Bought a crankset, the lowly bike now intrigues! Vintage city rider???
 

Meat of the issue up front is:
The top tube on this 61cm frame is only 55cm !!! Really 55 on a 61 (ctc) frame.
And I don't need another drop handlebar road bike.

How about a city bike with upright riding position? The Nitto stem goes way up, bars should be somewhat forward, I can't envision swept.

Backstory: A friend says to me, 'Want an inexpensive bike that might fit you...….?' Well NO, but the fuzzy pic shows black crank+drilled rings... so, YES, I would like to go LOOK at it's condition. And besides the seller has a biggie collection. Couldn't take just the crankset = had to take the whole bike, so no problem. The black crank goes for a black bike I own and the Frejus can get a Stronglight or Nervar in silver.

It's a low-end Frejus frame + fork, with basic lugs unfiled, stamped (but thick) dropouts/forkends, no rear derailleur hanger. After a few wipes, it appears undamaged, rust free, nothing stuck and with kickstand. Huret Svelto rd, Huret fd + shifters, universal brakes/levers. Normandy hubs with mismatched rims. The wheels pictured are swapped in as original 27" wheels have no tires. Paint and decals in pretty good shape.

Then I read about Frejus - the rich history, the innovation, partnership with Legnano, Bozzi Group, Milano, etc, etc

So I am intrigued by this low-end Frejus and think it could be a city bike in my collection. I guess the manufacture to be late 60s, possibly early 70s.

I am lead to believe it came to me from original owner, through a vintage collector, who only removed the seatpost and leather saddle.


This is the crankset I wanted for another bike.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8db3e301a.jpeg

Here’s the bike. No rust.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c5d1f6e2b.jpeg

Headtube is only a decal and only peeling at one corner
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...21f1dd5f2.jpeg

Seat tube decal has minor damage
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e027d0513.jpeg

Seat tube
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6d655afa9.jpeg

That's a pretty sweet bike. Interesting that this is only the second Coronado crank I've seen... the first just popped up in another thread this week. Nothing like it on Velobase.
I was also just talking with a fellow who was complaining that he can't find frames with these dimensions. He's 5'-10", with a 34" inseam.

Is that the saddle that was on it? Maybe it's worth fixing.

This bike is sorta like my Dawes. The cool factor makes it all worth it.

You could also just shine up the frame and display it until you finish your other projects.

Whatever you end up doing with it, that's a really cool bike.

And I definitely dig the crankset.

The saddle on it before the dead Brooks - is sitting on a bench in the pics. It had to come off first thing.

i want to try it with a mustache bar or something similar.

the ‘other projects’ are never finished.

What an absolutely cool bike. The crank oozes cool alone. The decals too. Nice find!

Wouldn’t the shorter TT make sense on a recreational level bike?

Might make a nice around town bike.

throw some postino or similar bars on for a fun ride from barista to barista

https://velo-orange.com/products/vo-...ndlebar-22-2mm


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b1f006b3fe.png

Hey! Two Thun cranksets on BF in one day. What luxury! :)

Lovely bike, BTW. Almost seems a shame to just use it as a city bike.

I have one of those "tall & short" bikes (63 x 56cms), and it is perfect for my touring purposes. The slightly more upright position makes it very comfy and easy to ride around on all day, racking up the miles as well as enjoying the scenery:

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f36b5edb8e.jpg

Condorino-style?

Thin, shiny steel crankset?

Fenders?

That would make an absolutely wonderful upright bike. Add thumbshifters, racks with removable baskets front & back and, a kickstand . Perfect.

I hear what you are saying. But. I have a dozen drop bar roadies and zero vintage city bikes. It's heavier than the other bikes I own. It came with a long, long, long Nitto Technomic stem for upright riding position. And it has a kickstand.

At any rate, I need to finish a whole bunch component swaps on existing rideable inventory, so this Frejus may get ridden 'as is' for a while. Well, not 'as is', it needs brakes/levers remounted and a useable saddle.

I just need Vintage City Inspiration. (and didn't state that well in my initial post)

Thanks for the suggestion and image.
Maybe this short top tube and stubby tall stem has me overly concerned but I think I need bars with the primary hand position well forward of the stem. Moustache bars?

Top tube length is very important in determining bike fit. I gave my son my PKN-10 more because of the too-long-for-me top tube than the too-tall-for-me stepover height. In contrast, I rode a 23" / 58.4cm Nishiki Competition for 20 years. It was too tall for me, but the top tube was short that I bought a long-reach stem and obtained a decent enough fit for an estimated 40k miles of riding (until the seat tube lug broke off the bottom bracket shell).

My roadie top tubes run from 56.5cm to 59cm, with stems from 11 - 13cm. The Batavus from NL has the 56.5 tt and with a 13cm stem it yields the most upright position. On this Frejus, I could use a 15cm stem conventional stem with drop bars, but venturing into the unknown realm of Vintage City might be a learning experience for an aging guy that has never really ridden anything but drop bars, and has secretly been looking for a large mixte.

FWIW I put these on a torpado i had, without changing the stem. The torpado fit me. It was no problem to ride with these.....it was not an upright ride. These specific bars don't sweep back to far, unlike north style bars

another options wold be bars like this with a nitto dirt drop stem....

You're lucky that you can have all that flexibility in size. My one bike that has a half inch longer top tube just feels a little weird...

SR made a nice riser bar that you can also flip downward. Not sure what they called it. Little help, someone? Does it have a "directional" name, like nor'easter :foo: or something along those lines? I put one on this mixte:

https://live.staticflickr.com/5831/2...7c91099c_b.jpg
.