Ernie's Best Builds: Gloria Garibaldina Extra Corsa

Ernie the corgi is known around these parts for his discerning taste in bicycles. This year, we wanted to highlight some of his favorite bike builds. Day five of Ernie's Best Builds goes to this pristine Gloria Garibaldina Extra Corsa. The Gloria name was synonymous with the quality in cycling, all the way to the start of WWII. Gloria Garibaldina bikes were characteristically differentiated by their unique lily lugwork. The Garibaldina bikes were unique in their satin nickel frames as well, which highlight the beauty of said lugwork. In fact, the legend goes that this lugwork is said to have inspired Ernesto Colnago in his Arabeque lugwork as well, as his first bike was a Gloria Garibaldina. It wasn't just for the delicate lugwork that these bikes are sought after; they were serious racing machines! The 1922 world championships were won on a Gloria, just one year after they started building bikes. The next few years saw wins in several notable races including the Giro d'Italia. Perhaps the most unique part of this bike has to be the Campagnolo Cambio Corsa drivetrain, which was the first derailleur setup of it's kind. There were no spring-based derailleur to take up the slack at the time, but a second mechanism to move the rear wheel back and forth in the rear dropouts. The two levers found on the drive-side chainstays allowed to move the wheel to tension the chain and move the chain between the four different gears. More than anything, the Cambio Corsa is considered the genesis of modern derailleur systems everywhere. We're fortunate to have this unique piece of history here in our shop. Come on down and check it out, or send an email to info@contenderbicycles.com.