Interesting bicycle..is anyone familiar with San Giusto ? I am aware of a village in Italy by this name, but have not yet come across any ref to a bicycle builder by this name.....

The bicycle has some very heavy and roughly brush applied paint ( which has probably actually been helpful in preserving the frame), that will get stripped off, but because of it some details are obscured currently.

52cm x 54cm frame, with 26.8mm seat tube ID, 70mm bb shell width and 111mm rear d.o. spacing (modified perhaps ?)
The rear drop outs are serrated Campagnolo - (for Cambio Corsa set up), but is currently home to an interesting rear derailleur. The body is marked Simplex, Made In France, but the cage is marked Simplex Made in Italy, Competition 5 Vel. The dt shifter is marked Simplex Tour De France. One of the two down tube cable clamps is marked REG and the other has a 6 pointed star with letters inside I can't make out.

The front manual lever der is marked Simplex.

The stem is marked Ambrosio Champion on the front, and Ambrosio Made In Italy on the drive side and Dural Forge Et Estampe on the other.

Brakes are old Balilla, marked Balilla on one side and Brevettato on the other.

The crankset is Gnutti cottered with 47-50 rings. The freewheel is a 4 speed Regina. Rear rim is chrome steel marked M.Baruzzo - Torino and has serrated braking surface.

rear tire is very old and has the following info: 28 x 1 5/8 x 1 1/4 700 x 32c, 32 - 622 Fabbricato in Italia, Superga (stylized as to be a logo)

I have not as of yet unpacked / unwrapped the other various bits and pcs.

Wow, that is really an amazing bike. I don't know the brand but I think I see some Fiorelli details (a big maker) mid 50's would be my guess.

I really would like to try a Cambio Corsa set up. I bet there is nothing like it!


I'm really glad you are stripping that gawd-awful paint, but you are probably right about the preservation factor.

Thats a beauty!

Could be a lugless frame with papier mache lugs.

Quick little update....

I stripped some paint near the top of the seat tube, and found a serial number, 2188 LT.

Also, the handlebar is marked Ambrosio Champion, same as stem. Upon carefully removing the head badge, i can see that the head tube is chrome plated. Closer inspection of the lugs shows a decent level of craftsmanship and thinning.

The headset is marked Gnutti. The only downer so far is that the drop outs appear to have had the serrations filed down some so as to accomidate the non splined axle.

All in all I'm pretty satisfied with this purchase from Italy, especially since the cost was fairly cheap even with the shipping.

These off brand, or unkown buys are always a bit of a gamble, but frankly, these obscure old bikes are quite fascinating to me !

Joe

After some research on line, I'm fairly convinced the lugs are from Bozzi. The seat / top tube / stay lug is pretty unique to Bozzi. I know these were used on early Frejus and Legnano, as well as U. Testi frames.

If these bikes were made by Legnano for San Giusto, could the "LT" stamp behind the sn# stand for Legnano Telaio (frame) ? ....ok, I'm reaching perhaps a bit too far... Anybody ?

Joe

These are the most fascinating types of threads!

If you are planning to re-chrome the frame a skilled TIG welder/fabricator could build up the tops of the teeth and make a good repair.

There is a "bozzi" photo group on flickr with several examples if you haven't seen those yet.

Frank,

Indeed.....! I was wondering about how to maybe repair the teeth......didn't even think about TIG buildup then reshaping. I have an NOS set of those dropouts, so I was thinking about replacing them IF I was going to set up for the cambio corsa. The TIG idea is better, or at least would save my spare DO's.

The clearancing was done to fit the smooth axle and the later Simplex der., so I think maybe that set up should stay that way and just be restored. I sorta think it becomes more interesting as a nice example of a "transition period" bike.

I don't think I have seen the Bozzi photo group. Thanks for the tip, I will pull that up and take a look.

Joe