I picked this up at a yard sale and can clearly see different component and maker markings on it, but I’d love more information about its age, actually origin, and perhaps the brand? This bike seems like it was manufactured for “Pablo Alto Bicycles” but I can’t find many other examples of bikes they sold in this era. Any help and information is appreciated!
by iveci
11 Comments
BMZ below the BB: say it in Italien and you have Biemmezeta which you might want to Google.
Edti: they made beautiful bikes but it is more likely that they are just responsible for the purchased BB-shell of you bike. Tubes and fork crown are Columbus, so italian offspring is still quite possible. You can check the thread markings on the bearings in the Bottom Bracket.
Edit2: it is a Biemmezeta https://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Biemmezeta.htm
Palo Alto is a bike shop in Northern California which used to sell private label bikes that were contract built for them. I don’t know their sources, but I recall they were built in Italy, so the other comment may be correct that they were built by Biemmezeta.
If I had to guess when this frame was made, based on the frame features I would suspect late 70’s or more likely early 80’s.
The shop is still in business. You may be able to call them up with questions.
not positive, but [this](https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images5/1/0422/16/vtg-1980-1981-palo-alto-cycles_1_10131d0fc3d2ef027738d44f7879bfc4.jpg) looks like your frame, from a palo alto catalog from 1981
Also, the wheels are “wheelsmith gentleman” which is new to me, anything noteworthy there?
I have a set of Wolber Gentleman wheel rims, from an early 80’s bike and I think yours might also be Wolber. Could “Wheelsmith” just be the builder of the wheels?
Is it even your size? That’s a 63cm, you need to be at least 6’2″ or taller.
ALSO find a long-cage rear derailler and add a couple of links to your chain.
I love it. Big frame?
Big boi
Oh god, it’s got a road derailer and is shifted into big-big. That’s got to be kinda noisy.
Anyone interested in buying this bike? I could ship it, or meet/deliver in coastal New England, USA
Im late to the party on this, but I’ll throw in my knowledge since I was the Service manager at Palo Alto Bicycles back in the 90’s when Bernie Hoffacker was still alive, and Neal and Bud Hoffacker were up stairs running Avocet (Ronnie Hoffacker was deeply involved in the mail order side which was dead by the time I came on board). The BMZ bb pretty much makes it a Biemmezeta-made frame. The three manufacturers that I remember were Biemmezeta, Romani, and Ritchey.
The Super Champion gentleman 81 based wheels look to have been built by Wheelsmith. The sticker puts early in their history. Wheelsmith Inc. was started in ~1975 by Ric and Jon Hjertberg. The first shop was right around the corner from PAB. They created the Wheelsmith brand of spokes and eventually built wheels for other manufacturers eg Specialized, VooDoo, etc. Eventually Wheelsmith fab (the wheel side) was spun off from Wheelsmith inc. and moved to Montana before being acquired by Hayes in 2007.
Ric went on to work with FSA and eventually created the wheel company Mad Fiber. Ric now runs the Wheel Fanatyk site.
https://wheelfanatyk.com/
It would be great if the serial numbers for the wheels were around somewhere. But if I had to guess those numbers went with Jon, and last I heard he was still in Montana, but out of the industry.
All things considered that bicycle is a classic piece of 80’s bicycle history. With the Avocet components and Wheelsmith wheels, it would be period correct for a classic PAB mail order special.