1949 Galetti
1949 Galetti road bike
The Galetti bicycle company was formed in 1920 and named for Italian cycling legend Carlo Galetti. Carlo won the Giro d’ Italia in 1910, 1911, and 1912.
Bike racing star endorsements go way back, and Eddy Merckx, Fausto Coppi, Greg LeMond, Mario Cipollini, Andy Hampsten, Chris Boardman, and Steve Bauer bicycles are keeping up a long tradition.
This particular Galetti is a classic Italian road racing machine from 1949.
It is equipped with Campagnolo’s famous single-lever Paris Roubaix shifting system, made famous by the fact that you had to disconnect the rear wheel while the bike was moving in order to operate the derailleur (it was lovingly nicknamed the suicide shifter). The single lever loosened the rear wheel in the frame dropouts. By pedaling backwards while the wheel was loose (and the little derailleur fork was pushing on the chain) you could shift to a different gear.
The 1949 model year of this bike also happens to be the same year that Carlo Galetti, the bicycle’s namesake, passed away. Just to be clear, Carlo’s death was unrelated to any bicycle shifting mishap.
The bike’s namesake, cycling star Carlo Galetti
Galetti head tube badge
The Paris Roubaix shifter. Sometimes known as the suicide shifter
Derailleur systems from the early days
Vintage water bottles
This small secondary bottle was for “energy” drinks and tonics
1949 was a famous year for Italian cycling, with Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali battling each other for the win first in the Giro d’ Italia and again on the dusty mountain roads of the Tour de France.
Since the original owner of this bike is unknown, it is most fun to imagine the bike far behind Bartali and Coppi at the Giro, under some struggling anonymous domestique…