1980 Medici Pro-Strada
Part Diary, Part Technical Manual, Part Tips & Tricks

So I had this absolutely pristine Medici Pro-Strada back in 2008 that I sold after only 3 weeks of ownership. I kinda regretted selling it, like any car or bike I've ever sold! So I was browsing around online and found a green one for sale on craigslist. The bike looked decent and the price was ok. Then I looked a little closer at the low-res picture - those look like Delta brakes! Hey, those may be C-Record cranks and rear derailleur! Holy crap, this could be an amazing deal! So I start emailing the guy and he sends me some more pictures. The photos are terrible, but it showed that the bike was in really poor shape, but it did confirm that the gruppo was Campagnolo C-Record.

He drove from Stockton, I drove from San Mateo, and we met in the middle at a McDonald's in Livermore. On first sight, the bike was pretty sad, but you could see the quality (Time Magnesium pedals, Phil Wood hubs), but it was severely neglected over the years. The seller said it was his father's old bike when he used to work for Intel, then he started riding a mountain bike instead, so this bike just sat. The paint was chipped all over with bits of rust, the rear wheel was out of true due to a broken spoke, the tires were entirely flat. It was a sad sight, but it was an opportunity to save a bicycle, so on July 17, 2010, I bought myself another Medici.

After getting home, I'm still a little confused, the fork and rear dropouts have braze-ons for touring, it actually had a rear rack on it! Also the front-derailleur was a clamp-on, not a braze-on, so it must be an earlier frameset from the late 70s or early 80s. I thought this may have been their Gran-Turismo model, but the the chainstay decal clearly says Pro-Strada and it appears original. The other odd thing is that there is only one set of braze-ons for a single water bottle cage on the down tube, which further suggests its not a Gran-Turismo. So for now, it's a Pro-Strada until proven otherwise. Based on the 120mm rear spacing, it should be a 1980 model since they went to a 126mm 6 speed spacing in 1981.

As I disassembled the components, the bike was in worse condition than I thought. There is a stuck seatpost at the bottom of the seattube which was drilled out, so there was chunks and flakes of aluminum in the bottom bracket shell. The top of the seattube also appears a bit flared from the drilling. The rear wheel was easy, just an aluminum nipple that broke; once a new nipple was installed, the wheel was easily trued. Overall it had some nice parts, but I didn't know what to do with the frame.

Here are the specs:

Frame: Medici Pro-Strada, 58cm CTC, Columbus double butted SP tubing, Italian bottom bracket. Serial Number: 58 0333. Brilliant Sea Green frame with yellow accents and Campagnolo drop outs, 120mm spacing.
Fork: Medici, Columbus SL, Green with chrome crown and Campagnolo drop outs.
Rims: Campagnolo Omega strada hardox.
Hubs: Phil Woods.
Skewers: Campagnolo Record.
Tires: Specialized Transitions, 700x23c.
Freewheel: Maeda Industries (Suntour) Ultra 6 spacing, 6spd 13-26T.
Cranks: Campagnolo C-Record 52x42, 170mm, 145 BCD.
Bottom Bracket: Campagnolo C-Record, 110mm, ISO square taper, Italian thread.
Front Derailer: Campagnolo C-Record, clamp-on.
Rear Derailer: Campagnolo C-Record.
Shifters: Campagnolo Record braze-on.
Headset: Campagnolo C-Record, 1" threaded.
Chain: KMC CN-SS71S.
Stem: Modolo X-Setra, 1" quill, 90mm.
Handlebar: Modolo X-Setra, anatomic bend. 41.5cm width, 10.0cm reach, 15.0cm drop.
Brakes: Campagnolo C-Record Delta.
Levers: Campagnolo C-Record.
Pedal: Time Titan Magnesium.
Seatpost: Kalloy Uno, 27.2mm, black.
Saddle: Generic, black.

The bike originally weighed 23lbs 13oz.