Recent personal acquisition: Early 1970's Frejus a'la Legnano

     This is a bike I recently added to my personal collection. It is an early 1970's Frejus, purchased from the original owner. The bike was purchased from the Di Campli (sorry if that is the improper spelling) brothers shop on Quince St. in center city Philadelphia back in the early 1970's (72'-or 73') The bike is in fantastic original condition with the exception of the added rear rack (which is coming off!), newer tubular tires and bar tape. Everything else is original to the bike! This bike is a prime candidate for complete restoration, which I will be doing over the coming weeks. All I have done so far is oil everything and put air in the tires. It rides great already. The bike was well maintained / stored for many years.
     This bike has many unique features such as the original Legnano green color paint and the signature Legnano seat cluster. Emilio Bozzi owned three companies including Frejus, Legnano, and Woolsit. Frejus had their own signature color schemes / frame details and this bike has some of those and then the Legnano details I mentioned. Also, the bike has no braze-ons for fender eyelets and a relatively tight rear triangle which tells me it is a professional level race bike. The bike has no serial number either, which is a bit odd. It is my understanding that these bikes were only made for a couple years and were not meant to be exported. I have only seen one other like this. The bike is built with a Campagnolo Nuovo Record group and Universal model 61 center pull brakes / levers, 3TTT stem and Bar combo which was stock for the bike, also a nice touch are the Gaslo aluminum bar end plugs. Stella double butted spokes and red label Fiamme rims and Brooks Professional saddle in great shape. REG water bottle and REG erector set bottle cage as well as Silca Impero frame pump. I will post photos after the restoration is complete. I am glad to be the bike's steward and look forward to the project.

Cool shop bike: early to mid 1950's Frejus Super Corsa

     It's been a minute since a profiled one of the bikes in our collection. This is a good one. it is an early to mid 1950's  Frejus Super Corsa. Frejus is an older marque based out of Torino, Italy for much of its history. They were founded in 1896 by Emmo Ghelfi and he retained control to the mid 1940's. It was later obtained by Emilio Bozzi and co-produced in Milan with his Legnano and Woolsit brands.
       Frejus is one of the first classic bikes I was drawn to, mainly because of the head badge. There were also a lot of them brought into the country through NYC, and as a result there are more examples in this area of the country (northeast). Upon closer inspection of the details, one can get a deeper appreciation for their construction. They also have really classy decal and paint schemes with nice amounts of chrome.
     This bike also has lots of early touches., like the Frejus stamped components. The headset, cranks, brakes, and pedals all bear the Frejus stamp. The head set and cranks were made by Magistroni. The brakes look like Universal, but have quite unique QR mechanisms that are not on Universal brakes. if anyone can inform me about their origin, I am all ears. I am not sure who made the pedals, perhaps Sheffield? The bike also has the nice Frejus decaled alloy fenders. These ones are four pieces, and commonly removed for racing purposes, then put back on for commuting use. The stays are very sturdy and have nice acorn type nuts. Also, early Campagnolo Gran Sport derailleurs and shifters with open "C" stampings, which helps date the bike. The rear drop outs are also quite early, they bear the "Brev.0" stamp which are shown in the first couple Campagnolo catalogs from the early 50's and  shown with the toothed type used for the Cambio Corsa and Paris Roubaix gear systems. It has early Campagnolo hubs with the early logos, laced to Ambrosio tubular rims. The seat cluster and fork crown are somewhat iconic to the Frejus marque, it also has the zirc  (grease nipple) fitting on the back of the head tube, a sign of the higher end model.  I also really like the Ambrosio bar and stem combo. the paint and decals are original, and in great shape for their age.  The serial number is 40733 and also has a stamp of MC 54 on the BB shell, which is the size. the bike has a 54cm seat tube (center to top) and 55CM top tube (center to center).
     Enjoy the photos!