Classic & Vintage - Pitiful 22" C. ITOH?? 1970?

My brother in law just delivered this pitiful C Itoh to me. I think it was Katrined; the brake levers-with the extra lever-are beyond repair-and the frame is a bit rusty, but not dented.
It looks fairly worthless, despite the rear triangle and fork being fully chromed under the paint, and the frame being reasonably light.
It had QR front wheel-steel-and wingnut kinda qr rear wheel. It reminds me of a bike I bought about 1969 with wingnuts(they seemed very high tech to me then).
What is C Itoh. It says made in Japan. It is a bike boom bike? It did have a decent Sun Tour long cage derailleur, and nice enough bar end ****ers in good shape-Maxy crank-Maeda 5 speed freewheel-big cog-maybe 32 or so.
I will probably dip the entire frame in citric citric acid to de rust it.
I'm thinking of giving the frame away(but not the fork). Doubt it is worth shipping too big for me-22 C-C.
Any ideas on the when and what? Anyone-near New Orleans- want the frame post dipping-free?
Thanks,
Charlie

Frame = basic carbon steel
Marque = basic bargain basement
Crank = basic bargain basement cotterless
bottom line: not worth alot of time or money

And if you want to de-rust it, go with oxalic acid, sold as wood bleach most hardware stores. Works wonderful!

Thanks for the response.
John E, yes, I kinda figured it was a low end early bike boom bike. Why did they bother to chrome this sort of frame? I wondering if the metal was so rust prone, and the paint so iffy, that they felt the need for an extra layer on protection? Seems like a waste of $$-. I will use it to test a derusting technique.

evwxxx- might try it. I have used citric acid to go effect, might be interesting to see how oxalic works.
Thanks,
Charlie

Looks like a good fixie/ss project, but definitely not worth restoring. For rust treatment, try phosphoric acid. Boat stores have a product for use on heavily rusted metal in a marine environment.

.
What is C Itoh. It says made in Japan. It is a bike boom bike?

According to articles I've read, C. Itoh was the forerunner to Bridgestone Bicycles in Japan.

If it had the fork and was a centimeter smaller I'd take it!

I don't think the chroming thing is that uncommon for the era, ive seen quite a few cheap bikes with the chroming dealy like that, usually the "top of the line" (isnt that an oxy moron?) bikes in department stores had it.

For anyone who's concerned that the suicide lever brakes on their bike are toast, I have about 14 million sets that I will never, so help me God, ever ever use. Anyone is welcome to a set for the cost of shipping.

For anyone who's concerned that the suicide lever brakes on their bike are toast, I have about 14 million sets that I will never, so help me God, ever ever use. Anyone is welcome to a set for the cost of shipping.

Can't you make a wind chime or something? :)

I garbage picked a couple bikes a few weeks apart. One was a C. Itoh and the other was a Chubei. Oddly enough, the only differences where paint color and seats, though the C. Itoh had a messenger seat on it that I assume is not original. Both were suntour equipped 10 speed ladies bikes with north road bars and fenders. Even the frames looked identical. I still have the Chubei because it was actually in decent shape and will clean up really nice. so I guess my question is, were these made by the same company?

Can't you make a wind chime or something? :)

I can think of a million uses, shrapnel being the highest calling amongst them. There seem to be people, however, who would still consider using them on bicycles for some reason, and I feel like they ought to be given priority!

For anyone who's concerned that the suicide lever brakes on their bike are toast, I have about 14 million sets that I will never, so help me God, ever ever use. Anyone is welcome to a set for the cost of shipping.

Time to bring those down to the local forge and have them remanufactured into something useful. Like a Cannnondale or something.

Neal