Saturday, January 23, 2010

Early sixties Legnano Roma Olimpiade


Painted on downtube logo and "falck" tubing decal.

Legnano seatstay lug and original cable and pump clips.

FB hubs with Simplex skewers.

Chromed steel Cinelli stem and bars with Brass badge.

The rough condition of this Legnano differs from the barely used Legnano in the previous post but it is far more interesting to me. I have always been drawn to old things that have lived the life they were made to live. When I see a classic bicycle or car that has been restored to the condition it was in when it left the showroom floor I find that most of the history that usually makes them so interesting has been essentially erased. This Roma Olimpiade has escaped that fate and is everything I look for in a vintage bike. It has lived a hard life in the past 50 years yet it has somehow retained nearly all of it's components. Other then the front brake cable, handlebar tape and incredible 1950's swiss cheese FB hubs the bike is virtually original. In a bunch of places the green clear-coat has been rubbed and chipped away to reveal the silver undercoat and the chrome is hazy in places yet all the pinstripes, decals and badges are intact. It still has red tape under all the clamped on components, which was probably done by the first owner to protect the paint, and red rubber covers over the shift levers to soften the many thousands of shifts they have made.
The Roma Olimpiade was the top of the line racing model for Legnano and this first Campagnolo Record parts group was to become the standard for all serious racing cyclists, remaining almost unchanged for the next 20 years. In this way I see this bike as an example of a machine that was made at the height of technological achievement and consensus, perhaps one of the first to closely resemble the next generation of modern racing bicycles. Luckily, it is a bike that exists almost exactly as it did in the sixties and it is therefore far more informative and precious then a restored bike that lives exactly as its present owner thinks it should.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Mid-Sixties Legnano Gran Premio


Brass headbadge of a warrior in high relief


The unique Legnano seatpost bolt arrangement


Legnano stamped TTT bar and stem


Campagnolo Record chrome-plated brass rear derailleur


Finding a bike that has spent 40 years without losing any of its original components is very rare. Parts wear out or break, people change things for better fit or for new technologies. Here in Toronto all it really takes is one winter in a back-yard to do some serious damage. These next two posts are of a pair of Legnanos that have managed to survive relatively unscathed. This one is intact because it was probably sitting unridden for forty years in a basement somewhere. When I first saw this bike in a store on Queen street I thought it was some kind of restored classic. It turned out to be original and quite surprisingly only $100.

Legnano was an Itlalian company that paid serious attention to the aesthetics of their bikes. From the pressed brass headbadge, colour matched brake cables and Legnano stamped components they really made sure the bikes looked serious. This beautiful metallic green with red pin-striping and box-lining is their classic racing scheme and was seen on the whole product range; from the top of the line lightweight racer to some junky bikes made of what could only be called drain pipe. This Gran Premio is second to top of their line. It was the first bike I had seen that had kept its original fenders, painted to match the frame. Apparently most quality Italian bikes from the era came stock with matching fenders but North American bike shops would usually take them off before they hit the showroom floor. A friend told me once about visiting a California bike shop in the sixties and finding an attic full of brand new cast-off fenders. I have only ever seen a few bikes that have kept their fenders and it really is a shame - they really complete both the function and the look of a classic Italian racing bike.


Sunday, January 17, 2010

1973 Ellis-Briggs

























I suppose all collectors have a moment when they begin their obsessive need to acquire, "save", research, invest or whatever they want to call the drive to accumulate more then is necessary. My bicycle collecting began 15 or so years ago when I found a bike in the basement of a bike store on Bloor street in Toronto. I didn't know at the time it was going to become the beginning of something. It was just a bike. I had always been into bikes and cycling, first BMXs then mountain bikes, and I was just finishing my fourth and last summer assembling Supercycles at the Yonge street Canadian Tire. I built 1200 a summer on average, a huge number considering they were almost all defective straight out of the box and needed TLC to be rideable. This bike in the basement was different. It oozed quality. Every component was beautifully made by Campagnolo of Italy of machined or cast aluminum. The British frame had extremely slender steel tubes and a translucent green clear coat which exposed the minute details of the craftsmanship. I bought it for $350; probably a fair market price in the pre-ebay days. It was too small for me but I didn't care. I changed the drop bars to mustache bars and rode this bike for years. I even used it for a season as a courier, although the tubular tires were a real pain to repair in the middle of a work day. Over the years a lot of the clear coat has worn off and I blew-up the original freewheel and rear rim but it still rides like a perfect piece of machinery.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

BikeJunk


A few shots of some the bikes I've accumulated over the last 15 years. Unfortunately I've never been able to turn down an old racing bicycle in need of a home.