1981 Faggin Racing Bicycle

High Anxiety... the decals are applied to the 1981 Faggin

N's favourite photo... so it has pride of place.

The day of judgement... well decal-ment arrived! I could no longer postpone the inevitable. The decals, original in design, modern in material and Australian in origin, had sat on my desk for far too long. it was time. Carpe Decal!

After many weeks, with little success, of trawling the web for photo's of early 80's Faggin frames I decided to do it my way... apply the decals where I (and N... and Leslie... and anyone else I interrogate for an opinion) judged they looked the best.

With the mantras of 'small is beautiful' and 'less-is-more' being mumbled in the garden, along with the knowledge that the last time I had applied a decal Margaret Thatcher was destroying the UK's manufacturing base, I was wearing a school uniform and the object of application was an Airfix Spitfire Mk. XII (it didn't go well... the fighter later made the ultimate sacrifice in the horrific battle of the TV room Barbie dolls!) Ignoring the past, I decided to start with the smallest decal in the envelope, the 'Made in Italy' sticker. The paint scheme seemed to have left the perfect place for it so - having read the accompanying instructions for the 26th time - I peeled the backing, placed the decal, tweaked its position and... [dramatic drum roll] ... pressed firm. There will be no air bubbles on this frame! It all seemed to go rather well and the climax was rather anti- but good!

The first decal - the Columbus SL decal is original.

Feeling ever so slightly pleased with myself I decided to finish the top tube. Next step, the all-important head-set logo, that I'm not, in hindsight, so sure I positioned perfectly!

Slightly wonky? Designed to put off the person whose wheel I'm sitting on!

I didn't want too many labels on this part of the frame and decided on only the Faggin script name logo. Again the paint scheme seemed to guide the way... (perhaps it could be higher?)

With the addition of the Radklassiker event number - held on by l'eroica-esque, and thus authentic (sic) string - the front end was complete...

Standing back a few steps and it all starts to make sense ...

My confidence grew with this, to be honest, unexpectedly aesthetic result (along with the two-dozen or so emails I'd sent to the 'Bergische Land Canadian Guru of all things bicycle' - my friend Leslie, of 'Travels With a Tin Donkey' fame. It was now time to tackle the seat tube; the down-tube looked far too tricky at this point. That wonderful tri-colour paint job job again came to the rescue and made the positioning very simple. Tube profiles, however, were another story. Decals selected, instructions re-read, and away I went. First job... position the decals... deep breath... stick!

My Orson Wells shot!

You can see the character of the bike visibly changing.

Next came the down-tube and some nervous positioning.

Which you can now see with the seat tube ...

Shimano 600 1981

I thought I'd finished but I was mistaken. An inspired piece of design thinking by the wonderful N led to an addition 24 hours later, which you can see, err, later! In the meantime, here's a few more shots of the Faggin so far ...

and ...

OK, as I mentioned the '81 Shimano 600, here's the rear cassette (my turbo training wheel.)

So, the bike was complete... or so I thought. This is what she looked like at this stage of the procedure.

A little tweak of the bars later and ...

Now to the final insight, much heated and anxious debate and, eventually, to a very late-night application. What to do with the 'Campione del Mondo' decals? On the day it was decided, enough-is-enough, the Frame speaks clearly but not too loudly!

However... N, the ultra-scientist that she is, spotted the asymmetry between the red-white-&-blue on the down tube and thought the 'sticker' (yes, she said sticker... but we forgive.) with the Italian words would fit into the space. Oh, if she hadn't been 100% spot-on... as she usually is!

They were added and ... Voila! She lives, the Faggin LIVES (cue manic laughter!)

the end... or is it?

Only one question remains... Who is Conni? Where is the bike shop? What can they tell me about the Faggin that has just emerged like a butterfly from a admittedly understated and sexy cocoon?