oneclick 

This one followed me home. Crank is not my doing, neither is the rear skewer or the saddle nose-out-of-joint; all will be fixed. Seatpost diameter is 25.8 so nothing too wonderful as far as the frame goes, but it'll be pretty.

randyjawa 

Torpado is one of my favorite bicycles and I have been lucky enough to own several, over the years. Most were complete polished chrome plated with a cromovolto paint over top. Lovely, ornate vintage road bicycles, but the paint is the famous quick release kind. Though not positive, I am guessing that the OP's Torpado is the LUXE model and probably of early to mid seventies vintage.

I just remembered that a Torpado LUXE was the first really cool Italian road bike to come my way. "As found", it was 100% original. I bought it at a yard sale for $15.00 CND and it is long gone (my grandson thought it was for him)...


Anyway, another long gone Torpado LUXE...


Not an accurate restoration from a components stand point...


And my still in the stable Torpado Professional, a bike that screams vintage and offers very nice ride quality to boot...

uncle uncle

I'm with you and Randyjawa... that Torpado ticks off a lot of items on my bicycle "likes". "Bike-boom area".. tick. "Chrome sox".. tick. "Ornate lugs"... tick. "Vintage, but not so precious as to be wall art worthy"... tick. "Blue".. tick. Looks like a fun one.

oneclick 

The Blue is coming off right now. I'll see how good the chrome is and decide whether to do a transparent or opaque paint job. I tend to primary colours, and often flag-related, so that might be it for Blue.

I weighed it all. As received, 25.7 lbs. Frame 5.7 and fork 1.7, both naked. Seat post and stem slid right out, no rust in the BB shell,

This is the sort of Torpado that I remember also came with Gian Robert mechs, nasty ugly heavy things. However, Gian Robert did make some nicer stuff, their "Competition" mechs and an alloy crankset and some QR hubs - all of which I list as I have them already, must have been waiting for this day. I'll be looking for the seatpost now I know the size.

Have a nice set of Universal Super 68 calipers, possibly some Italian pedals.

Definitely need a square-taper axle for a 70mm BB, everything I have is either in a bike or 68mm.

oneclick 

Serial on the bottom of the BB shell, right beside the thick weld line: 2753. Bullet-point seat stays, no top-tube cable fittings, guides on the top of the bb shell, rear mech stop, came with Valentino mechs, Gnutti hubs, TTT stem and no-name bars, universal 61 brakes, steel 700c rims. Has a license sticker dated 1974 so at least that old.

Kabuki12

Nice find! I have a 1972 ItalVega that I love. I believe they are brothers. Joe

randyjawa 

Well, I put the Torpado Professional build on hold, for a while. Another Torpado, this one complete original and in reasonably good shape, showed up recently. At the moment, the bike is down to the bare frame and I intend to go to the city to get a can of paint and a brush, today. This is, pretty much, an entry level offering but everything is Torpado original, even the fender set...

T-Mar

Upper entry level model, 2nd from the bottom of the adult lightweight line. All components appear to be OEM. except for crankset, bar tape, brake hoods and saddle. The presence of a Valentino Extra rear derailleur places it no older than 1969 model year. However, if it has a 1974 license, it's likely that model year. These bicycles typically didn't sit on the shop floor for very long during the 1972-1974 period.