The Winning Blue

Gios has been around since the late 1940's, but never seemed to have gained the popularity of some of the other Italian brands (at least not in the United States). For the first 30+ years of their existence, Gios did not build racing frame. Then in 1972 due to a chance meeting, Gios became associated with the Brooklyn Chewing Gum Company, an Italian brand. Brooklyn sponsored a pro race bicycle race team, and Gios made the frame. The blue that has made Gios famous over the years was chosen to match the wrapper for the chewing gun. There's something about the blue that makes it stand out - it's such a cool color.

I'd always liked the looks of the Gios frames, and looked at them on-line for quite a while before finding this one for sale used in 2006. Since I liked the Gios, and I kind of needed a foul-weather bike, I thought that the aluminum framed bike would work perfectly. The A-90 is made of 7003 Aluminum, and replaced the A-70 frame which was the same frame but built from a different aluminum alloy. The A-90 was later replaced by the "New A-90" which changed to a 1-1/8" steerer tube and an integrated headset.

I really enjoy the ride of this bike. It's smooth and comfortable, and tracks really well. I have it built up fairly light, but not ultra-light by any means. It climbs well, and is stable on the downhills. Gios' compact drop-outs are included on this frame and allow for adjusting the chain stay length slightly. I've run them full forward and back, and prefer the bike with the back in the longer stay position - the bike feels to climb better that way when I'm out of the saddle.

The bike has been a good rider so far. I hope that it stays that way for many years to come.

-el 4/08