The Record is no longer seen in the Pinarello catalog, but it is one which Giovanni “Nane” Pinarello would be very proud. The Record and its variants were offered as one of the brand’s highest models during the 80s and, compared to the globulous carbon frames of the current lineup, would be much more familiar to Nane’s racing eye.
This blue beauty, a Record from 1983, was brought in from the cold by Geoff Robson from Victoria BC, Canada, and the story of his restoration is typical of the passion these Italian racers can inspire. “I bought the bike complete with a 9spd Campag Mirage (shifters/derailleurs) / Miche (cranks/brakes/hubs) group off one of our local online classifieds web page from a guy who got the bike in a work-for-trade deal. This was about 2 years ago. When I go the bike it was set up as a winter bike, and was looking rather sad.
“I gave the bike a face lift, removing the mud guards that were on it, changing out the saddle with one from my spares bin, a new bar/stem combination that cost me 15 dollars, new bar tape, and I rebuilt the wheels using the same hubs. I rode the bike in that configuration for a year and a half while I slowly pieced together the perfect build for the bike.
The Mirage shifters that came on the bike were my first experience with Campy components: they had black plastic levers and although it was the bottom-end of the line-up I loved their feel and seemed to work as well or better than some of the higher-end Shimano or SRAM components that I’ve used in the past.
“My ideal build for the bike would stay in line with the classic look of the lugged steel frame, while keeping the modern functionality of the Ergo Shifters. I wanted all the new components to be raw aluminum, no carbon fiber. I ended up sourcing parts from both all over the world and locally. I found a nice pair of the hard-to-find alloy Record 9/10 speed hubs from someone on an online forum, they came from Texas. I found brand new, never used Chorus 10 speed shifters on another.
“Front derailleur is a NOS Record 10 speed from Germany. Rear derailleur was near-mint from Ontario and the cranks are also near-mint and came in on consignment at one of my local shops the same morning that I saw them and purchased them on the spot.
I’ve always regarded the combination of Ambrosio Nemesis / Campagnolo Record wheels to be the Holy Grail of a classic hand built wheel, and there was never any doubt that they would be the right wheels for this build.
“The seatpost is a Chorus Aero post that was given to me by a friend, which I wet sanded with 600/1000/1500 grit wet/dry paper and then polished with Mothers aluminum polish. Even though the paint has some blemished, I couldn’t be happier with the way the build came off, and it was well worth the time of tracking down all the right parts. She’s nimble and quick, handles like a race bike should.
Apparently Nane wanders around the Pinarello factory, still located in the northern Italian city of Treviso, tapping the new frames with his walking cane to listen to the sound they make. I’ll bet he still prefers the ring of steel, like Geoff’s Record, to the donk of the composite frames. Special thanks to Geoff Robson for the story and photos. See more on his flickr set.
