GIRO DAY

GIRO DAY
Q Narrow, nimble Mondial
begs you to thrash it everywhere
1957 MONDIAL 175 TV
RACE-BRED, REVVY AND BEAUTIFUL TO BEHOLD
Engine Air-cooled, 173cc, sohc single Chassis Steel single downtube cradle-type frame The numbers 10bhp, 70mph, 120kg (264lb), £5000-£6000
Mondial punched well above its weight on the world stage, with
the Bologna-based concern’s works racers racking up five world
titles between 1949-57, plus victories in the Milano-Taranto and
Moto Giro d’Italia. And their racing experience heavily influenced
their road bikes. All of which is the attraction of the marque to
Italian enthusiast Giuseppe Garozzo. Now a resident of Sidcup –
where he ran a successful motorcycle dealership for many years –
Giuseppe remains as enthusiastic about Italian metal as he was
when he was a 10-year-old in his native Sicily.
“Growing up in Catania, I was fascinated by bikes,” he says.
“The range of lightweight machines being produced then really
made a mark on me. They were beautiful. And, because I was so
into the racing, the Mondial’s racing heritage really attracted me. I
remember rushing home from work to listen to the day’s results
from the Giro back in the ’50s, so when the event was revived in
2001 I had to compete. I rode every event from 2002-2013 – and
I’ve finished fourth overall twice on this bike.”
Giuseppe has owned the TV for about five years. “Tom [Bolger,
another of our test bike owners] called me and asked if I’d go to
Italy to look at a bike to buy,” he recalls. “I already owned an
earlier model of TV and quite liked it – but I was less happy about
the staid styling so I said to Tom that I’d go with him on the
condition that, if he didn’t buy the bike, I would. In the event, Tom
bid the owner 4500 euros, but didn’t want to pay any more. The
owner was firm at 5000 euros, so I bought it at the asking price.”
The bike looked good. “It was much as it is now cosmetically,”
says Giuseppe. “But although the seller said he had restored it, I
wanted to be certain everything was right, so I stripped it. He’d
done a pretty good job, but one of the valves was on the way out
and the bore was a bit worn, so I wanted to sort those out properly.”
That’s when Giuseppe realised the full extent of the problems
facing would-be Mondial restorers. “Parts are so difficult to
source,” he says. “I couldn’t find an oversize piston and rings
anywhere. In the end, I had to have a new, undersized liner made,
turn down the diameter of the existing piston a fraction and take
some metal off the original rings to get the right gap. I found a
Yamaha valve that was similar to the Mondial part and machined
that down to fit. You have to be resourceful to run a Mondial.”
“But the bike is so beautiful, it’s worth taking a bit more trouble
over. I’ve tried to keep it as original as possible. I still run it on
points ignition and it’s done 15,000 miles since I’ve owned it. With
Mondial’s racing heritage, how could I resist?”
Left-side kickstarts are the order of the day on Italian
lightweights of this era and the Mondial needs only a gentle swing
to burst into surprisingly noisy life. It sounds like the race-bred
thoroughbred it is. A fair few revs are vital to make a brisk
getaway, but once on the move, keeping the free-revving engine on
the boil using the sweet down-for-up gearbox is a delight.
The bike is so narrow, light and nimble, I feel I could almost
ride it flat out everywhere – and the full-width brakes are pretty
effective at scrubbing off a bit of speed should the occasion
demand. After 200 miles of a Giro stage, maybe that seat wouldn’t
feel quite as great as it looks, but on the sort of roads we’re riding
today – a mixture of minor B-roads and unclassified lanes – I
really feel the Mondial is all I need.
OWNING ONE: Go for completeness, counsels Giuseppe.
“Because Mondial were a fairly small-scale producer, parts are
scarce. But because of that, models like this are appreciating in
value and it makes sense to spend a bit to keep them in good
condition. You’ll either need a contact in Italy to source whatever
is remaining, or get parts re-manufactured.
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