kylecrispin

My local Bike Shop owner's best guess was that this is a Legano. I couldn't find a serial but look at the bolt under the seat post. Also The Drop out has brev. (b4 campy). I read somewhere they didnt start using this abreviation until 1978. So that might help with the year, unless it was replaced. this bike has been hacked on a bit and repainted.

luker

Legnano used that kind of seat fastening from the 30's through the 60's, anyway. The owner of my LBS had a full Record late 60's Legnano given(!) to him recently and it has the binder in front - the lug work is a little different, though, with a long point on the underside of the top tube, and a split in the binder itself. I have seen bikes from the 80's with a conventional binder bolt location. Also, the Legnanos that I've looked at have the serial number on the seat tube, along the side, just below the binder (IIRC...) That looks like a good thick coat of paint, so the serial number may be buried somewhere...

kylecrispin

Yeah the lug work is shorter than most of the pictures I have seen. Legano bought Frejus...Is it possible it could be a Frejus? So is there anyway to tell if the dropouts were added on later? Because the frame is looking to be (maybe)a 60's Legano (that's my working hypothesis right now) but the dropouts supposedly are post 1978??? any thoughts??? If anyone needs a more specific image of any part of the bike tell me and I will post it.

luker

The chainrings, chainring bolts, and dust caps changed from patent to brev in 1978. I see examples of dropouts marked brev as early as 1960...probably earlier. I'd guess that your bike is older than you think.

luker

Do you have any of the original parts, or the original fork?

kylecrispin

I bought FrankenBike just as it looks in the pictures. Only the pedals have been replaced. So unfortunately I do not have any of the original parts or the fork. I am really obsessed with figuring out what this frame is... are there anyother pictures that could be helpful??

luker

okeydokey then. you got a good'un. Too bad you didn't get the fork as it will be nearly impossible to replace. Go beat the crap outta the guy that threw it away, okay?

Your bike is a spitting match for this: https://www.classicrendezvous.com/Ita...gnano_main.htm .

A 1962 Legnano, and a really good model. Don't pay attention to the wierd shifter - it really doesn't belong to this bike.

T-Mar

Yes, it's a Legnano. It's no earlier than 1961, because it's got the the braze-on on the back of the seat lug for the cable hanger for the Universal 61 center-pull brakes. It no later than mid-1970s, when Legnano converted to a standard seat post bolt.

Campagnolo dropouts were normally found only on the top two models, the Roma and the Gran Premio. If there is a split in the seat lug where the binder bolt goes thorough, then it is a Roma and the tubing should be Reynolds 531. Otherwise, it is a Gran Premio and the tubing is likely Falk. The Roma model is generally better finished than the Gran Premio and from what I can see, it looks more like a Gran Premio.

The serial number should be on the left hand side of the seat lug. Are there rivet holes for a headbadge? Are there eyelets on the rear dropouts? Any sign of chrome under the paint on the headlugs, or back/lower half of the chain/seat stays?

kylecrispin

I will go home after work tonight and (after a little ride) do some more investigating. Ill try to get a good pic of wether or not the seat lug has a split etc to answer T-Mar's ???'s . OK and now for the drumroll...and the did I get screwed question......I paid $300 cash...DEAL OR NO DEAL?

kylecrispin

Oh and I just remembered that there are eyelets on the rear drop outs. It is just cut off in the picture above.

kylecrispin

Legnano! oops I have been saying legano this whole time....

luker

wadda ya think the chances are that the seller has the original fork, or anything else from the bike?

kylecrispin

I just e-mailed the guy I bought it from again to ask for the fork etc, who knows if he will reply. I took the bike to my LBS last week because the seat wouldn't stay put and as much as I tried I couldn't get it adjusted properly. The owner of the shop informed me that not only was the seat post in backwards, the bottom bracket was too! So moral of the story is that I don't know much about bikes (this is my first road bike) and the guy who put it together doesn't know that much either. (Frankenbike!)

I just got the GF to check and where the bolt goes through the seat lug is one single piece. So I guess we are moving closer to gran premio.....now we just have to narrow down the year.

luker

Legnanos are kind of a rare piece...I couldn't find catalog references anywhere on the web. The bike pics URL that I posted last night show the location of the serial number - if you can figure out how to tell the serial number you could at least compare it to the serial number in the picture (of the '62). And, T-Mar has a pretty extensive database; he may have a way to decode your number.

luker

the pertinent pic:

kylecrispin

I searched Frankenbike for a serial and I could not find one. I don't know if it was ground off or filled up before the new paint job or what. If the # was in the same area as on the bike in the pic above someone did a great job of covering it up. But when I look at that picture and look at my bike I see twins. It is true that even on the all knowing, all seeing internet there are not many pictures or even much information about these old Legnanos.

kylecrispin

The saga of Frankenbike continues...

Got a new bottom bracket and crank (both shimano 105). I was very embarrassed at the shop as metal shavings from the destroyed shims holding everything together floated to the floor. Also the shifters were on upside down. The strange thing is that after all this the bike is an awesome ride. I heart Frankenbike.

luker

Shouldn't be embarrassed, unless you did the shimming - it isn't clear what was shimmed, though...and how did the shifters work, upside down?

TRaffic Jammer

which builder used the diamond cutout in his lugs?

luker

several...look here:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ht=lug+cutouts

TRaffic Jammer

https://www.classicrendezvous.com/Ita...iaghi_main.htm
that's totally the bike I rode in the 80's messin'...check out the silver one
Drilled campy brake levers, converted to single speed, punch BB no serial anywhere, Campy Record everything, TTT bar and stem ....baby I miss you......

kylecrispin

Where the pedals are attached to the crank levers and where the levers attach to the bottom bracket / crank there was alot of shimming done. So the pedals were kinda loose and the actual crank levers, when tightened all the way could still move back and forth (a lot!). You could grab the lever with your hand and move it back and forth(closer and farther away from the bike....the way it is not supposed to move at all). The bottom bracket was in backwards (italian threaded so more of a pain in the butt than anything). The shifter levers were on upside down so i could push them like 2 inches one way without shifting anything....if that makes sense.

USAZorro

Sounds within the range of being a reasonable price.

The seatpost not staying put might just mean it's got the wrong sized one in there now.

Shift levers upside down, or were on the wrong sides?

T-Mar

Actually, I thought we did pretty good given the circumstances - a repainted frame with no fork, components or serial number. I may have been able to narrow things down further if you had responded to my query about the chrome and rivet holes.

kylecrispin

T-mar,

I was not reffering to the information I got here on BF. I was reffering to the general lack of information available on the entirety of the net on this particular brand of bicycle. I was amazed at how fast we actually got a positive ID on this monstrosity of a construction. I am talking about the after market choping of course and not the original construction.

I checked for the rivet holes and it is smooth up there. I have the feeling though that they may have been filled in just like the serial #. I don't know if this will help but I may have found one interesting thing while installing a cyclocomputer (cateye astrale 8). On the inside of the chainstays there is a rather significant groove. I dont know if this is standard or not. It doesnt run all the way to the drop outs but at least half way I think. Does that help or is that just standard???