1959-60 Frejus
 

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...in my size. It seems like whenever i see something like this, it's always someone else's size.:D

I am not sure if the frame is as old as that. The head badge, oilers and most of the components are from around 1960, but the seat clamp looks like what is found on frames made from the mid 1960s on. The earlier bikes used a chrome collar above the seat lug. I can't remember seeing a Frejus from around 1960 without the collar, but I would not be shocked to find out that some frames came through like the one in the photo.

Nice stuff.

What's the serial number?

What he said. Also, where is it?

...http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=377064



...it was in my back yard, and is now in my garage. I bought it last week from the original owner, who told me he definitely bought it at the
Broadmore (spelling) bike shop in San Francisco when he worked and lived there during that time. Nice guy, but in spite of his obvious affection
for this bicycle, he can no longer ride it.:(

I think he was happy to pass it on to someone who will service and ride it. At least I hope so.

These photos are as received, which for something like this, in my size, and in this condition, made me very happy indeed.:D

Lucky you! The serial number is consistent with a 1958-60ish bike, so it looks like they fitted seat clamping ears on some of those. I can't imagine anyone adding them later...live & learn!

Spectacular find, 3alarmer. Congrats on that!

...I am reminded of the poor, old, blind pig that occasionally finds an acorn.

Hello 3alarmer,

wrt the Corsa 61 levers: what booties are those we see on them? were both qr springs ok? they are often found broken and a bit of a problem since they are rivetted/pinned in place. later, around 1965 they went to red plastic for the lever/button instead of dural.

what does the writing say on the end of the bb spindle?

a bit surprised to see rivetted steel c/w's on the giostra chainset. would have expected dural with y-adaptors. perhaps original owner changed them out to achieve lower gearing... can see no mark on them on the outside, do they have any marking on the inner faces?

thanks bigtime for sharing this machine with the forum; most handsome. :thumb:

AND it's your size ;)

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nb - place name is spelt Broadmoor

Broadmoor, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It is a repaint. Not saying it did happen, but it could have.

Beautiful - i really like it. Is this a super Corsa model? Any tubing decals? Seatpost size?

...I ought to have remembered the spelling, because IIRC, I actually ate dinner in the hotel once, long ago.:o

The levers and springs are intact, but appear to be a little fragile, The hoods are some Shimano thin rubber hoods of approximate sizing that
have been trimmed up a little bit to allow clearance for the QR mechanisms.

The spindle is marked Campagnolo. Very keen observance on the chainwheels. It was indeed replaced in order to accommodate a wider ratio for hills,
but he kept the original close ratio set, and I will doubtless replace it.

I don't really need much range, as it is pretty flat here, and I'm not certain how well the front derailleur will do with that size of a jump.
.....anyway, I was glad to have that piece and not have to search for one.

...any model name seems to have disappeared. The tubing sounds butted, from the fingernail tap test, and the seatpost on it measures out at 27.0.
There's the tiniest ridge on the seat tube where something obviously caused some small deformation sometime, which lends to the butted tubing idea.

Like the model name, any tubing stickers are gone, although there's a gold square, empty on the seat tube that looks like it might have been one.

Cool machine, 3alarmer. My guess is, the yellow paint was added to the stays and head lugs as the original chrome became rusted. But it could be worth a look underneath, if you dare. The full chrome fork is interesting. Can you please add a a couple of pics of the fork crown?

Oh and, as far as I know, with limited knowledge, they were never marked with a model name. Just have to determine which model by components and details, etc. and, FWIW, my 63 sports the same seat post clamp bolt with ears.

Neat bike.

thank you for all of your answers 3alarmer. :)

noticed that rear hub looks to be quite a bit later than bicycle. did seller say anything to you about wheels/hubs? have you checked the locknuts for annuation?

the bozzi experts will know this: wasn't there a time when some frejus were coming through with hub barrels stamped frejus? believe i have a high quality steel hub in me parts storage whose barrel is stamped frejus. also have frejus stamped giostra chainsets and headsets.

too bad the bike's gaslos have gone walkabout. expect that would be quite a difficult item to locate...

c/w's: if the originals are of the y-adaptor type the smallest inner they can take is a 46t, iirc.

paint finish: assumed the white to be original and the yellow done to cover failed plating.

thanks again 3alarmer for all your patience with our queries ;)

I'm reasonably sure this is a 61' with the same clamp bolt.

