Colnago Mixte

Anyone who bought a TV or a stereo at a small independent shop during the 1980's probably ended up with at least one of these. Millions were built and given away. They became a running joke for many decades, and most ended undoubtedly up in landfills. Thrift stores had difficulty even giving them away.



But at last, after decades of people disposing of them in one way or another, these bikes are finally becoming relatively scarce. I only saw one Ebay ad for one. Yes, they were hi-ten steel, yes, the components were garbage, and almost no one ever rode the things. But I am wondering if the Firenze free bike that came with your stereo has a place in history. Not because it was a great bike, but because there were once so many, and now so few. And people remember them from the 80's.

Many times, the things people least expect to become collectible, become collectible.

Lots of old Schwinns are heavy, outdated, and virtually un-ridable. But they are collectible and valuable. Will the Firenze be the same?

T-Mar

I don't think these will ever become valuable, despite their rarity. Schwinns are collectible because of the affinity their owners developed for them and Schwinn's reputation during their era of poularity. People pay big money to trigger memories of happy times. Firenze owners may have developed an affinity for their stereo but the bicycle, being an unrelated purchase incentive, is automatically tainted.

It might be a different story if they had been given away with every stereo sold at Del's Stereo & Sound in Cincinnati, during Doctor Johnny Fever's remote broadcast for WKRP. Then they would be part of pop culture lexicon. On a related note, if you a bullet riddled Vibratone 250 loudspeaker, you'd have a real collectible.

Mind you, an Ebay or C/L Firenze posting would attract lots of attention due to erroneous association with Firenze models of American and Italian heritage. Some newbie might even be blinded into paying in excess of $100 for one.

100bikes

Collectible or not, I would look but never ride one of these.

I have some spoke from a Firenza, and the are more brittle than dead twigs.

A one inch piece can be snapped without bending!

Visited a retail bicycle store in Texas that had one mounted in a display box.

Eye catching, mostly because the bicycle had come apart - literally.

The tubes had all separated from the headtube lugs, and the bottom bracket was held in place by the cable routing.
The tubes were likely tacked in place, but this frame never made it thru the entire brazing process.
Paint was perfect.

Do not know if the bike was being ridden when it came apart, but ........
I really don't think that matters!

Careful with this one.

verktyg 

MATTHEWS, TOP OF THE HILL, DALY CITY!


I doubt that there were millions of them sold.. In fact the original Firenze bikes from the late 1970's couldn't be sold at all because they were so poorly made and unsafe. A slew of those bikes came into the country from Taiwan in the late 70's just before the CPSC rules went into effect.

The importer got stuck with them and somehow figured a way around the regulations. Instead of selling them through normal bike channels they were wholesaled as give away promotional items! Buy a VW, buy a stereo, buy a what ever and get a free $200 bike! (some assembly required)

The steel in the frames was so soft that riding off of a curb could cause the forks to bend forward! Everything on those bikes was JUNK. I think that we were offered a truck load of them for around $15 each!

As soon as we saw someone trying to drag a Firenze in a box into our shop for assembly, we'd step outside and politely run them off. We called them Kid Killers!



The Firenze collection process:





verktyg

Colnago Mixte

"Some newbie might even be blinded into paying in excess of $100 for one. "



"Top of the Hill Daly City!" I was gonna throw that in, but I thought it too obscure, didn't think anyone else would get it.

Great posts, thanks guys.

My theory is that for the very reason that nobody *thinks* they will never, ever become collectible, maybe they will. It's a longshot, but now's the time to start hoarding these if my theory proves correct.

Think about it. These bikes are now arguably a part of 1980's pop culture now, like it or not. There will be at least one needed for the Smithsonian. And maybe movie makers might use them as props in films set in the 1980's. That's a pair. Maybe somebody somewhere has one of these still in the original box. That could bring, on a good day, in excess of $50!



I wonder of anyone took Firenze up on their guarantee? "Hey, that's not high tension tubing!"

DiabloScott

I love me some Firenze reminiscing. It really was amazing how many of those things were around from one stereo store... and the look on the owners' faces when they got laughed at.

T-Mar

With the exception of the top tube mounted shift levers, the subject bicycle does not look pre-CPSC. That particular crankset, bottle bosses and embossed stay caps were typically post-CPSC features at this level.

