Gloria Garibaldina Extra Rare Road Bike 1950s

The bicycle brand Gloria was founded in the year 1921 in Milan by Alfredo Focesi.
Focesi helped Giovanni Gerbi in his company Cicli Gerbi in Milan before starting his own business. The idea of founding the company was spun by Artemisia Gerbi, Focesi's wife who happened to be Giovanni Gerbi's sister, Francesco Galmozzi and Focesi himself, who had the idea to build racing machines for the popular cycling sport.

Gloria had an immediate success, when in 1922 the world championships were won on one of their road bikes. The company was able to move into different facilities and took advantage of regular improvements by Galmozzi. Insights into different aspects of frame building resulted into bikes which were pretty advanced in their design.
These machines were some of the finest you could get and were ridden by famous champions the like of Learco Guerra and Girardengo. In 1926, Galmozzi left the company to found his own workshop but Gloria stayed successful. From 1927 on, the company sponsored a professional team, which was able to win the Giro d'Italia in 1931.

The sportive success was just one of the reasons, why Gloria bikes were admired and searched for. The other side was their intricate design.
The top class frames received an extensive nickel coating and the most beautiful floral lugwork. In fact these lugs are said to have inspired Ernesto Colnago to his Arabesque models. This is not completely unlikely since Colnago had been an apprentice at Gloria and his first bike was a Gloria Garibaldina.

The Gloria Garibaldina Extra we are presenting here is one of those delicate bikes which many riders dreamed to own. It was made at the beginning of the 1950s and was meant to be used with a French Simplex derailleur system. In addition to the awe-Inspiring lugs, one detail is utterly amazing indeed: The complete cable routing was executed internally!
The frame has obviously been refurbished and the paintjob is pitch perfect.
On the technical side we find a nice combination of Gnutti hubs, Magistroni cranks, Cinelli stem, a decorated handlebar, Universal brakes and more top class parts.

A terrifically aesthetic bike which will enrich any collection.
Exquisite and impossible to resist.