# Garage find legnano  grand premio info appreciated



## redline1968 (May 7, 2022)

This popped up this morning for me.. thinking it was a regular road bike by the ad I was going to pass on it the boredom set and I clicked it on..I noticed a few interesting things about it. One it is full campy bike and fine tune campy drop outs.. alarms rang and the price was low.. it appears to be untouched except tires.. not sure on rims but they are italian.. l want to hear from you experts on this one and age if you can and other info would help....the shifter is clamp has campy as are the front and rear hubs.. I know someone spent money on it back then and there are I believe some decals indication of it being raced in sf in the 60s.. thanks


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## redline1968 (May 7, 2022)

The seat looks origina



l too


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## kccomet (May 7, 2022)

nice, I'm a sucker for chrome lugs


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## 1motime (May 7, 2022)

Interesting Seat post bolt position.  Additional Set Bolt on the rear of tube also?  What is the advantage?  Never seen before.


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## Vicious Cycle (May 7, 2022)

That bolt holds the cable stop for the center pull.


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## bulldog1935 (May 8, 2022)

Google Emilio Bozzi, and you will find out everything about Legnano bikes.


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## juvela (May 8, 2022)

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frame constructed of quality plain gauge tubeset - fairly heavy with a rather dead ride

Y-pattern chainset a product of Way-Assauto

pedals appear to be Sheffield (Noli-Cattaneo) model Nr. 613

looks as though we are in the early 1960's here

hub axle locknut inner faces should express a date

great deal of marque information resides here -

condorino.com

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## bikerbluz (May 24, 2022)

I recently purchased a Legnano and it has the same saddle as yours. I think the Legnano hubs are probably pretty hard to come by. Mine has had a lot of the parts swapped out. Think mine is an early 70’s model. Yours is definitely earlier. Nice grab!


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## bikerbluz (May 24, 2022)

An ad…..


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## juvela (May 24, 2022)

bikerbluz said:


> An ad…..
> 
> View attachment 1633023




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thanks very much for sharing this

suspect page dates from near to 1961-62, not  especially because of any details regarding the cycle illustrated but because of the rubber stamp

postal zip codes came in in 1963 and the use of text prefixes for telephone numbers ended a few years later

suspect that this is the shop where my parents purchased my first adult bike for me around age nine or ten

it was a pre-owned Schwinn three-speed which seemed infinitely heavy and whose gears would never shift into low

too big but reckon they took the "he'll grow into it" view

felt like it rode me rather than i rode it

two or three year later received a new English 3-speed for birthday or christmas; what a big improvement, it were lighter and i were more bigger  😉


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## bikerbluz (May 24, 2022)

Thanks Juvela on the info. I received this with the bike when I bought it at Memory Lane. Knew it didn’t match the bike I purchased but was still happy to get it. Good catch on the zip code! After reading through it, seems to match pretty much everything on the bike posted.


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## bikerbluz (May 24, 2022)

Pic of the bike after hauling it home…..


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## juvela (May 24, 2022)

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thank you

unfortunate about the four glaring parts changes

however finish and transfers look to be in pretty good nick

finding a Y-pattern Way-Assauto-Legnano chainset might difficult and/or dear

hoping the wheel guides are just on some replacement shoes

doth it yet wear the original LI's?

interesting that your example exhibits stamped ends without gear hanger

do not know what year this may have begun

would have expected 1010's

the Tecno Tubo Torino Tourist stem/bar set makes me think it somewhat late-ish

the Gran Premio is the Leggy with which have the greatest hands-on experience; at least five have passed through me workshop o'er the years.  have an all-chrome example hanging in the racks...

pretty much anything you could e're wish to know anent the machine can be found at Mark's site condorino.com

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## redline1968 (May 24, 2022)

Thank you for your help..


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## bikerbluz (May 25, 2022)

Did quite a bit of reading on condorino. com, an excellent source of information. Near as I can tell my Legnano is a 1971-72 era machine. This comparing info and registered serial numbers. Mine has a few quirky things. Yes it is missing quite a few bits, and no doubt my infatuation with it probably led me to overpay on this one. But I really don’t care much about that. Would prefer not to, lol, but I have gotten many tremendous deals that more then balance that out. I remember a series of post by Bulldog when he did a modern restoration on his Raleigh Lenton Grand Prix. That will no doubt be an influence on myself with this one. I guess not many our registered that have a serial number in this position…….


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## bikerbluz (May 25, 2022)

Wish my thumb was obscuring the unique seat post clamp, here is a bit from Condorino…


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## bikerbluz (May 25, 2022)

However mine is certainly not a gran premio


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## bikerbluz (May 25, 2022)

Serial numbers on the Condorino site


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## bikerbluz (May 25, 2022)

This might put redline 1968’s bike at perhaps 1961?


