Hi all,

My Legnano frame finally arrived after some shipping confusion! I quickly threw on some stuff I have been collecting in the mean time. The red tubulars are just there to protect the rims - I will switch out for black and tans as soon as I can afford tires. The derailleurs are wrong too, but again $ constraints mean that the Gran Sport ones I have in mind will have to wait for Spring. I was very pleased to find a legnano crank here in Toronto, sadly it is only the drive side, but I have an ok looking campy crank arm on the other side. I also found some parts for Universal mod. 61 centre-pulls that I am going to see if I can make work. I am planning on getting red brake and derailleur cable housing from Loose Screws.

My best score is definitely the $20 Ideale saddle my brother got me on ebay for Christmas. It was only $20 because in the picture on ebay it was all covered in some kind of mold, but when it arrived I just cleaned it up and polished it with my t-shirt and it looks great! Retyred on this thread has been giving me some good advice and info - I know he is trying to make a serial # database. The serial number for this frame is "13" the shortest serial umber I've ever seen! Anyhow the bike is a lot of fun so far, it is very light - actually the frame felt as light as my Gitane Supercorsa's when I picked it up. Set up as is it is about 20lb.

Thanks for looking, I will update the pics as I continue to work on it. Ideas/suggestions are always welcome!

Devin

sorry - computer illiterate. More pics attached I hope.

Devin

Personally , I think the red tubulars look extremely nice on this bike , I wouldn't change them.

Beautiful bike. Are you going to put a couple of those little rubber adapters atop your Universal brake hoods? I see them quite often on eBay.

I concur! Congrats on a nice bike.

If you're looking for red brake cable housing to go with the bar tape, I believe that I still have some in the shop.

Thanks T-Mar,

I sent you a PM. Thanks gridplan and mainducoyote for the comments. I think the red tubulars look okay too, but I really wanted to try to make this bicycle as "correct" looking as I could, which is something I've never really done before. All the old Legnano's I've seen have black tubulars with tan side-walls so that 's why I thought I'd change them. Also the tubulars in the picture are OLD and the base tape is peeling off, so I just keep them as spares.

IF anyone happens to know, I am looking for RED Alfredo Binda toe-straps, just the leather kind not the expensive sandwich kind. I know I saw a website before that had them for pretty cheap but now I can't remember. As for the things on top of the levers - I thought it looked like something was supposed to be there. I'll see what I can find! The levers are actually Balilla levers with Modolo hoods. I have some Universal levers but they are really rough and these ones look a lot better.

On a side note, some of the stuff I bought came from a place in Toronto called "Parts Unknown" in Kensington market. If you are ever in T.O. it is absolutely worth checking out. I had never been there before, and it is the best and weirdest bike "shop" I have ever been too, if you can call an unilt, un-heated space filled with MILLIONS of vintage bike parts a shop. The man that runs it, George, is very interesting and helpful. He rides a very cool beat up Cinelli that is parked outside the shop. Anyhow it's absolutely worth checking out.

Devin

When was your bike made and how fussy are you about period correctness? If your bike is from the 1960's, period correct Bindas may cost you. The last pair of the older style I bought -- embossed (i.e., no painted lettering on them), with metal rollers -- set me back $178. Those are tough to find. But ones from the 70's with their plastic rollers and painted lettering are much easier to come by and more reasonably priced, too ($30-$40?). It just depends on when your bike was made and how exact you want its restoration to be.

That bike is freakin' gorgeous! I have always liked green Legnanos.

I think the bike is a late 60's early 70's Gran Premio. I just wanted red because it would look good and Alfredo Binda because he rode Legnano. As to the accuracy, I chose the bars, stem and wheels because they had the right "look" but none of them are branded Legnano. So I'm not really hung up on exact anything. Plus, $30 - $40 sounds like plenty to me to spend on toe straps (more than plenty actually). That's what I spent on the bars, stem, left crank and brakes combined! I guess I should clarify when I say "correct". What I mean is the bike generally looking its vintage, not date-codes or anything.

Thanks, Devin

Thanks John! I have been coveting a green Legnano for a long time, ever since I ran out of things to mess with on my Gitane. I have also been really lucky so far in getting things for it at a good price, which with two young children is much more important than it used to be. I have attached a pic below of the bars and stem, which I was particularly happy with because I like the way they look and they were really cheap. They looked so crappy when I got them but a bottle of wine, some metal polish and steel wool work miracles!

Ahh, okay. It shouldn't be too hard to find red 70's Bindas. If you're not hung up on them being Bindas, Balillas are a tasteful (and cheaper) Italian option:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=290202614091

Very nice, what about brake calipers? Are you going center pull or single pivot?

Those Balilla straps look nice! But someone already has a bid on them and I don't want to drive up the price. Anyhow something like that would be good. I am going to TRY to get the Universal model 61 centrepulls I have (or parts thereof) to work. If not I will try to find something similar-looking.

Hmm. Those straps were available with a BIN price of $20 just minutes before I submitted my post. Anyway, I think that seller may have more in red and other colors. You may want to email him/her.

I got 3-4 pair of Christophe red leather straps AND toe clips for like $14. a set not too long ago on ebay. Keep watching, they turn up!

Beautiful bike!!! I have a nice Nuovo Gran Sport Rear Der, if you're interested in it maybe we can work out a trade, pm me if you're interested. really sweet bike though!!!

Congratulations on your Legnano. It's indeed a fine looking bike. Almost a Corkyesque journey from Italy! You won the Legnano on Dec. 10th per your first thread! Well worth the wait. I wish I had some spare Legnano parts but unfortunately they are a rare commodity. I am not 100% certain but I think the no. 13 stamped on your frame denotes the year 1973 which is pretty close to what T-mar and a few others said. My 1966 Gran Premio has the no. 36 stamped in the same spot. Perhaps other C&V members with Legnanos can help out with serial nos. I'll watch out for any Legnano parts and PM you in the future.

Thanks! Yes it certainly took its time. There was a comical switch of my name for my address which led to some tracking difficulties. I think '73 sounds about right. Too bad it's not '71 since that's my birth-year. You've probably already noticed, but for anyone who rides a 50cm there's a beautiful Legnano on ebay right now: https://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-italian-...QQcmdZViewItem that looks exactly like mine except maybe the paint's in even better condition and it is a complete bike! The fact that it has Balilla brakes explains the Balilla levers I bought off of a Legnano owner here in Toronto. It's making me think I should look for Balilla brakes for my bike.

Retyred how are your Legnano projects coming along?

The only flaw I see is the universal brake levers. They aren't that well built and hoods are very expensive.

The Ebay frame is late 1970s. Notice that the seat post cinch bolt is in the standard position, behind the seat tube. This was a period when they were cutting costs and explains the Balilla side-pull brakes. It also has several brazed-on fittings that yours does not. These later models are far less desirable than what you have.

Is it correct that the seat tube deals that had 5 blocks of white was 60's and when they switched to the 3 block style that was 70's.