Raise your glass to the departure of a dear friend. She finally came home on Friday and I shed a few tears over the state of her. Such a unique and increasingly rare ride that I had put a lot of time and money into. God, I feel myself getting a little choked up right now. I know it's just an "object", a "thing" and in general I'm good at not getting attached to "stuff". But my relationship with bicycles, the Zullo in particular, was/is an intimate thing. She brought me many hours of great joy and has been instrumental in keeping me on an even keel here in the craziness that is NYC. Just looking at her in my apartment would put a smile on my face. And now looking at her crumpled frame and mangled fork makes me so sad. And as you can plainly see by the crumpled top and down tubes, we took a serious impact. That's quality steel tubing there, friends. Oy.
I've started shopping around for another bike and it makes me feel a little sick. It's a difficult process because I want to get a replacement soon because I can start riding on the rollers really soon and I want to start on the road to getting fit ASAP. I have decided that I am NOT going to get carbon fibre. Aluminum w/ a carbon fork and possibly stays. Ideally I'll be riding steel again, but it seems unlikely. I'm more interested in quality components and am feeling pretty to committed to an Ultegra group set. I don't know if I have the patience for craigslist, but I also don't know if I have the $$$ to buy new (although if there's any justice here, I won't be footing the bill).
In many ways I don't even want a new bike, I like used bikes, but as I said I want to be on the rollers sooner than later. Whatever I get I know won't have the simple elegance and beauty that the Zullo had. Truly a bicycle from one of my favorite eras of production. Quality steel, beautiful lugs, and look at that fork crown!! Engraved head tube badge!! Chromed fork tips and drop-outs!! Campy-copy seat post. Stonglight 42/52 crankset!! The list goes on and on, what a wonderful machine. . .
And so for now, I do not have a truly working bicycle. The BB on my Pista is all f'ed up. (Lateral play, I'm praying that the BB shell isn't stripped.) I have a new BB but b/c of my ribs can't throw her up on the stand and get to work on getting her up and running. I may end up just taking her into a shop and letting them do the work although I was really looking forward to doing it myself. Suck.
Posts
4 comments:
just got one, did you get rid of the parts ?
phil
My father has a zullo sprint in immaculate condition sitting in his garage. I've been eyeing it since I was a kid, and now at 30 years old I'm about to bring her home with me for some minor updates (modern wheelset), and riding.
Unfortunately the frame is just slightly big for me, and I don't know if it's something I can practically ride long term.
email me at d h d e nn y (at) gmail.com if you want to talk about it. I might be convinced to sell it.
err, sorry, it's a zullo "road", like this:
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Zullo/zullo_blue_road.htm
It's got the same paint scheme as pictured above, minus the exposed chrome. I imagine it's similar to the one pictured in your article.
Sorry to see that. Once upon a time I had a red Zullo with similar TT/DT damage (roadrace crash). It was bent back and ridden as-is for a few years, until I sold it to someone in S.Brunswick NJ...
Post a Comment