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## juvela (May 25, 2022)

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bikerbluz -

dating of your example appears spot on from here

the only detail showing suggesting it is anything other than a G.P. are the dropouts

as one explores the condorino.com web site Mark gives examples of variations/oddities which he has found or have been sent to him by readers

the dropouts on your cycle may be one such

the G.P. always had stamped fork ends

the model below the G.P. at the time of your example had no chrome

have the frame of one hanging in me racks from about the same time as your example, it is in the same finish and was also fitted with a Way-Assauto headset

the two gear mechs, shift levers and the Sakae Ringyo chainset are the four glaringly inappropriate bits on your machine, (pedals not shown well eno' to be identifiable)

finding a correct Way-Assauto - Legnano chainset for the cycle might be difficult and/or costly

one path might be to fit an Of.Me.Ga. Forgiato set, offered in both cottered and cotterless.  Bozzi fitted chainsets from this producer to some models just two or three year later than your machine.













the OFMEGA/Of.Me.Ga. marque launched 1966 so there is no chronology problem with the name for a cycle of 1972

another path might be to go to a five pin set (50.4mm BCD). this can maintain a vintage look and opens up a world of gearing options, permitting quite low gears without going to a three-plateau drive train.  if me, would go with a steel set, at least for the arms.

fine research you are doing there!

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## juvela (May 25, 2022)

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1motime said:


> Interesting Seat post bolt position.  Additional Set Bolt on the rear of tube also?  What is the advantage?  Never seen before.




centrepull hanger is Fratelli Pietra item nr. 106/B






other cycle manufacturers also employed this seat binder arrangement


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## juvela (May 26, 2022)

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wrt assorted frame ends on the G.P. model -

the serial here, FM6883, indicates a date ~1963-64








dropouts are very thick stamped sheet with hanger and hole for spring of Campag Sport rear mech -








an enthusiast's project with this frame is related in this forum thread -









						Legnano project - Bike Forums
					

Classic & Vintage - Legnano project - EDIT: pics of now-rideable bike in last post. Purists be warned; I am not one. This bike will *not* be restored attempting to achieve originality. I have not the time, the money, or the inclination. It will be restored to be a nice rider with quality...



					www.bikeforums.net
				





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## juvela (May 26, 2022)

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video showing the assembly of a 1963 G.P. -








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## 1motime (May 26, 2022)

juvela said:


> -----
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> 
> ...



The bike being discussed seems to use example 106/B.  Probably not much lateral force realized in its function yet not a lot of material where mounted. Just the thickness of the tube.  Interesting. An attempt at being creative?
The diagram is appreciated. First time seen


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## juvela (May 26, 2022)

1motime said:


> The bike being discussed seems to use example 106/B.  Probably not much lateral force realized in its function yet not a lot of material where mounted. Just the thickness of the tube.  Interesting. An attempt at being creative?
> The diagram is appreciated. First time seen




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"thickness of tube"

in this image you can see it mounts to a raised boss which is about four mm thicker than wall of lug, which is pretty thick on its own





there is about seven to eight mm of thickness there for the hanger mounting bolt's 5.0mm X 1.0 thread to engage

appears plenty of meat to my eye

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the cycle's seat binder arrangement is one fairly commonly seen on Italian machines of the interwar period.  Emilio Bozzi was one of the last to employ it, doing so well into the 1960's time.

continued use by Bozzi after other makers had dropped the design could be as simple as the buyer making an excellent purchase on these seat lugs at a time when they were going out of style and the lug producer was finding them difficult to move..

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## 1motime (May 26, 2022)

I was not referring to the seat binder bolt boss. Rather to the mounting of cable guide illustrated in the provided diagram. Of the options shown it appeared to be a wee bit marginal. If in front of me I would wonder how many threads were engaged in the thickness of a lug. No matter. I restored many vintage Italian sports cars. The builder's mindset can be quite thought provoking at times.


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## Vicious Cycle (May 26, 2022)

1motime said:


> I was not referring to the seat binder bolt boss. Rather to the mounting of cable guide illustrated in the provided diagram. Of the options shown it appeared to be a wee bit marginal. If in front of me I would wonder how many threads were engaged in the thickness of a lug. No matter. I restored many vintage Italian sports cars. The builder's mindset can be quite thought provoking at times.



If you look at the bottom left corner of the last picture you can see the Boss for the bolt, like Juvela said.
Mine have the same Boss on both the G.P. and the Roma '60/'61


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## 1motime (May 26, 2022)

Vicious Cycle said:


> If you look at the bottom left corner of the last picture you can see the Boss for the bolt, like Juvela said.
> Mine have the same Boss on both the G.P. and the Roma '60/'61



OK  Thanks!   The boss is partially cut out of picture.  It looks like the very top end of the rear stay.  My old eyes couldn't make out the blue on blue.  
Makes more sense now.  
I guess have learned a bit more about Italian bikes


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