2cam16

Now that's a blast from the past! I remember Matthew's!

Colnago Mixte

A quick Google image search leads me to the conclusion these only came in one size.

I have no idea why there is a quick-release skewer on the front wheel, and a bolt on the rear wheel. I guess if you get a flat while riding, pray for a flat in the front.



Truth be told, I don't think I have ever seen anyone actually riding one of these. Most of them I have seen, have been the result of a friend or co-worker pulling me aside and saying, "Hey, you'e into bikes, look what I just got!" as I try my best to act impressed.

uncle uncle

They have a great back story, which is something that collectability can use as a foundation to build upon. And, no (or know) one need ride one, for them to be collected... after all, they could just be wall decorations and still be collectible. Like with vintage transistor radios, the cheapest radios during their heyday, were geared toward drawing the hard earned income of kids, are collectible, even if they were never great radios. I think it would be cool to own one, though it probably would have to be a garage queen... and I probably would never attempt to ride it more than a few miles at a casual cautious pace.

gugie 

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Pompiere

This sounds a lot like the free 35 mm cameras that were given away during the 1980s when you bought a magazine subscription. "Some 35 mm cameras sell for $200-300, but this one is yours free with your subscription order". What you got was a cheap plastic camera with an "optical lens" and a piece of metal inside to make it feel heavier.
Time Magazine Camera - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

madpogue 

A lot of cheapo bikes of that era (and since) had front QR only. QR was mainly for storage in a vehicle, or in a narrow space. Even current rooftop racks often have versions that work by removing the front wheel.

Indeed, recycling is the best path for these bikes, save a few to hang on walls of cheesy theme restaurants. Recycling them into Kias, well......

dedhed

Crazy TV Lenny was a WI icon. He even did Peugeots for a while.Still into electronics and bikes - together now.


https://crazylennysebikes.com/

madpogue 

^^^ FF to 1:45. Lenny rides one off a dock into Lake Mendota. Fortunately, right down the shore from the UW Lifesaving Station (in the background).

dedhed

Well yeah, it's a boat anchor!

Bianchigirll 

I wouldn't touch that with a 99 1/2 foot pole!

wrk101

Only a Yugo collector would collect a Firenzi.

Chombi1 

I still remember taking a trip to Madison from Milwaukee one winter weekend to try and catch one of those big sales from American of Madison...... the highway going towards their giant store would actually back up with traffic, something really unusual for anywhere in Wisconsin.
Unfortunately, came home with nothing. Just couldn't find anything cheap enough to buy with my poor college kid budget.... did not feel too bad though cause I got a good look at the bikes they were giving away and I figured that I wasn't missing out on anything, anyway......

TenGrainBread

Not rare at all. See hundreds of college kids riding these around in Madison.

madpogue 

^^^^^^^ +1; dredge the shoreline around the frat houses / co-ops, or off Law Park, and you'll probably find a thousand more.

JohnDThompson 

American TV's Leonard Mattioli (aka "Crazy TV Lenny") gave them away free when you bought some arbitrary appliance, so Madison has a huge number of them.

I remember one year he got dinged by the CPSC because the brakes weren't up to snuff. He had to replace the stock brake pads with Mathhauser pads to get them to perform up to CPSC expectations.

I used to carry a wrench with me and check every Firenze I saw on the curb for trash pick-up (Mifflin St and frat row at end-of-semester were good candidates) to see if they had the Mathhauser pads. If they did, I'd remove them and use them on my own bikes.

N.B. American TV is no more, and apparently Lenny is now selling e-Bikes as his business.

fietsbob

The Grey paint ones was what I saw , BITD.. Dropped off for tune-ups, new,

so often , that, since I had a similar Grey Specialized Expedition ,

after working on enough of them,

I had fully rebadged my touring bike with Firenze Stickers ..

Never toured to Florence, Italy, But, they probably wouldn't get the joke..

Hudson308 

Yep, I was duped into accepting a free one once.
Figured there were likely a few parts on it that I could use.
Figured wrong.

Feldman

As a bike industry lifer (40+ years) I can tell you all that these are truly terrible bikes--the lowest quality imaginable. Walmart wouldn't put them on their sales floor today--cut it up for cheater bar stock before it hurts you!