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.

Wood wheel builds

     These are a pair of wheel Curtis recently built for a customer. They are a cool modern solution for older bikes circa turn of the century. The rims are basically a single wall 700C clincher rim with a wooden top attached to them. This enables you to use a regular clincher tire on a bike that would originally use a single tube pneumatic tire / rim combo. Also of note, usually the rim size would be 28", so these are a bit smaller in diameter. The rims come unfinished. These had a couple coats of shellac applied, giving them a wonderful honey finish. Color can be adjusted depending on preference. Add some striping, get nutty!  Riding on original wooden rims / tires can be risky as the tires are likely to crumble. Great idea for a parade bike / Eroica type set-up. Then you can preserve the original wheels for show / display purposes on the bike. Contact us for pricing!

Patent Pending

     I find things while looking for other things on a daily basis around here. These items are a good example. These are two front derailleurs which have been modified to enhance their performance, I think. The first is the Campagnolo one which has had a much larger cage, (which has an adjustable outer plate) bolted to the stock inner cage plate. This was done, I assume to use a very small inner chain ring with a larger outer. My only question is: What was done to the rear derailleur to compensate for all those extra chain links?! Also of note is that this derailleur is an early version with the unslotted cable stop and bronze arms! The Second is a Suntour Cyclone which also has had the cage elongated for the same purpose. It was done by brazing on an additional length of cage to the existing one. Both are home spun solutions to a problem. I wonder if the creators got the desired results? One way to find out  I guess...

Awesome customer's bike: Gios Pista

     This bike belongs to a good customer of ours. It was in the shop for a component change last week. We also recently overhauled the Campagnolo TBS pedals not too long ago for him. He also owns the emerald green Raleigh Pista bike I posted here a little while back. This one is a heavily  patina'd Gios Pista / track frame and fork set up with Campagnolo C-record components. Most striking are the sheriff star hubs, a stylish classic as well as the head set and cranks. This bike is aged to perfection, in my opinion. Used as a work bike no doubt for a while. I really like bikes that show what they have been through. I am not a re-paint guy, unless Peter Weigle does it, his re-finish work is top shelf! Enjoy the photos!

Craigslist is a funny place sometimes...

Drysdale

Alvin Drysdale Velox Cycle Co. head tube. New York, NY.