Re: [CR]Fiorelli

I find that from the bike boom mechanics perspective I held certain brands in an unfair low regard based on a 1973 snapshot. Italian manufacturers responded to the American demand for low end "racing" bikes by sending over any sort of rubbish they could put together. Its really hard to imagine how bad some of these bikes were. Chainlines that didn't work, hubs that needed overhauls just to function etc. If a brand had become "old" or was in the wrong hands it just got whored out in this way. So the bottom of the pile in my perception was Chiorda, then Fiorelli, and I sort of held the low end Atala's in disdain also. There were others but these are the big names I remember.

The surprising thing to me is to see how nice these makes were in the 1950's. I have seen really eye opening Fiorellis, very decent Chiordas etc. (note these were higher end bikes too). I was also surprised to find out that this applied to parts too. The appalling Gnutti hubs of 1973 were just a remnant of a '50s Gnutti. Ballilla brakes were the same thing (although brakes in general got much better). There is a rather nice Fiorelli on the CR site by the way.

Anyway, just a comment aimed at getting people to give these "blemished" brands a look when they see an older example.

Joe Bender-Zanoni
Great Notch, NJ