefully customized over the years, it still retains much of its original Bartali components and panache. I love the handlebars (Bruce Gordon makes a modern version), matching fenders, Bartali head badge and script logo on the down tube, and the elegant lugwork. I
know little about the company that made this bicycle except that
it was named after Gino
Bartali, the great Italian road racing champion who competed
from 1936 to 1948 and won the Giro d’Italia three times
and the Tour de France twice. He also aided
the Jews
during World War II. Another friend, bicycle historian and author
David
Herlihy, was lucky enough to interview
Bartali in 1989. |
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