Snow day arrival: Frejus
 

So, today The Brown Man delivered a couple of interesting acquisitions, one of which you see here:

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/y...pse6788afc.jpg

Don't know what year it is, but clearly 70's or early 80's since it's 5 speed freewheel.
http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/y...psed1bca4b.jpg

Kind of a mish mash of components, but perhaps common back in the day. Ofmega crankset, Campy RD/FD, Simplex shifters.
http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps3fc7c2d5.jpg
http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps5cea2bd2.jpg

It's grimy and needs detailing but the decals all seem to be in nice condition.
http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps46fd83af.jpg
http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/y...psbca54dc7.jpg
http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps4f5c173a.jpg

Brakes are Weinmann 605's and brake levers are in generally good condition. Amazing hoods- filthy but don't seem to be deteriorating.
http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps0520c042.jpg
http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/y...psc49219a6.jpg

Wheelset is a mismatch. Different Weinmann rims (front is concave, rear is a box.

Any ideas on value of the frame and components? It's really a little large for me to ride and while I know that max value would be obtained by parting it out, it might be better to keep it all of a piece. Sadly, no seatpost or saddle...

Hmm, very different frame from the 60s and 70s Frejuses I have. Did they survive into the 80s?

Hey! The Brown Man must have delivered it to the wrong address, Doc - That one's MY size!

I'm jealous! - Except for those '605 calipers, that is. They are utterly impossible to center without the tool, which BTW, is unobtanium.
You can't even whack the springs to center them because they're set in rubbbbubber!

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...inmanntool.jpg

Interesting bike. Has it got a number up by the seat cluster? How about stamp under the BB?

Nothing I can find around the seat cluster.

Serial # on the BB is 820070.

So...maybe an '82?

Not sure. Compare here;
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Ita...al_numbers.htm
But these numbers were usually stamped up near the seat lug, AFIK.

Congrats on your new ride. :thumb: I'm pretty sure they ended production in the mid-70s, but I've misunderstood a few things before, about Frejuses. ;) But it makes me wonder, if Bianchi aquired the Frejus name, they wouldn't have made any more bikes labeled as Frejus, would they? (?) :twitchy:

The CR site doesn't help as the serial on the frame doesn't fit into their numbering sequence. Bozzi decal on the frame and he was killed in the 70's, but haven't determined whether the facility continued for a while until Bianchi bought the name.

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/y...pse4549ddc.jpg

Naw, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason to those numbers on the registry, but I encourage you to add your frame there nonetheless.
I'll take a wild stab at it and say mid 70's too. Maybe toward the end of their production. With the lack of a number stamped up near the seat cluster and the made it Italy sticker on the head tube, etc. I'll wager the only component still on the bike that is original is the front derailleur. Maybe the brakes.

For some interesting lore, research where the name for your bike came from. Quite fascinating.
Welcome to the Frejus owners club. :)

Thanks, everyone. Lack of top tube cable guides and 120 OLD/5 speed FW made me think mid-late 70's as well, but was a little thrown off by the DT shifter braze on mounts. Have spent a lot of time trying to get a firmer answer to the date question and have come to the conclusion that it's just not out there. Not sure where this will go since the frame is larger than I usually ride, but if nothing else I'll clean it up, rub it down, touch it up and wax it, and see whether I want to invest more time in it. Seatpost is 27.2, so it's quality tubing.

I could see putting a later 126 OLD 6 or 7 speed group on it, but will likely sell off the components that are on it now.

By the late 1960s, Frejus had stopped stamping serial numbers in the seat tube, marking the BB from then on with a different number sequence. Just what happened to Frejus in the 1970s is a mystery to me. (The story of Bozzi having been kidnapped and murdered by terrorists may be wrong: I haven't been able to find any report of it in Italian newspaper archives.) There are a number of Frejus-badged racing bikes made in the 70s that don't have the characteristic seat lug treatment of the earlier bikes. These may be lower priced frames or might have been made by another factory (perhaps Bianchi, which owns the Legnano brand) that bought the name.

Yes, that bike is crying out for some stuff to match that front derailleur, and a set of Universal model 61 or 68 brakes.
I use a 126 rear wheel , 5 speed, on my Frejus sometimes. It showed up with an old set of clinchers that way, and it works OK.

So, how do you pronounce the name anyway...."Freh-yoos"??....."Freh-joos"??...."Free-Joos"??...."Free-yoos"??.........."Fred"??........

...and, as it turns out the rear spacing is 126.

That seems consistent with the lugs in dating it to the mid-late 1970s at the earliest. 1982 wouldn't be a stretch at all, though it suggests it was made by another company.

Ha, good question. I googled it awhile back, & asked for the pronunciation, & got a few audio clips, so that's what I recommend you do, so you'll know. ;) But it's basically fray- zhoos, with the "j" being pronounced like some upper-class wannabes pronounce the 2nd "g" in garage. Kind of an airy mispronounced "g". :D ;)

There is a Frejus and Legnano group page on flickr, titled "E. Bozzi group: Frejus and Legnano"
Here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1330352@N21/

Yep, been through it and nothing looks like the one in the Lab. Note that mine doesn't have the twin long stripes on the seat tube that is typical of Frejus paint jobs, nor the contrasting color head tube. But clearly this white one is a quality frame- Campy dropouts (1010's, I think), windowed lugs and pretty sure it's Reynolds 531 based on the remains of the decal on the front of the top tube and 27.2 seatpost.

