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Over the years I have come to question the comments that Firenze bicycles were low quality.
Did any of the people who made those comment actually own and/of ride a Firenze bicycle? Has anyone actually seen a Firenze bicycle frame that "failed"? Based upon the serial numbers that I have seen for these bicycles the Taiwan made frames were manufactured by Pacific Cycles of Taiwan. Pacific Cycles also made frames USA brand names Lotus and Takara. Yes, Firenze bicycles were involved in injuries and law suits. But was the problem the bicycle or the bicyclist? The people who got Firenze bicycles were not shopping for bicycles. They were shopping for appliances and got the bicycles as a give away item. They probably gave the bicycle to someone and the bicycle was the wrong size or the person did not know how to ride a bicycle safely. I have seen and touched a Firenze bicycle, but it belonged to someone else so I did not ride the bicycle. The bicycle frame looked fine and the components were components used on many other brands. |
Originally Posted by non-fixie
(Post 23381912)
OK, I may be the only one, but I am now really looking forward to seeing grant40 build a Firenze with Campy SR. :)
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Originally Posted by albrt
(Post 23381950)
grant40:
I also volunteer at a co-op rebuilding bikes. Firenzes have a bad name for a reason. At least some of them were worse than regular box-store bikes. The few I have seen looked pretty terrible, but somebody above says the later models were a little better. I would be more afraid of one that looked new than one that had been ridden a lot--if it lasted this long without falling apart then the frame is probably not going to just collapse. If you're rebuilding bikes at a local co-op then you're probably around the 90th percentile of practical knowledge about crappy bikes on this forum. If you really want to do this then inspect carefully as you disassemble and use your judgment. |
Found this in a thread from 2018 while researching.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...99a1d5c4c5.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e4b4ddc6ef.jpg |
Originally Posted by non-fixie
(Post 23381912)
OK, I may be the only one, but I am now really looking forward to seeing grant40 build a Firenze with Campy SR. :)
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I think I have an aluminum Viscount death fork in the basement if you want to use that.
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Originally Posted by nlerner
(Post 23391549)
I think I have an aluminum Viscount death fork in the basement if you want to use that.
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Originally Posted by grant40
(Post 23391605)
No. I know some guys swear that it is perfectly safe, but I would not take the chance.
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Originally Posted by nlerner
(Post 23391648)
That’s probably why it’s sitting in my basement, unattached from a frame.
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-----
mention seldom made of families forced into bankruptcy by the medical bills sustained from treatment of crash injuries... ------ |
Originally Posted by rjhammett
(Post 23382702)
I remember the annoying commercials for 'Popeil's Pocket Fisherman'. You would have to have pretty deep pockets to fit one in your pocket. :lol:
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Originally Posted by rjhammett
(Post 23382702)
I remember the annoying commercials for 'Popeil's Pocket Fisherman'. You would have to have pretty deep pockets to fit one in your pocket. :lol:
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I forgot this thread, but I did buy an Azuki to fill this purpose and it looks a lot like the red and yellow Firenze road bike, but is obviously a much better quality bike.
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I still would want to know if anyone here actually owns a Firenze bike.
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Someone gave me a free one today
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Originally Posted by grant40
(Post 23566280)
Someone gave me a free one today
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Originally Posted by grant40
(Post 23566280)
Someone gave me a free one today
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The one I got was a blue one with a 2x6 drivetrain abd stem shifters. The Falcon derailleurs were replaced with Suntour Seven. Is it a newer ine, and if so, are the newer ones safe?
It is a GL1000 12 speed. |
Sadly, no Viscount cranks on this one.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a7dc42220f.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fea7ae564f.jpg |
Yeah, I know old thread - but the famous Daly City Firenze guy's obit was in the news today.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5beac016e2.jpg |
Whoa! The "Passing of a Legend" at least in Daly Citay!
I went there once to kick the tires of some stereo gear, but they sure didn't offer ME any champagne and popcorn! Could be because I did not appear to be over 21, but...I might have been! Anyhow there is still SOMEthing at the original hill-top location (or was last time I drove thru) but it wasn't a Matthews. I still think the Firenze bikes were all crap, and I actually did own one (got it for free AFAIK) and kept it just long enough to decide it wasn't even worth harvesting parts off it! YMMV |
I'm reminded of a story about Bill Wattenburg. Among many other things, he was a radio talk show host with a doctorate in engineering. Someone called in and was trying to convince him that it was safe to take a torch to an empty underground gas tank to cut it up. Despite Wattenburg's warnings, the guy ended up blowing himself up.
Chalk me up as working in an LBS back then that refused to work on Firenzes. |
From BIKE Magazine April 1994:
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0d76f42e4.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9367d0a3b.jpeg |
I think some liberties were taken... but don't let the truth get in the way of a good story.
I guess those guys didn't know that a cut-off wheel on an angle grinder gets through a U-lock in about 10 seconds. |
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