barnfind

I'm totally unfamiliar with Italian bikes, they just weren't sold around these parts.
I found this the other day at a local auction, it was super light with nearly all Campagnolo parts except the stem and bars. Derailleur reads Nuovo Record. Has Campy dropouts as well.
I don't see any tubing decals, but its got foil type decals with a decal for a headbadge. A buddy seemed to think its from 1970/71 judging by the components.
There is no model decal. The bike is in pretty decent condition overall, other than some surface rust on the chain in a few spots its not bad at all.

Any one have any info on older Legnano bikes?

cb400bill

Lots of good info here. https://condorino.com/

Serial number chart: Legnano serial number chart

T-Mar

What you have is a Legnano Roma Olimpiade, which was the top model. Dating of very early 1970s appears correct. The metal head badge was eliminated in the very late 1960s while the top tube cable stops were introduced circa 1970. The boss on the back of the seat lug for a centre-pull brake hanger was eliminated circa 1973 by which time the downtube decal had been changed and the cable stops eliminated.

There is an excellent website on Legnano bicycles,where you'll find just about anything you could want to know about Legnano. It includes a timeline, catalogues, serial number registry and large collection of bicycles. The website creator also frequents these forums and may surface to comment on your bicycle. https://condorino.com/

barnfind

There's a 957 over an R stamped on the bottom of the bb shell.
The frame as pictured above weights in at 16.8 lbs.
From what I read, Nuovo Record began in 1970, and later models carried a patent date, these derailleurs have no pat. date. Its lighter than my same size Raleigh Pro minus its wheels.
What would the original wheelset have been on this? I assuming it came with tubs?
What would be a good period correct clincher set for this?

Bikerider007

I have a 73ish. R stands for Reynolds tubing built. Supposedly Reynolds was considered more popular or maybe even better from this time frame. I think T Mar or maybe someone else has said that.

My hubs are high flange Record and Fiamme red label rims. Universal brakes (and levers) that made use of the mount behind the seat lug boss. Not sure about brakes but your saddle is newer. Stem and bars on mine are 3ttt. Stem is Gran Prix with Legnano panto.

That will clean up very nice. My was pretty sun baked and still looks quite cool. Nice find.

juvela

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Curious regarding pedals. Have they any markings?

At first thought possibly Way-Assauto but they do not match any known models.

Not Zeus either.

Matches no Sheffield have been able to locate.

Presently wondering about Olimpic. Does the upper surface of the barrel exhibit an OLIMPIC mark?

Wonder if dustcap stock. Perimeter appears it may have been ground down.

As seen in image below Olimpic dust caps have toothed edges.



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barnfind

The pedals are Campagnolo steel with an alloy center, the toe clips are Christophe Special
The seat post is 27.2mm Campagnolo.

juvela

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Thanks very much for the response!

It was the dustcaps that threw me; well, at least the right one.

The dirt/corrosion on the inner end of the spindle in this image had me thinking it zinc plated rather than chrome plated:




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San Rensho 

Hipsters will pay mucho dolares for that Concor seat. But I would keep it. It's one of the most comfortable race seats around to this day.

barnfind

The pedal spindle housings are alloy, the cages are chrome plated steel. All of the chrome will clean up, at best its just light surface rust. A little chrome polish will do wonders for this bike.

The saddle is a bit rough, lots of small surface cracks in the leather and a torn corner.
I've actually got a few of these that are new old stock that I bought years ago at a closing bike shop.
I've used them on various bikes over the years, at one time I had a half dozen or so of them.

Does anyone have and idea of what this frameset is worth as it sits?

jet sanchEz

$600 if you are in a busy market, probably about a grand with wheels

WGB 

San Rensho

Hipsters will pay mucho dolares for that Concor seat. But I would keep it. It's one of the most comfortable race seats around to this day.

These hipsters you speak of - what do they pay for such a seat?

The one attached to the Legnano has been chewed a bit. I see them used all of the time around here and I have one that had sat for years and I just rubbed down with the Brooks stuff and let it sit in the house. I was about to install mine on my League Fuji. Just wanted to be sure it shouldn't be saved for a greater purpose. I guess I'll pick them up when I see them in the future.

Condorino

A very nice Legnano and yes, it is constructed from Reynolds 531 tubing (frame and forks). Based on the serial number and other frame details I would put the production year at 1969-1970. The model name was transitioning slightly at this time from the Roma Olimpiade to the Roma Olimpiade Specialissima. Not sure which applied to this bike however it is incidental as there was no actual difference in the build of the model between 1969 and 1970.

I suspect that the Campagnolo brakes were an upgrade as the bike was most likely factory fitted with Universal Mod.61 centerpull brakes, substantiated by the boss on the back of the seat lug to mount the Universal rear brake cable stop that was unique to Legnano. Personally I have not come across a Roma that was factory fitted with Campagnolo brakes until about 1973-1974.

