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Ciöcc - a Beautiful Italian Bike

I'm looking at a "35-40 year old Ciöcc" tomorrow. It's possible that the ride may be as interesting as the Bianchi I've been enjoying so much, only speedier! I think, no matter what, the Bianchi will always be the comfiest bike I've ever ridden. Comfi and fun to the point that I make up excuses to walk out of my office and ride "to check the post box"... So, of course, it's fun to learn a little history and mechanics in the meantime.

"Frame maestro/founder of Ciöcc was Giovanni Pelizzoli. Ciocc was his nickname (local dialect for "poker faced" thus the Ciöcc badge of four aces in a cross formation). Claudio Corti won the 1977 U23 Worlds on a Ciöcc at San Cristobal, Venezuela, hence the name of their signature model. They also had a model called "Mockba 1980" for the Moscow Olympics (?... the winner of the RR was a Russian on a Colnago.) Giovanni Pelizzoli later help found and design all of the first models of the Masciaghi tubed Fausto Coppi frames when that company was formed. Reportedly ..... many pros rode repainted Ciöccs in the 1980's. " from Classic Rendezvous

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Well, I wound up getting the bike. Here's a shot of it at the coffee shop today. You can click here or on the photo itself to see a set of photos in an album

Here's some info on the history from a shop that sells current models, Smart Cycles:

"Ciöcc, (say like CHEE-OH-CH) for the passionate cyclist, is a brand that recalls the early days of the great Italian handcraft tradition of road frames. It was 60 years ago that Ciöcc, working from a small artisan shop, produced high quality frames for some very demanding pro riders."

From Cycling Art Blog:

"Ciöcc was founded by Giovanni Pelizzoli who was a former apprentice of Ugo DeRosa. Ciöcc is from a local Italian dialect which means, ‘poker faced.’ The familiar badge of 4 aces in cross formation was born. The factory is in Mozzo, Italy ten miles close to Colnago’s. The most celebrated model was the Mockba 80 after Ciöcc built the frames for the Polish National team. Poland’s Czeslaw Lang came in second place on a Ciöcc during the 1980 Moscow Olympics Road Race. Back in 1977, Italian Claudio Corti won the 1977 U23 Worlds on a Ciöcc at San Cristobal, Venezuela. The San Cristobal is their signature model."

The steel frame is very forgiving on cobblestones in this neighborhood.

Enjoy...and stay tuned...

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by pete korhonen on December 21, 2009 at 3:05am

absolutely beautiful bike!

my a-bit-newer-and-not-so-classic-ciöcc -built can be seen here

Permalink Reply by Michael Levin on December 21, 2009 at 11:06am

Thanks, Pete. I looked back at your post about your Ciöcc. Can you give some more detail about it? What year do you think it was built? This one has a forgiving steel frame that I like because there are many cobblestones here. I took some more photos of it on a ride to a lake yesterday, so if you click here or on the large photo above, you'll see the album.

Permalink Reply by pete korhonen on December 22, 2009 at 3:18am

Hi Michael,

as far as i remember the words of the fellow who sold me the frame, it dates back to the early 90's.
The frame is Dedacciai 7000 alloy (aluminium) and the decals say "Alluminio" and "Basic". The front fork has been digged from the treasury of one Local Bike Shop, and it is steel fork, made of 531 Reynolds TI - considering the colour scheme, it might be from a high end Crescent - not really sure.

The cranks are Miche-something (with odd BCD 116 makes it almost impossible to find new chainrings) out of my old-and-sold Bottecchia. The front wheel was rescued from a garbage heap and the rear wheel was built around Shimano 600 hub with seven speed cassette and Linus rim.

Rear derailleur is Shimano Sora operated with the old-time-friction-lever, seatpost is a Shimano 600, stem is some noname-black-one as well as the drop-bars. Brake levers are Shiman RSXs (but I will change them to some lighter version - the pair weights almost 500g).

Looking at your Ciöcc (congratulations!) it looks like it is really some top of the line bike. Very nice indeed.
Do you have problem with your back/hands or why is the drop bar rotated so "high up", so that the brake levers point slightly forward instead of pointing straight down? In my touring pictures you can see I had some problems with the riding position, mainly caused a) by the saddle being not in balance b) the stem being slightly too long -> had to reach too far in front -> hands went numb.

Greetings,
-p-

Permalink Reply by Michael Levin on December 22, 2009 at 8:46am

Greetings, Pete,

Your Ciöcc is certainly beautiful. I am impressed that you build these bikes so well from the assorted parts. Do you install your own spokes and true your own wheels? I find that out of my skill range and Jeremy Millner, the bike mechanic on Bike Zoo has done that for me on my '64 Bianchi. His shop, Orange Cycles, has a very sophisticated spoke trimmer and machine he uses to true wheels. I did a little article about it in the Bike Zoo. And, here are some photos of Jeremy working on the Bianchi. He tuned it up so well it rides like ice. He builds custom single speed bikes from old ones and they have a coaster brake and freewheel, so they look fixed but can coast and brake safely.

The previous owner of my Ciöcc had the drop bars positioned that way. I'll move them so they're parallel to the ground. Bill, from the Bike Zoo, has suggested that, as well. I have a Merckx that had a 140mm stem I replaced with a 70mm and it helped my back as well.

This is it, before I replace the stem. Nice Cayman! Cheers, Mike

I haven't had any back pain from this Ciöcc but maybe that's because of the drop bar position.

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