I, too, had the pleasure of meeting Giovanni Pinarello a few years ago, and have always admired the Pinarello frames. I owned a late 80's Treviso model at one time, and own a Prince, signed by "Nanni", now. I have quietly been keeping an eye out for another 70's or early 80's frame for a while now. One thing I've noticed is that, like many Italian frames of the era, the paint and particularly the decals could be fairly poor in quality. Most frames were not clear-coated, so decals often are chipped and scratched, or missing altogether. I guess what I'm getting at is that older Pinarellos are often kind of rough looking, and therefore maybe don't command as much interest. If you don't mind a refinished frame, you can have the look with modern quality, but I've been looking for an original one (55 or 56 c-c, if anyone has one kicking around). Another thing to consider is that, at least in the late 70's to mid 80's, mid-sized Pinarello frames tended to have slightly shorter top tubes. My 56cm Treviso had a 55 TT.
Nevertheless, I'm still surprised that Pinarello frames don't seem to generate a lot of CR interest. Was there even a Pinarello in the show last weekend? Seems to me Pinarello deserves better than that.
Wayne Bingham
Falls Church VA