The posted photos are not clear however the bike appears to be fitted with a Cinelli 1A stem and bars? If so, this would have also been an upgrade as the factory stem and bars would have been the 'Record' model from 3TTT (the brand that we know today as 3T). The original saddle would have been a Brooks 'Professional'. And I believe the outer Campagnolo chainring was either modified or replaced with the 'drilled' version that is presently fitted.

That said, none of these modifications are significant if you had an interest to return the bike to it's factory specification. They are also 'popular' upgrades (particularly the Campy brakes and Cinelli stem) that some of us may recall making depending on the depths of our pockets at the time. The perspective on 'originality' is always a personal one from my experience.

You will need a wheel set to get this bike back on the road. The factory fitting would have been Campagnolo Record high flange hubs mounted to Fiamme red label tubular rims, although this model was also fitted with Fiamme green label rims (Cerchio Elmo) as well as Nisi rims on occasion. The Record hubs would most likely not have been engraved with the Legnano logo on the barrels at this time . . . making this replacement a little easier to source and also less expensive.

Lastly, the paint looks to be in fair condition given the near 50 years that have passed since this Legnano rolled out of the factory. I would recommend keeping the original finish and a careful and thorough cleaning using a mild detergent in warm water followed by a non-abrasive, high quality auto wax. The Legnano 'lizard yellow' paint and decals are quite fragile and it is best not to use any solvent-based or abrasive cleaners. Even Windex can result in a lot of yellow paint on your cleaning cloth.

Very nice bike . . . enjoy your treasure!

regards,

Mark Campbell
www.condorino.com

barnfind

The stem reads Specialized on the right side, the bars are marked with a big "N", which I assumed was for Nitto.

barnfind

I meant to respond to this separately but it got overlooked earlier.
I'm in a completely dead market for bicycles here, I just watched a minty clean 23.5" 1978 Raleigh International on Cl for two months, it had two flat tires but was otherwise perfect. I finally made the hour drive and bought it for $40. The guy said I was the only person to respond in 6 months. He had a drive side pic of the bike, it was sitting on two flat tires, but looked good otherwise.
I've listed mid to upper grade bikes before and have never been able to sell a bike here. Its eBay and ship it to the west coast or nothing it seems.
Nearly every bike I've sold has gone to the Seattle area. Not a single one has sold locally. Your more likely to sell a Huffy or Free Spirit here than anything of any quality. If you have to get more than whatever Walmart is selling their cheapest bike for, you won't sell it here.

I'd let the Legnano go for $500 the way it sits if I don't have to ship it. No wheels, just as pictured. Its not my type of bike, I bought it because I could tell it was a quality frame but a guy my size has no business on a lighter bike like this.

vintagebicycle

I know I'm a bit late to the party here but I was wondering if you sold the Legnano frame set? I just noticed one on CL in your area complete for $950.
(https://jerseyshore.craigslist.org/b...587761247.html)

Its basically the same as yours but this one has its wheels.

I understand what you mean by this area being a bad area for bikes, I had a new old stock late 60's PX10 in new condition that I couldn't get $500 for, I ended up parting it out on eBay about 5 years ago. I got more for the bare frame than I was asking for the whole bike, and the guy who bought it was local. He showed up the day after the auction and said he saw it on CL before that but he didn't want a whole bike, just the frame. He could have bought the whole bike for less, sold off what he didn't want and had the frame for free..... With bikes, I was getting more and more buyers like him. I sold a super clean Raleigh Super Tourer in a 21" frame around that same time, the guy who bought it wanted me to mount a steel newsboy basket and a pair of cruiser handlebars on it, plus a pair of huge rusty, steel saddle baskets on the rear. I later saw it chained up out front of Acme, he was using it for grocery shopping because he lost his license. He looked at the bike three time while it was on CL for about $200 less than what it sold for on eBay. He had paid top dollar on eBay for the bike, then turned it into his personal truck. When I asked why he didn't just buy the bike the first time he said he didn't feel safe buying a bike 'off eBay'. He bought four more bikes off me the same way, each time choosing to bid on it rather than just buy it.

The typical offer on CL is about $40, these days and at least 30 or so emails from people asking if I'd trade it for either a lawn mower, hunting gear, or baseball cards and such.
I gave up trying to sell bikes here, they'll pay more for a huffy or a walmart schwinn than they will for a real quality bike.
I did find that if I list a junk bike, it sells almost instantly. I listed two diaper stain brown 80's Huffy three speeds about two months ago, they were ridable but not much more, lots of surface rust and dry tires. I put them up for $100 for the pair, OBO, sort of as a joke, I got two pages of emails and they were gone to the first guy who showed up an hour later. He never once tried to beat me up on the price. He then proceeded to give me a lecture on how great a bike Huffy builds.