The bars had a black finish near the stem, but it had been beaten pretty bad during the shimming process, and they looked terrible. I farted around with cheap bars and shims cut from beer cans - I got plenty drunk making shims, but had no luck with getting my bars to stay in place while I rode until I put some roof flashing in as a shim - but I was not pleased with the result.

Laughing to myself at my rebate, I took the crazy handlebars off and tried to fit a set of drop bars I had in my parts box to the Cinelli stem - only to find that this stem was one of the ones that was larger sized than your standard drop bar. After letting him down easy, I examined my treasure and immediately found $20 in the seat pouch. Unfortunately Chris (my neighbor) didn't end up with this bike as his 'beater'. He had stored it for years, had lost contact with the ex roommate, and decided he'd looked at it for long enough. I did have to ask why he was selling it so cheap, and he told me his roommate had bought it, rode it a bit, then moved out and left it behind. When we hooked up to make the exchange, I took one look at the Dura Ace STI levers hanging off of the weird Profile triathlon bars, gave him his money and went on my merry way. His asking price was $120 and I didn't try to bargain over the phone at all, which I find pretty rare as a seller, so I assume he appreciated it. He was shocked at my response speed and agreed on a meeting time.

The ad was coupled with a terrible photo taken in a dark garage, and I was the first person who emailed the seller.

Reading the ad, I got very excited, because it said nothing about the bike other than it said 'Univega', 'Prestige', and 'Ultraleggera' on it, and that it was white. I had finally talked him into it (of course, offering my mechanical services, as I am wont to do) and I was on the lookout for a nice steel bike for him when I saw an ad for a 'Univega Race Bike' on Craigslist. About a year ago, I was riding a lot with my neighbor, Chris, and was extolling the virtues of having an old steel framed bike to turn into a singlespeed, beat around on, etc. If there is no serial number near the cranks, you should check other common places including the front headset or rear stays. Turn your bike upside down and record the number. The majority of serial numbers are located under the bottom bracket where the two pedal cranks meet.

Univega serial number year guide