Bike Check: Pinarello Vuelta

Bike Check: Pinarello Vuelta

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Founded by Giovanni Pinarello in 1952, Pinarello isn’t a brand that needs much introduction. With that in mind, we’ll do what we can to keep this brief and get right to the bike. This Pinarello Vuelta is currently in Broad Street Cycles on consignment, though maybe not for long, so we thought we’d take a closer look while its here. And there are some fun things going on. Like that crazy ‘Mutant’ stem from 3T. Beyond that, this Pinarello is an almost entirely purebred Italian race bike. 3T and Campagnolo, both storied Italian brands, make everything on the bike except the wheels and bottle cage. Even then, this Vuelta doesn’t stray too far from home turf, with the wheels coming from Mavic’s factory just across the border in France.

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Pinarello’s bear the name of their home town, Trevisio, Italy, on the head badge

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Waves of colour roll across the top tube

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The wonderfully lugged seat tube junction. And a couple more ‘Pinarello’s, in case you forgot

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An amazingly unique Mutant stem from Italian component manufacturer, 3T

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3T takes care of the entire cockpit on this Pinarello, making this a nearly purely Italian racer

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Campagnolo Chorus groupset with how many gears?

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There’s even a tidy little G.P. tucked in there on the front derailleur mount

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The Chromed fork crown is an eye catching feature, even below a Campy Chorus headset

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More chrome on the chain stays. Why have a protector, when you could just use chrome?

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Basically anywhere it’s feasible, the Pinarello name has been stamped into the Vuelta frame

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It’s even hiding down there in the very nice bottom bracket lug

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A full Campagnolo Chorus group set adorns Pinarello’s Vuelta frame

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Not to be outdone, Champy have also found a way to stamp their name wherever they can

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Brev Campagnolo stamped into each chainring, along with a big ‘Made in Italy’ is a nice touch

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But they get right down into the details, like stamping every chainring bolt

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Pinarello sneaks another one in on the dropout

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Campagnolo’s Chorus 10-speed rear mech

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And once more, for good measure: Pinarello

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Open Pro rims from French company, Mavic, are the only non-Italian parts on this Vuelta

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A classic steel frame still has the full frame-pump mount hiding on the back side of the head tube

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An Italian race machine through and through, even the seat post is Campy. Who knew they made those?

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