Vintage Paganini Italian racing bike fully restored, full chrome

This is a Columbus (SL I think) frame by Paganini from about 1979-83, sorry I can’t be more precise. The Paganini brand was made in Italy by Ciocc for a shop in Ghent, Belgium, called Plum. Interestingly this frame was originally finished in a layer of transparent plum-coloured lacquer over the chrome. They were regarded as very high-end racing cycles in their day.

I acquired it on eBay about 7 years ago with a load of late ‘90s kit on it and decided to restore it to its original state as far as possible. It’s a full on racing machine (you’ll see the little bracket under the front end of the top tube for a race number) and I have built it up as a classic Italian race bike of the period. The fork blades were replaced by Argos four years ago as there was a crack in one of the originals.

It’s vintage Campagnolo Record or Super Record pretty much throughout: front and rear mech, chainset, brakes, levers, hoods, hubs, and bottom bracket. Zeus headset. Mavic GP4 rims. Vittoria tubs (both brand new). Cinelli stem, bars and saddle. The seatpost is a Super Record copy, as are the pedals.
Size: 55cm c-c seat tube, 56 cm c-c top tube.

The condition is very good for its age but not concourse, although it could be brought to this level without too much outlay. The chrome is just starting to become a little rough in one or two corner areas such as the bb cluster (annoyingly, there is a bit of pitting on the Argos fork blades). The bike has been ridden and enjoyed rather than wrapped in cotton wool.

Images here: http://postimg.org/gallery/3i8lz49ke/

A rare and very beautiful bike, rides like a dream on those tubs. £850.
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Lovely and shiny, shiny.