Over the past couple years within the walls of a small non-profit community bike shop I've refurbished hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of bikes. Many of them have blended and blurred together in a hazy foggy soupy slurry of new cables & housing, brake pads, chains, tubes, tires, rusty reach adjustment screws and sleep deprivation. But this Univega Specialissima is one of those bikes that stands out in the crowd. A bike if seen locked-up outside the post office I would instantly know as one into which I poured a couple hours of my life and it didn't feel like, as Stevil described the assembly of entry level bikes - dying a little bit - as it does with all the chunky clunky aluminum front-suspsension mountain bikes I've put my hands on.
The Specialissima was a top-shelf sport-touring bike from the early 80's that was built for Univega by Miyata. The origianl owner of this Specialissima bought it at Gregg's and gently rode it here and there before it sat in the garage for 25 years or so. It's got all the braze-ons and do-dads and plenty of clearance for giant tires and fenders. And now it's free to roam the streets again. You might see it around town for the next 30 years or so
pay no mind to those handlebars a country mile high the frame & fork are where it's at long-point lugs with hand painted diamond cutouts and a fork crown Grant Peterson would admire
the complete bike is $405 at Bike Works
Add Comment