gonzo_ja

I found a tall road bike with the name Leonard on the seattube and headtube. I've never heard of this brand nor can I find anything about it online. The thing is built up with a mix of campy and rino parts. The lugs are interesting, but the dropouts look to be stamped. The serial number is 1904, which leads me to believe this isn't just someone's homemade bike. Anyone ever heard of this brand before? I'll post a photo tomorrow if it'll help

quianth

Years later, but I just stumbled on one online and was wondering that as well! The only thing I found is that it was a company in Montreal (on St-Michel boulevard right by the metro station) named Les entreprises de vente et de fabrication de bicyclettes Léo limitée (LEO CYCLE SPORTS AND MANUFACTURING LIMITED). They were dissolved back in 1993. Could be a cute Montreal history piece for a collector (maybe?).

Also, I'm new here so can't post pictures or URLs yet. but will come back with the pictures of the ad and link to the website I found this info on.

ElianeBujold

My partner found a Leonard bike this morning on the street for garbage (in Montreal). We will do our research on the mysterious Léo limitée Thank you!

juvela

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came across a posting about a leonard's bicycle at another forum

since the name is written as a possessive suspect it may be that of a chain store

can recall we had a Leonard's Appliance store near our home when i was growing up

unlikely any connection...

here is the posting:

​​​​​​https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/leonards.17139/

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ElianeBujold

Okay I got an answer from a Montreal Facebook group call "Vélo-pièces VENTE-ECHANGE". Apparently the Leonard bike was the bike "to have" before Marinoni arrives in Montreal. Back in the 1970/1980/1990, an Italien named Leonardo made these bikes in his shop on St-Michel street.

T-Mar

I don't know his proper first name, but he was known as Chico Leonardo.

Edit: That's quite the garbage find. Looks like a full Campagnolo (Nuovo) Record group, including brakes and the SL pedal upgrade. Too bad about the missing front wheel. It appears to be early to mid-1970s but a drive side picture would reveal more.

domenicochieco

Hi my name is Domenico Chieco and Leonardo Chieco was my dad. He manufactured Leonard bicycles in Montreal. He came from Italy in 1960. He raced in Italy and also raced here against racers like Marinoni. I'm happy to see that a lot of his bike still survive today. He manufactured racing bikes made to measure. He supplied bikes for a lot of Montreal racer including bikes for the Montreal velodrome. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 72

gonzo_ja

Wow I sold the bike years ago, but it’s super cool to know that history. Thanks!

thumpism 

Yes, welcome and thanks for your contribution.

omijay 

I came across this thread in searching for some information about Leonard bikes. From what I can gather he had some lower end bikes he sold out of a shop on St. Michel in Montreal, but he also made some custom bike. You can see some of the lower end ones for sale on Marketplace and Kijiji in Montreal from time-to-time. I picked up what the seller claimed to be a Leonard at the end of last summer from a guy who was desperate to sell his bike. It was a bit weird, but in the end the frame looked nice and the components were nice for the price he wanted. The bike was originally built for the guys father. They had it repainted for the son, but it is clear they did not have the original decals (I will attach pictures at the end). I have no idea when the repaint was done, but it sounded like it was more recent than 2007. So, I think Mr. Cheico had already passed away (I really enjoyed reading the comment from Domenico Cheico's about his father). It fit with what the guy who sold me the bike said. Anyway, I think my frame is from a more recent date than the one in the photo you guys attached. It has eyelits for the brake cable and braze on for the shifters. I put it in the early 1980s as it had a pat.81 rear derailleur. I was curious to see if you had a serial number. Mine has one etched by hand and it appears to be 1547, but it is hard to read. As for the tubing on the frame, I cannot tell, but the fork is tagged Columbus. Anyway, I enjoyed reading your thread and was wondering if anybody had any additional information. Here are some photos:

T-Mar

My leading candidate for your bicycle would be a 1981 or 1982 model manufactured in 1981. The most common serial number format used by the Québec based custom builders was to use the 1st character for the calendar year. This fits nicely with the rear derailleur's date code. It also fits into the timeline of the frame characteristics. The presence of the Portacatena dropout indicates that the frame is no older than the 1978 model year, while the Flying-C logo on the Cinelli bottom bracket shell moves that date forward by one year, to 1979. By 1983 most manufacturers were using Camapgnolo's new front derailleur hanger on their high grade models. By 1984, most had adopted Cinelli's spoiler style BB shell and inventory of the discontinued Portacatena dropout had dried up.

Regarding the tubeset, it is most likely Columbus SL or possibly KL. During this era Columbus had six road tubesets; Zeta, Aelle, SP, SL, KL and Record. Zeta and Aelle did not use the patented Columbus steerer tube and using them on Super Record equipped models is improbable. Given the short frame size, SP is unlikely. So is Record, as was a very light, plain gauge tubeset, intended for speciality events. SL and KL can be distinguished by the seat post diameter. SL typically used a 27.2mm post, while KL, being 0,1mm thinner, typically employed a 27.4mm post.

omijay 

Great information-thanks. I knew this is how Marinoni numbered frames, I did not realize that the Quebec frame builders used this as a standard format. Seems like a good idea. I went and checked the seat post. It is a Campagnolo Record marked 27 mm. Either they put in the wrong size or the tubing is thicker than SL by 0.1 mm.

T-Mar

27.0mm is the typical post size used for SP. However, that seems heavy for a frame of this size, unless the previous owner was very heavy for his height. The other possibility is that the post is slightly undersize but I would think that the probability of the post not being OEM is low. The seat tube could also have become distorted during manufacture but the probability of not reaming a frame of this apparent grade should also be low. Still, you can gauge if the post size is correct by examining the cinch slot. With a properly sized post and properly reamed seat tube, the cinch slot will only narrow by about 0.6mm, from bottom to top. If it is an undersize post in an SL frame, the narrowing would be about 1.2mm.

The serial number format was not standard but it appears to have been the most common. I haven't been able to collect enough Leonard serial numbers to have high confidence in the format but based on the few that I have been able to collect it's a definite possibility.

omijay 

There is a possibility it could be SP., now that I think about it. I got it through the son of the original owner. He basically said his Dad was always a bit big and at some point just got too heavy to ride it. However, he said his Dad liked to ride, so how heavy was he? I gave it to a friend at work, who is going to build it for now as a fixie and maybe later as something else. I will take the seat post in and test the narrowing. I want to check this out for him. I did not ride it except to make sure nothing major was off, the frame was just too small for me.

jesuislepop

Nice bike!

Terfer944

Happy to see all this information !

I find my new project but i find some funny things about it. First the downtube are branded Leonard ''o'' (if you look close you will see it's a Leonard but with a added O on it) but now know with the builder kids that her father are named Leonardo i find it more curious and interresting now. Second things funny it's a Riverniciato columbus (normaly repaint frame). Third the parts are really nice quality but really mix/match one (Mini group Campy with suntour superb hub/brake with some random japanness handlebar and a shimano AX 600 stem. The fork are not columbus (kinda heavy but the frame are)

Love having all this added info and i will made it my daily driver (the last picture it's a project in progress)


(The original bike when i get it)

The columbus Riverniciato sticker

The Leonard''O'' branded bike

Cinelli BB legs (Italien threaded)

(will finish in a Neo-Retro build with my fulcrum racing 7 wheelset in a Dura-ace/ultegra/105 mix of 10Speed parts switch the Campy headset for a other project and put my shimano 600 headset, will add probably a Deda Murex and a Deda speciale 26 handlebar for get my personnal fit right and the top bar tape are just scrap tape to protect the frame if the bars hit the frame)