For more than ten years my friend Antonio had left his Francesco Moser bike abandoned in his garage. A collision with a scooter had made it unusable: the rear triangle was completely bent.
Repairing and restoring a Francesco Moser steel frame
After looking in vain for someone who could put the frame right, he had almost given up. Everyone told him to throw it all away and buy a nice new carbon bike, but he was too fond of his bike, and of steel, to do that.
Some time ago, in his own words, he heard about a craftsman who was helpful and skilled. A little hesitant, he sent me the photos of the bike (you can see two of them above). His persistence paid off: the miracle happened. :)
What I did
- I took photos at the start to remember the position of every logo.
- At a paint shop specialising in car body work I searched through all the colour charts for the exact original shade.
- I stripped all the components (an 1980s Shimano Dura-Ace groupset) and cleaned them.
- I sandblasted the frame, keeping the original chrome on the chainstay.
- Very slowly, with the torch, a surface plate and several techniques, I managed to realign the frame.
- Paint, with all the various coats.
- I remade all the logos and decals, respecting fonts, sizes, shapes and colours, and put them back in place on the frame.
- Final coat of scratch-resistant clear lacquer.
- I built the wheels with new period rims and spokes.
- I refitted all the components, cleaned and polished.
The result? After my work the Moser frame was reborn, and this is how the whole bicycle looked:
If you too have an old steel bike you are fond of, don't throw it away: write to me and send me a few photos, and we'll see together what can be done.
Warm regards and happy riding,
Vincenzo
