I thought pretty good for $480.00 AUD landed. Thoughts?
Not the worlds best finished frame, but it’s pretty sweet.
A friend of mine has one and he loves it. The finish on them is pretty nice. Haven’t ridden it so that’s all I’ve got…
It’s also got the genuine annoying Italian bottom bracket threading too! (for added Soul)
Planet X and On-One regularly have great deals. Brand spankers and made in Italia is amazing for that price.
I’d actually prefer if it was made in Taiwan. For at least the last 20 years only a few framebuilders in Italy actually care about what they do, whereas the taiwanese have got better and to my opinion surpass the very average Italian production quality.
If people are paying extra for Made in Italy then it says something about the market place.
If ‘Made in Italy’ means what it does in other manufacturing industries then I very much doubt that the vast majority of fabrication would actually be taking place IN Italy anyway.
I reckon they’re ok. The pistas look good too.
i’ve built one, it was muh. rode alright, finish was friggen average, didn’t really excite me.
This is what I feared.
Guerciotti is one of the most renowned framebuilders of the past 40 years. Guerciotti frames continue to be individually handmade in Italy by master builders under the careful supervision of Paolo and his son, Alessandro.
^^ Marketing BS then??
Surely they couldn’t make that statement if it’s false.
I’ve fixed that for you so it’s easy to read.
Guerciotti used to be a renowned framebuilders 40 years ago. Guerciotti frames are subcontract built by tender in Taiwan. Paolo and his son, Alessandro are resurrecting the old name and hoping their former cache and some marketing might make them some quick $'s with all the renewed hype about classic lugged steel. The frames are decalled, stickered and packaged for distribution in Italy so to have some small portion of them Made in Italy.
Probably more realistic is that the Guerciotti family got an offer from a company that wanted to pay for their naming rights in return for a margin of each frame. That I’m not sure of. Happens all the time though.
Doesn’t mean they are bad frames though. Masi is a similar company. All recent production is made in Taiwan and I’ve enjoyed each one I’ve ridden. Good value, well designed, nicely made. It’s got an Italian name … that’s about it (and probably better for it if you ask me).
^Fuck… I can be so naive sometimes. Thanks for the reality check Spirito.
I’m gloating over my bargain Mystery frame at the moment anyway.
Much ferreting , and many emails reveals it’s a Vetta built in Padua (Italy), by a family owned business that’s still in existance and producing today. Spoke to the owner of Panda imports in WA who brought frames in during the 80’s, and then contacted Antonio Taverna in Italy who is posting me a set of Decals FOC . Will be a pasta and rice mish mash to get it rolling on a budget, but it ticks all my boxes for an Italian hand built Columbus frame of Euro origins.
I still doubt it very much. $480 landed in Oz … means $440-ish if you take $40 for a bulk shipping discount to us here. Of that $440 I’d factor in perhaps $150 margin (maybe more) that Planet X is making selling them to retail punters. That leaves $290. Lugs, steel, brass, gas, consumables etc is gonna cost about $100 if their doing large scale production. $190 = Paint, labour, freight, profit for Guerciotti … you get the picture.
Shit at that price I’d be surprised if these weren’t made in Eastern Europe as even Taiwan can’t make them that cheap and freight them to Italy.
Hand built Italian means Vetta is tendering the frames built is Asia and slapping the decals (including Made In Italy) somewhere along the way to Planet X.
All I’m saying is the myth of Italian built specialness is history and that far better production values and quality comes from Asia. I’d rather respect who’s actually building them and quit the charade. Guerciotti used to be very special, these frames are fine for what they are but far from something that deserves reverence or cred.
Most any Aussie built from from the late 80’s is as good as this Guecriotti produced 20+ years later. And the Aussie built frame is more than likely made by the same person who has his name on the downtube. 10 years from now I know which one represents better value and will be more collectable. Bargains in your backyard … but not for long.
Shit Spirito thank kinda talk will start another vintage gold rush 
Nah, us Aussie’s have always been insecure suckers buying into the myth of Italian maestro’s. That would have been true in the 60 and 70’s. By the 80’s all of Italy was cashing in on the craze.
I’ll give props to HeavyMetal though … he made me laugh hard when we were last talking about bikes/values and he dropped the term “before the great fixie crash”. I don’t know if there’ll be an “Aussie made” boom but it wouldn’t be a bad thing either.
Reality is that I know a lot of bike people worldwide who own Colnago’s (insert any other famous Italian name), and only a handful of those people actually own a Colnago made by Colnago. The rest of 99.999% of Colnago’s were made by Luigi, Pierro, Alfonso and a bunch of other contractors who prolly never even rode a bike, lived for spaghetti westerns and dreamt of working in an office instead of drudge labouring, welding pipes and being smelly.
Huh??? The Vetta I’m refering to was a built and imported late 80’s. Not sure what it’s got to do your Asia lecture.
You posting pissed again? (pokes tounge out)
Puts my Colnago fetish into perspective.
confirm Vetta is boutique stuff made in Italy (thread drift)… have a mate who visited the factory, well dingy little workshop actually. Dave, you might want to visit and eyeball the Vetta Max frameset I have stashed at home…
Ooh, sounds noice. I’ve seen pics of the w/shop online and google map/street viewed it. Antonio Taverna was very helpful when I emailed him. I know its probably all a bit corny, but I love the romance of italian steel being crafted in its homeland. It was Ducatis in my youth, and now its the cycling mystique. Mine is 100% late 80’ s italian.