Do you live in Wisconsin? The reason I ask is because TV Lenny in Madison was responsible for a lot of the Firenze in the USA.

Jeesh, when was it? 1970's or more probably in the 1980's a bunch of made-in-Taiwan Firenze were imported to the USA HOWEVER, they did not meet USA safety codes and could not be sold. Bummer for the company that imported them. Shoulda checked the safety codes first, I guess.

Some clever person found that although they could not be sold, they could be given away - and that is what happened. The Taiwanese Firenze were given away as promotional gifts for customers who bought appliances, stereos, etc.

Like most Taiwanese made things, the Firenze is "OK", nothing to get excited about. It is rather heavy and clunky. The components are of marginal quality. It was a cheap bike that looked like a good bike at the time. It might not have been a great bike, but for the money, it was appealing.