The Winning Blue at 50

In 1998 the Cinquantenario was introduced to commemorate Gios's 50th anniversary. Gios began building frames in 1948, and in the 1970's began producing racing frames that were painted blue to match the blue of the Brooklyn Chewing Gum Company team jerseys. The frames became famous as Roger De Vlaeminck raced them to victory in the on-day classics races. The distinctive color remained even after the team sponsors changed.

According to Gios's web site: 1998 represented a major goal for the Gios bicycle company - it’s 50th Anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, the company created a vanguard product with special technical concepts - the "Cinquantenario". This frame was produced using Dedacciai 7003 tubing, thermally treated and with Gios Compact rear drop-outs in the same alloy but treated at T6 state. 48 hours after brazing, the frame is thermally treated a second time with 2 heating and 2 cooling phases.

The Cinquantenario frame remained unchanged from it's introduction in 1998 until today. In 2009 I replaced a Gios A-90 frame that I'd owned for two and a half years with a brand new Cinquantenario. The frame are similar, but the Cinquantenario is slightly lighter (actually 250g lighter), and slightly nicer finish. The primary reason for the switch was to go from a 59cm to a 58cm frame in the hopes for a lsightly better fit. The components were moved from the old frame to the new.

-el 6/09