All, I just found out today that Calborn was the importer of Colnago for the west coast (70's-80's ?), there are frames decaled Calborn ( there was one in the shop), and he is credited w/ celo-euorpa bikes. I might be misinformed about some of this, but those were the words from the shop owner. As an East Coast guy, this is all news to me.
John Pergolizzi
San Diego, Ca.
On Nov 18, 2009, at 2:27 PM, JimAllen wrote:
> Marcel Calborn has a shop in Orange County called "Bici Sport". Used
> to have farther up the coast to.
>
> Might be him
>
> Jim Allen
>
> Norris Lockley wrote:
>> Has anyone out there ever heard of a cycle shop somewhere in the
>> Los Angeles
>> area - I guess that that is a BIG area - called* MARCEL'S CYCLES*
>> or that
>> could possibly be* MARCELLE'S CYCLES* as I dont know whether the
>> owner was
>> male or female.
>>
>> We are talking 1970s into the 80s here.
>>
>> Some days ago I directed the List members to an article in the
>> GUARDIAN
>> Newspaper about the delapidated state of the Vigorelli track in
>> Milan..and
>> the ever-open workshop of Alberto Masi..
>>
>> It was my close mate, John Helliwell, of Supertramp fame, who had
>> phoned me
>> about the article, and I must admit it took me some time to cotton
>> on to his
>> drift. Then I realisid that he was wondering whether his own MASI
>> Gran
>> Criterium had exited from those famous gates..he is quite a
>> romantic at
>> heart...and ended up on the sales floor at Marcelle's cycle shop
>>
>> I shattered his dreams by suggesting that the bike that he had
>> bought in
>> California, while the Group really was on a roll, was probably a
>> product of
>> the workshop that Faliero had set up in Carlsbad, rather than
>> anything even
>> slightly Italiano..and spaghetti..Ferrari
>>
>> When John brought it in for servicing in May 1997 during a short
>> break from
>> that year''s Tour- I dare not admit that I had never heard of
>> Supertramp,
>> but I did wonder what this lean guy dressed in a long black
>> coat ,very
>> narrow drainpipe trousers, almost like jophurs, large black almost
>> surgical-type boots, silver pendant hanging over black rollneck
>> sweater and
>> a very impressive rocker's haircut to accompany his seven o'clock
>> shadow
>> beard. had to do with cycling; my usual customers were normally
>> dressed in
>> well-worn out-of-date cycle-shop rejected trade jerseys from
>> yesteryear's
>> long-gone trade teams.
>>
>> I told John earlier today about Classicrendezvous and mentioned the
>> fact
>> that I thought that several of the frame-builders on the List had
>> cut their
>> file teeth in the Carlsbad workshop. At the time of meeting John
>> all those
>> years back the only MASI I had seen was the one on "Breaking
>> Away"..or was
>> it another film?
>>
>> Casting my eye over his bike at the time I thought it looked far
>> too big for
>> him and said so, because he does not look that tall but he does
>> stoop a
>> little possibly from having those heavy saxophones slung around his
>> neck.
>> ..or possibly it's the weight of his wallet. He told me that the
>> guy at the
>> shop had fitted it up for him ..all Campag Record or Nuevo
>> Record..so he
>> just rode it..didn't ask questions.
>>
>> I taped it up, found it was a 23"....with an enormous head
>> tube...so I
>> assumed a short top-tube..but No..that was quite long again 23" or
>> just
>> over..Odd, I thought. Not long afterwards I got him onto a 22" TVT
>> carbon,
>> then onto a CORIMA..then a VITUS..all 22". Now, unfortubnately he
>> rides a
>> Specialised..and his time-trial results have gone down the
>> tube...but he is
>> still fastest veteran in the Club, but I am threatening a come-back
>> next
>> year.
>>
>> If by chance, any of you ex-MASI men are reading this, and can find
>> the time
>> RIGHT NOW to jot me a few details and souvenirs about Carlsbad, I'd
>> like to
>> share them with John over a few beers tonight after the meeting of
>> our club,
>> the Settle World-Wide-Wheelers, of which John is both President and
>> Treasurer.
>>
>> If you are more used to remembering John in his customary position of
>> rocking back on his heels with his tenor sax thrust forward..then
>> visit our
>> website at http://www.settlewww.org.uk. you <http://www.settlewww.org.uk.
>> you> can see him on his bike..in the starting blocks for the
>> Wednesday
>> evening 11.3 mile hilly time trial.
>>
>> And just in case you're missing hearing his trademark sax solos,
>> John is
>> back in the groove blowing the riffs with his own group Creme
>> Anglaise.
>> Unfortunately John thought the name sounded very classy..shades of
>> la creme
>> de la creme..Little did he know that it just means "custard" in
>> French. Hear
>> John at http://www.johnhelliwell.com
>>
>> By the way how does the Gran Criterium rank in the MASI hierachy ?
>> Any tales
>> from the workshop will be passed on. Oh ! I told him not to look
>> too closely
>> at the mitring of the tubes in the bottom bracket !!!
>>
>> Norris Lockley
>>
>> Settle, UK