Virginia Competition Artisan Road Bike 1973

Orazio Grenzi started working at different artisan bike shops in Modena from a very young age. In 1962, having gained the necessary experience, he opened his own workshop, in which he should build bespoke bicycles for the whole length of his career.
The brand Name Virginia, which is actually his mother's name, was introduced few years later.
Like with other artisans in the area such as Luciano Paletti and Licino Marastoni, with whom he collaborated, his work stood out both in terms of the quality of his frames and the level of experimentation.
Orazio was one of those manufacturers who were always looking for a new solution to improve the performance of the classic steel frame.

Talking about Luciano Paletti: Orazio Grenzi build the frames for his brand in the early 1970s. And it was Luciano to whom Orazio sold his workshop after he was asked to lead the serial road bike production of 3T Tecnotelai (a company which was an adventure in itself and which ended bankrupt after several years).
For some years Paletti made frames with a Virginia/Paletti double logo.
In the end Orazio came back to build his masterfully crafted frames, before he handed the torch to his nephew in 1987 for good.

To understand what makes his bikes special, we just have to look at our Virginia Competition from 1973. A bike which was build for the cycling shop Vaccari (thus the Vaccari decals).
The frame itself shows several refined and typical details like the special clamps on the top tube, inserted into small soldered brackets, which hold the braking cable in space. Or the 'swallow tail' fork ends and specifically filed Campagnolo dropouts.
Every bit of the frame is thought through and penultimately forms a sculpture as well as a machine.

Regarding the equipment, the bike has been evenly finely tuned.
Millings and drillings on the parts are obvious. But it is also the quality of the components itself.
A top class Cinelli Cockpit and saddle are in place as well as light and high-end aluminium headset by F.T. and an aluminium freewheel by Caimi plus an Everest Special chain.
We also have to talk about the rims:
Martano made some of the finest and most searched for rims in the world.
Our Virginia has two of them, the one in the front even being a 28 hole version!

Understatement, elegance, performance. All of which is united in this bike.
A stunning piece of artisan craftsmanship and a beautiful bike in every way.