Originally Posted by
Condorino
A colleague in Italy finally resolved the mystery around the two numbers that Legnano stamped on the seat lug when the actual serial numbers on the seat lug ended in mid 1966. In the photo at the top of this thread the number '10' represents the production from the first quarter of 1970. '26' referencing the second quarter of 1966 is the earliest marking that has surfaced and '13' representing the first quarter of 1973 being the last found so far.
This is, at last, interesting, however; my bike bears the two digit stamp 18. Does this mean that my Grand Premio is from the second quarter of 1973? I, actually, find that kind of surprising. Why..?
The one thing that really puzzles me is when did the stenciled on down tube art disappear, to be replaced with a decal? I thought the painted stencil version indicated a sixties, or earlier, vintage...
The front mounted seat post binder bolt - when did it disappear? Once again, I thought that this style of seat post clamp bolt did not find its way into the 1970s. They are unusual and getting hard to find.
Then, I turn to one of my favorite Legnano features, the lovely head badge. I see most seventies bikes sporting a head tube decal rather than a badge...
I got my Legnano as a frame, fork and head set only. I have since collected as many original components as I can find for it, including an embossed head set, a pantographed Campy high flange hub set, and a Legnano pantographed cottered crank set. This bike is one of my favorites of all time and the more I can learn about it is important to me. Any help or advice that you can share would be much appreciated.