Just as an aside to the Soviet - Italo connection.
My wife and I spent a month in the old Soviet Union on vacation.
Wanted to see if all the things we were being fed by our fearless leaders
was really true.
Besides it was like going to three continents at that time.
The word at the bike tracks I visited was that The Italian Connection went
back to the time Peter the Great was doing business with Italian and French
architects while building St. Petersburg.
Into our era, remember that there were many communists in Italy and the
relationship to the unions and the expanding Soviets was constant.
The Soviets had no quality items except some war stuff.
The Italians had lots of nice stuff, including bikes, and seeing as the
Soviets were doing quite well in those years in cycling, the Italian bike
stuff was coveted.
The Soviets had little hard cash to buy anything of consequence in the West,
they were broke but ran a good con game on us, if our gov't knew about it we
weren't told, but it was easy to see as we roamed around the countyside.
The deal was Italian stuff was brought into the USSR, and the Soviets
brought many Italians over for vacation and tourism for free stay and travel
as a quid pro quo.
Of course any money spent on bought souvenirs was paid for in Lire or other
hard cash which is what the Soviets desperately needed.
So lots of Italian bike stuff for the teams and clubs in the USSR,
especially the national team and apparatchiks.
End of history lesson.
Did you know there was a 500 M. wood track built in the '20s/'30's in
Irkutsk, Siberia? Look on the map and be surprised.
I saw the track and have fotos.
Ted Ernst
Palos Verdes Estates
CA USA
>
> On Jan 8, 2008, at 8:14 PM, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org wrote:
>
> Kevin,
>
> Sannino frames were built by Mauro Sannino and Bicycle Parts Pacific
> imported them to US during the early 1980's when I worked there. I rode
> and raced on one for three or more seasons. We only brought in the top
> end model built with Columbus SL tubing. I believe Mauro's factory was in
> Torino. There was no chrome and almost all the frames were red - very
> red! Mauro had some association with the racing federations in Poland and
> the USSR and many of their riders in the that period rode Sanninos. I was
> the proud owner of several USSR team jerseys - ah the things we wish we
> had kept. Mauro's name surfaced again recently as a consultant/designer
> for the Corratec carbon frames used by the Columbia-Sella Italia team,
> see:
> http://www.cyclingnews.com/
>
> My apologies if that is a little off topic, just trying to provide all I
> know.
>
> Reed Pike
> Sammamish WA USA
>
>
>>
>>
>> Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 21:22:57 -0000
>> From: "tiscali" <kevinsayles@tiscali.co.uk>
>> To: "cr list" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>> Subject: [CR]Sannino frames
>> Message-ID: <000a01c8523c$a473b160$18e66e58@D13N2W0J>
>> Content-Type: text/plain;charset="Windows-1252"
>> MIME-Version: 1.0
>> Precedence: list
>> Message: 4
>>
>> Hi List,
>>
>> Anyone know much about 'SANNINO' frames?
>> I know there Italian, and I think Sannino now builds for some team,
>> possibly in Spain?
>>
>> I have one which I believe to be 'on topic'
>> Its in Columbus SLX, lugged, full slope external pantographed with a 'S'
>> crown,
>> Campag short ends, drilled part way through, as are the fronts.
>>
>> Quite a nice frame, heavy, but rides well,
>> got it built up with off topic Veloc'e 10 spd group, but with Cinelli 1R
>> pantographed stem [Gios!] # 64 Giro bars, and a nice Chorus aero seat
>> post.
>>
>> Took it over to Tuscany and got quite a lot of interest from the local
>> 'gruppo'
>> ended up leaving it there with a friend who now lives in Sarteano, lucky
>> sod, so I can use it on future visits..........roll on March!
>>
>> Kevin Sayles
>> in a wet & windy Bridgwater UK