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1403de4b.jpg

OP - ours look very similar in detail, and mine is also a 27.0. I believe most of these were 531 and that yours is a super Corsa, later called a professional.

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfcaddcb7.jpg

thanks so much for the pictures of your mount KonAaron Snake.

recall you posted a closeup of the chainset on another recent frejus thread.

if i had to pedal those c/w's i'd need a gear block on the order of an 18-40; am an elderly gent. :p

btw - who's booties are you running on those pietra levers? the black cones look like dia-compe.

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...I'm so happy to have it that sharing it is quite the pleasure. I suspect I'll leave the existing paint alone.:D

...thank you. Good information on what is, to me, a completely unknown area.

I've heard the brand name, and seen some photos, but that's about it.

The original owner said quite emphatically that it was "all original" , in reference to the
components, but other than that I have no reference point for the wheels.

I can probably look for some date codes when I have more time and the light is better.

Yeah - dia comp. I'll change them eventually. The freewheel is rather large actually...I think it's a 34, but can't remember for certain.

This was meant to be a flip - or part out. I never thought much of Frejus, they were a tier two option to me...like Olmo, or Bottechia. I was really surprised at how nice it is, the lugs are well thinned and the filing is clean. When I road it, I really liked it and decided to hold on for a bit. The paint is great - it's still sharp, but the heavy patina means I don't get all precious with it. It's a really fun bike.

The rear fender needs some work on mine, and I'd like to change the dia comps. It's not period correct, but it has a fun mix, and the half step triple is wild.

Or a partial repaint, rehab. Chrome the fork, paint the rear triangle and head lugs that all may not have faired well before.

Very nice score, 3alarmer. Any more info about the guy (old, I'm assuming) that you got it from? Just love stories and anecdotes about the original owners of these old bikes. The guy I got mine from was avery interesting fellow indeed.

A couple more thoughts. Of course, I'm no authority on these and don't pretend to be. Seems like a safe practice to preface all of my posts thusly. ;) While it looks as though the yellow paint exactly matches where the chrome is on my SC, looking at Aaron's, maybe there is no chrome under that yellow paint on the stays. But I'll bet there is, or was, on those head lugs.

Some interesting details here. The crank does indeed look likes it dates the bike to before the time when they used Record units on the Professional, or SC. But then, it has a Record rear derailleur on it, which wasn't available until 1963, AFAIK. Then again, it has a Gran Sport front so maybe the rear was a later addition.

The fork is interesting. It doesn't quite look original to me, given that groove cut in the crown. It doesn't look like any of the bikes on the Classic Rendezvous Frejus page, with the exception of the one "city" bike on that page, which shows a fork crown with groove. And the rake of the blades look a bit different to me too. But I could be all wet on that and these observations are merely pontificating for fun.

BTW, it may indeed be Reynolds 531, but that gold remnant looks almost like an old Columbus ghost, though it's tough to see. If it is Reynolds it is probably "3 main tubes", plus fork. Mine is, anyway.

Again, really neat bike. Congrats on finding it.

For some odd reason, I've always had a slight soft spot for Frejus's. Nice find, Mike.

Nice bike!

Very nice.

Lucky you.

3alarmer -

you mentioned spindle is from tullio. this made me wonder about cups. a bit of the fixed can be seen in one photo and it appears to be the sort of three-dogger one would expect. are the cups marked from the carousel company or do they say tullio as well? perhaps o.e.m. spindle pitted at some point and was replaced...

is champion bend wide enough for you? these bikes always seemed to come with a 38 no matter how large the frame. can be difficult to find a vintage bend wider than 38...

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wrt tubing and tubing sticker -

emilio usually placed a reynolds sticker on the downtube of the quality models. supposedly this was to indicate the main triangle reynolds. suspect stays always falck or a.l. columbo because of the chainstay dimples. italian dimples have a sharp edge/line at the bottom whereas reynolds and most french stays have a dimple with a more rounded bottom. one reason sometimes given for mixed tube frames had to due with the complexity of ordering taper tubes across borders/measurement systems.

wonder if perhaps the sticker ghost on the seat tube may be for something other than tubing.

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crown -

this is the one i have always seen on the frejus frames/cycles that have come through my workshop. it was even employed on the base model seamed tubing bicycles.

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KonAaron Snake -

thank you for the clarifications on your example. much appreciated. ;) is that bottle cage a rampinelli with the spring clasp closure? they always reminded me of plumber's tape. :)