I've been dancing around the obvious for a time, but it clearly isn't a Frejus. The too-nice decals, the 126mm spacing, 27.2mm seat post, windowed lugs & componentry add up to a 1980ish bike with a good tube set. The seat lug treatment is one I've never seen on a Frejus. If the BB is Italian it is a nice Italian frame, possibly built & badged by Bianchi, but just as likely to be made by somebody else.

I think I'm with you on this , Michael. Though I t'aint no expert it doesn't look like a Frejus frame to me. One question though. I had to source a Campy Record seat post for mine. Measured and looked around and settled on a 27.2 post. It is a bit snug. But fits. Should it be 27.0? Or, is it that mid-70's Frejus frames used a different tubing????

I considered the same possibility, but it has unquestionable provenance. It was purchased new by the PO (who for reasons I won't go into here can be considered unimpeachable) as a Frejus directly from a bike shop (sticker is still on the seat tube). He's older and can't recall the exact year, but he thinks mid to late 70's. Bozzi decal makes me think pre-Bianchi (why put someone else's name on a bike with 531?). The frame itself isn't all that banged up and it was stored inside his home, which may be why the delicate decals are still in good shape.

End of the day: looks like a very nice frame, probably great rider. Maybe not a prize, but solid. Windowed lugs, quality tubing, Campy dropouts, etc.

It does look like a nice frame. And it may even have been sold new as a Frejus. What is clear is that it has none of the earmarks of the bikes Frejus made into the 1970s. The top tier bikes as well as the lower level ones used different lugs and seat stay treatments. Also, I've never seen a monochrome Frejus. Even the chrome frames have chromovelato head tubes and seat tube bands.

Given the lug work, drop-outs and windowed lugs, your frame is no entry-level bike!

If Bianchi or somebody else bought the rights to use the Frejus/Bozzi name and produced a few bikes this could be one of those. Likewise, it could be that some bike frames were contracted out or purchased from another builder to complete orders in hand after the factory closed.

All idle speculation, and I'd cheerfully accept correction from those who know better!

I thought I kinda said that in the second post :-)

I know Bianchi did sell some frames as Legnano, hadn't seen any as Frejuses.

Like I say, I'm certainly no authority. Has anyone seen any other Frejuses....Freji...with cutouts in the lugs?
It sure is a nice frame.

Would like to resurrect this thread since it seems that many more Frejus bikes are coming out of the woodwork, perhaps because of the growing popularity of Eroica-type rides. I have seen more without seat tube serial numbers, more monochrome bikes, and more with mixed component groups, as well as several with windowed lugs like mine. Given the lack of top tube cable guides, 126 OLD rear spacing, five speed FW, braze on downtube shifter mounts, and brazed on BB cable guide, am still thinking mid to late 70's, with a good chance the frame was made by Bianchi or a contracted builder.

After a lot of research, I'm thinking the Ofmega crank/BB/headset/hubs, Weinmann brakeset, and Campagnolo FD may be original to the bike, based on period correctness and what I was told by the original owner. The RD is a later Athena, first year production, so perhaps replaced when the original RD wore out in the late 80's. The rims don't match, but the Weinmann expert I consulted said that it would be hard to determine which one was original to the bike, and the OO is very elderly and just can't remember exact details of what was done to his bike 35 years ago.

I've kept the bike in climate controlled storage for the past three years and would like to either restore it (full teardown, bearing service, rubout and wax frame, new tires and tubes, replace cables and housing, obtain correct seatpost and saddle, match rims, etc.) or sell it off as a barn/basement find, which it really was. Regardless, I'll sell it one way or another since it's really too tall for me and I have several other Eroica style rides in my collection.

Would appreciate any info that the forum can provide, or any ideas regarding correct rims, etc. I do have a Pat 78 NR RD set aside for it, which is at least in the ballpark in terms or correct date period, as well as a set of 70's era Campy shifters, although I think the Simplex ones would also be correct.

Thanks to all.

Thanks for this link! :thumb:

We should contact the host to request equal representation for Wolsit.

Thanks very much for sharing this fascinating find. Have not before seen a Frejus kitted anything like this nor a Frejus frame looking quite like this.

If we take the OFMEGA components to be original the cycle must be a two down from the top sort of model. Giostra launched the OFMEGA product line ~1966 and closed ~1985 (iirc!). The chainset pictured is in the middle of the range; there were two models above it and two below.

The machine's Campag Record front mech is cpsc so that means it cannot be earlier than 1976.

Did she come with a saddle & saddle pillar? They are not pictured nor mentioned.

Is the stem/bar set a 3TTT 78?

Keep in mind that the 126mm rear spacing may possibly represent a post manufacture tweak. Not asserting that this is the case.

Have in my files some Bozzi literature from 1976 so they were still going then, at least in some form. Emilio's murder was 1974.

Look forward to reading the observations of others more knowledgeable.

OK Doc Cannondale, how tall is "too tall?" I feel like drinking milk and growing into it...as my mom used to say.

I have one of those tools, ;). They do come in handy from time to time.

Juvela- No saddle or seatpost, but it requires a 27.2, so quality tubing. The pics are as received, and it looks the same today as it did 3 years ago. Really appreciate the Ofmega imformation. Was aware of the CPSC dating, further confirming my suspicions that it was made some time after 76.

Robbie, standover on this is maybe 33 inches. Notwithstanding Mrs. Tunes opinion of me should the height be too close to the Tunes Family Jewels and result in injury to same, if it's slightly too tall for me, it's way too tall for you.

Bikemig, also have a similar tool, as well as a complete set of Craftsman miniature carb wrenches from my mis-spent days playing with various Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Bultaco motorcycles. They do come in handy!