Frejus arrives
 

Just opened the Frejus I impulsively bought on eBay, It is a definite repaint as others had suggested. Still it is in nice shape with some pitting under the paint.
as it came out of the box:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c1...s/IMGP3143.jpg
unwrapped:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c1...s/IMGP3144.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c1...s/IMGP3145.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c1...s/IMGP3147.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c1...s/IMGP3148.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c1...s/IMGP3149.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c1...s/IMGP3150.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c1...s/IMGP3151.jpg

I have always wanted a Frejus and a Bottecchia (well I had a really cheap Bottecchia that I sold because it was cheap). A friend of mine that was a bike fanatic in days gone buy rode a Bottecchia and a Frejus back in the '70s and I have wanted one of each ever since. I hope you get much enjoyment from yours.

Cool Frejus! Any idea on the age of it? Maybe mid 60's? I like the work on the seat stay cluster.

+1. Holy lug work on the seat stays, Batman.

I can't tell from your photos: Are you sure it's a repaint? It looks like it's 50/50. In which case, I would try some scratch-X or equivalent from an auto store. The paint is only original once (same with the steel, though, and better to protect that).

Pretty cool. Have you taken a look at the serial number data base on the Classic Rendezvous site? You might register it there too. Some new decals in its future? That fork crown certainly looks different than the one on my bike but may be a completely different era.
Is that head badge, uh...glued on?

nice! That will be a fun build!

Interesting that the bikes listed on the CR dating page that start with a zero are from the fifties apparently. And that flat fork crown looks the part.
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Ita...al_numbers.htm
A couple things of note. The lack of both the elongated cutout in the seat cluster and oil fittings on the BB shell and head tube. Is there anything stamped on the bottom of the BB shell? Also, what bottom bracket is in there? And have you determined what the dropout hanger takes?
Cool frame.

Based on the serial number, I'd say early 50s. I suspect the centerpull hangers are not original. The fork crown is interesting.

The British are well known for respraying their bikes. Looks like they did a nice job, probably in the mid-60s, with the lug lining. But that is something the Italians didn't do.