I was in Florence for a short trip recently due to work in Italy. I was looking for pizza for dinner and checked the map when I found out
there was a small workshop nearby that sold and repaired bicycles, so I went to take a look.
Oh~ Feel free to come in.
There was a person drawing near the entrance of the workshop, and there was even a hand-drawn Filippo Ganna.
"What's up?"
The owner, who looked like a neighborhood uncle, said to take my time looking around since there were many bicycles...
Although the space was only about 8 pyeong, there were many bicycles of various types.
There were various settings for the many bicycles, and I asked the owner about one that caught my eye.
"What's with the white bar tape drop bar?"
-"Oh, that's a time trial setting. It's a reversed drop bar."
Usually, it would be a TT bar or bullhorn bar, but I wonder if this is also considered a classic setting.
Is that an old Mapei team color frame? It looked similar to one I saw at Laura's shop before, so it caught my eye first.
There were many frames
and wheels
Raul? It was the first time I saw this frame, and later found out it's an old Italian manufacturer.
I wondered if there were any other unique bikes, so I asked.
"Do you happen to have Marco Pantani's yellow and blue Bianchi?"
-"No, no. I'm looking for that too, but haven't found it yet... But I do have this."
He opened the back door and told me to follow him. In the warehouse we entered, there were even more bicycles than I had ever seen.
They said there's no same color but the same model, and showed me an xl ev2.
Hanging like a bat, Colnago.
Colnago, De Rosa and Burma behind?
Silver Mavic Cosmic, strange oval, Spinnergy and so on, there were a lot of wheels in the warehouse.
Tomorrow, the owner has to move some bikes somewhere else, so he's clearing out the space. He said that if you tell him the hotel address, he will load them on a van in the morning and let you ride them, but unfortunately, I have to go somewhere else, so I'll try it next time with my friends.
He also told me to be careful when riding a reverse-tread bike if I ever come to Korea.
The owner seemed very proud of the bikes made in Italy, such as Colnago, De Rosa, Pinarello, Bianchi, Campagnolo, and the riders. I ended up talking for 2 hours.
