Anthony in describing the South African cycling scene wrote: "Hansom was one of the popular locally built brands dating back to the tail-end of the CR era, along with others such as Lejeune, Peugeot, Alpina, and Zini."
I am quite surprised to hear the name Zini listed as a local South African brand. I know the Paolo Zini and he is an ex-pro who raced for SCIC and now works as a goldsmith in Italy. I have recently picked up one of his bikes, in almost mint condition. I found him while trying to research the bike. He told me that the bike had been built in 1972 for sale in South Africa. I must admit to being quite surprised to hear him mention South Africa. He said that virtually all of his bikes were sold either in Italy or South Africa. Perhaps he emigrated for a period before returning to Italy? Maybe his name was another one ingeniously used by a local 'distributor' after he switched over to goldsmithing. Can somebody in South Africa let me know more about Zini's bikes? The one that I own can be seen in photos 52 and 53 at: http://www.wooljersey.com/
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Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