iab

Yes, I have been on this board for quite some time now. AS they say in Chicago, a coupletree years. I have started several threads featuring my vintage bikes, But those who have seen those threads knows, I prefer the janky old original bikes. I may remove somerust, clean, find missing/broken parts, lubricate and get them back on the road, but those are really preservation of the current condition, not restoring it to how it was once in the past.

Well there always needs to be a first. This particular frame came to me in really poor condition. Repainted 10-20 years ago (I don't know exactly when). When they did the repaint with new decals, they rechomed the head lugs. I will say the paint and chrome were done nice, but the paint was just wrong. It was most likely in a front ender, no fork and while you can't see a defect, when you run your finger under the top tube and bottom tube, you can feel the damage. The drive-side chainstay was most recently replaced. I was told the original was cracked.

No parts. Pretty much all of it is proprietary. Unobtainium stuff. There is no way it will be on the road prior to 2022, and that will be with a lot of luck and deep pockets.

But it is a 1942 Frejus, cambio corsa. Dropouts have 14 teeth and would be appropriate for a first gen derailleur. It is pretty much my size. And quite frankly, it was pretty cheap, which was not surprising. My friend actually has a Frejus fork, Frejus CdM headset and Frejus BB from 1942. I sent it off to paint today and I will be getting some old-school varnish-slide decals for it. Coming together.

Original receipt for the bike.

IMG_1575 by iabisdb, on Flickr



As received.

Frejus 01642 a by iabisdb, on Flickr

Frejus 01642 b by iabisdb, on Flickr

Frejus 01642 c by iabisdb, on Flickr



Stripped of paint. Those dirt floor guys certainly knew how to make a bike.

Frejus Frame 01 by iabisdb, on Flickr

Frejus Frame 07 by iabisdb, on Flickr

Frejus Frame 17 by iabisdb, on Flickr

Frejus Frame 37 by iabisdb, on Flickr

Frejus Frame 54 by iabisdb, on Flickr

SwimmerMike 

Wow! I’m really looking forward to watching this come together. It looks like it’ll be a lot of work but also a lot of fun.

Rage

That’s darn purty right there.

obrentharris 

So much for the idea that the older the bike the cruder the workmanship! Beautiful bike.
I hope this gives you an excuse for an Italy trip to pick up parts! I like your patience and realistic timing.
Brent

repechage

I like it.

I considered a Benotto from the later Cambio era, more teeth.
but, I admit that no possible way I could reach down to shift it, maybe with the Sport? Version with the longer levers ...
I will just smile and wave and admire.

definitely pre planning to downshift is in order, one has to have enough forward momentum to accomplish the shift before the forward progress is depleted.

repechage

Thinking a bit, a chainstay replacement on one of these is no minor task - Campagnolo made a tool to sync the dropouts- if they are off, no hiding it.

noobinsf 

Wow, lovely.

iab

Yup. That is a concern. I'm going to have a friend send a hub to see how it rolls in the dropout. Worst case scenario, dismount to shift.

steelbikeguy

very cool!
Looking forward to seeing you give a shifting demo some day!

Steve in Peoria

repechage

and dog tracking down the road.
should be able to measure it
Ed Litton has made a frame for the “Cambio”
I do not know if he has “the” tool but has figured it out.

jackbombay

I had to google it, so here is a video I found for anyone else that is unsure how the rear end of this bike works,



I love it!!!!!!

randyjawa 

Now this is going to be interesting. Subscribed. iab is one of my most respected Bike Forum contributors.

@iab - forgot that I gave my Sekini pie plate away to another forum member. I know where another it but cannot get at it just yet. It will get to you shortly after I get to it...


My first build - an exercise in "don't know what I am doing" and it turned out badly...

styggno1

Looking forward to this!

Charliekeet

Beautiful piece of work.

tiger1964 

That is so cool. One would think there's a need for a finger guard to prevent hand contact with the spokes. It might be tempting to rig a rubber hand on a stick as a "remote shifting aid".

Johno59

Wow that's amazing. What stops the wheel moving forward and out of the dropout when the spindle securing nut is slackened for a gear change...... is that why they're called dropouts?

steelbikeguy

my understanding is that this is due partly due to the slope of the dropout slots.. i.e. the weight of the bike & rider will make the axle roll backwards in the slot.... and the fact that the rider pedals backwards to shift. There's nothing pulling the wheel forward when the shift is in progress, other than just the chain moving up to a larger cog.

Steve in Peoria

Wildwood 

2nd all the comments about a worthy project for iab.
Also, 2nd @randyjawa regarding his contributions. @iab has helped me personally in posts and enthusiastically with my oldest-ish one.

I've never stripped a frame and restored to near 100% originality.
But have 'enjoyed' a few framesets that came with their own unique challenges.

Subscribed

Vaang

Great bike!
In what colour will you paint it in? The receipt seems to indicate that the original colour was sky blue (cielo) if I´m reading that correctly?

rccardr 

This should be interesting...

Phil_gretz

Subscribed. I don't understand the discussion about shifting mechanism, but I'm sure that I'll learn as this progresses.

iab

From the early 30s to the late 40s, Frejus finished the majority of their road bikes the same way. The frame was clear coat over nickel plate. The head lugs chromed. The head tube painted a navy blue. Chrome fork.

This frame has had most of the original nickel removed. I belive some remains on the top tube. I also think the chrome on the head lugs is not original and was done when it was painted silver. 2 bits of evidence of that. First, the chrome is really nice, I don't think it is 80 years old. Also, the chrome goes beyond the lugs. Every example I have seen the top tube and down tube got masked at the lugs. The chrome stopped there.

I have decided against re-nickel coating . I'd have to strip the new chrome, then dip again into tanks. There are only so much chemicals that frame can take. For all I know the chain stay failed from hydrogen embrittlement.

So I asked the painter to do their best at simulating nickel, a satin silver. The painter complained. I know it won't be the same, all I asked is they do their best. Head tube will be navy blue. Varish-slide decals.

So not 100% original.

Interesting you saw "cielo". It could very well say that, I'm terrible with handwriting. I wonder if it was originally not you typical Frejus finish?

BakinaRakija

Nice!

CV-6 

Nice. I will be following this. To whom did you trust the work?

iab

Franklin. SSSInk for decals.