1970 Giuseppe Pelà built Faema replica

Giuseppe Pelà was one of that small number of master 

frame builders that have become part of the rich tapestry 

of cycling lore and legend.

Pelà is known for never building frames under his own name,

preferring to construct high end frame sets for elite riders 
and in the case of Feama, the whole team in 1969(?), 
and flagship frames for established brands,
 Masi and Gios to just name two!

Apparently he also taught Irio Tommasini the fine art of 

Frame building, as I said a master builder.

Guiseppe Pela, Paratella  and Angelo Picchio

photo Courtesy of Classic Rendezvous

 In the early 1970's Pelà's wife became seriously ill,

Pelà stopped building frames to look after her and 
never built another frame as far as I could find.

I have this card pinned above my workbench, I would often 

take it down and study the details that have already 
been etched into my memory..

 so of course I had to build a Faema team replica bike at 
some stage, you know, like Merckx rode...who doesn't.

 I brought this frame out of Italy from a collector whom I

have brought several frames from, it had been repainted 

at least once, so there was no way to tell what name it had 

originally been built under, which suited me fine for this 

particular project, sadly I forgot to photograph the frame

before I stripped it...damn.

Anyway here is the finished result.

I hope you enjoy the photos, I know I really enjoyed the

process of working on a master builders frame and 
recreating one of Merckx's iconic bikes at the same time.