Basso Track

This might be a project that is worthy of it's own thread.. Unlike other ones I posted so far this will progress quickly and will hopefully be finished by the end of july.

It all started with a relationship that had a foreseeable end coming - as half of my family is from Argentina I was preparing my yearly visiting trip to Corrientes and I thought I should have something to occupy my mind with: I bought a track frame and some bits to build up a rat bike.

I began to search for a wheelset and found a set with Campag hubs and rims for £40. That was the moment I realized: I could do a full restoration for pennies. I used the bike as it was till the end of my visit and started to track down track parts for next year.

This is the first "what I have is what I use" state:

(Privitera (Argentine builder) frame with Cinelli SC lugs and BB shell, Campag Pista hubs on Campag Victory Crono rims and other random bits)

As the frame was too small for me (only bought it to have some fun building and riding for a month and because it was bloody cheap (£40)) I began looking for an apropriate sized frame alongside the bits.

This is what I managed to find over time (the original frame was quite ratty and I don't really like (well, i do, but I prefer well used ones) mint condition bikes the only goal was to find parts in good mechanical order.

Cinelli Pista (67-39) bars with 1A stem:

Cinelli Unicanitor saddle:

Campag Record seatpost:

Campag Pista BB:

Campagnolo Pista Superleggera pedals from Ndeipi:

Cinelli 2A stem:

Right now I'm waiting to get a price for a Campag Pista chainset (I already have one but all rings are 3/32 and I'd like to use that one for my TT project). Only things I need to finish the build are the Record Pista headset and a pair of old logo Cinelli toeclips. (If anyone has any of these items for sale, please give me a shout!)

A few weeks ago I came across this Basso track frame:

I will be putting the bits on this frame (sold the other one) after the 27th of june. Any info on Basso frames would be greatly appreciated! It has 1982 and 60 (I think I couldn't be wrong if I said these are the date of manufacture and size..) but nothing else. I will send the pictures to Basso and ask for a 'birth certificate' :)

Also, I'd hereby like to thank Hippy and 1000archangels for selling me a pair of 151BCD chainrings and going through the trouble of meeting and combining them into a single package so I could have cheaper postage. Please put a comment in here for the rep that you deserve!

Good looking frame.

I predict some polishing in your future.

polishwheel and some polishing compound will make that look crazy good!

will build up as is for now as i really like the look of the components. if i can't get the other crankset i'll be using the one below (thanks, colnago_costa) so definitely no polishing for that setup. (the 2A stem aslo has a bit missing near the bolt so it's pointless to make all the other bits shine)

nice frame! apart from the decals, is BASSO or the B in a shield pantographed anywhere on the frame or fork?

nope. and that's one of my concerns. it only has the two numbers stated above. now, i have seen bassos without the logo on the bb shell but every one of them had panto at least on the top of the chainstays..

the frame has campag track ends and dropouts, the bb cutouts are the same as on other basso models, the fork crown is similar to many basso crowns (no panto here either), bb threading is italian and it has the dove on the steerer tube.

now, according to classicrendezvous production started in '81. if the '1982' is a date stamp, we can say it is an early frame. could it be, that it was made for measure (catalogs say 'telaio su misura') and being one of the early frames they did not put use any pantographing or serial numbers?

contacting Basso is a good idea

could not resist - had to throw a few parts on to calm down a bit..

two more pics of the wheels

due to some rationalization i'll have to let this frame go. fear not, my current track frame is taking it's place - project is moving on. the question is how much could this frame go for?

i spoke to the former importer of basso in argentina: the frame might have been ordered raw, chromed (i think fully as underneath some paintchips in the black areas the chrome shines through) and topped with a tinted clearcoat (=cromovelato). i suspect it was all gold and painted black afterwards. logos are handpainted, so might have had a sticker set at one time but modified to current state later.

I'd pay 300 quid.