In the spirit of Jamie Swan's Bruno Bianchi City Bike that appeared on the list a week or so back, I present my Doneselli 4-Speed City Bike. I've owned this bike for quite some time and it's gone through various incarnations but is now shown here (see link to photos below) assembled in it's close to original form. Unfortunately there was quite a bit of rust when I acquired the bike years back and in my "new bike zeal" I immediately stripped off all the parts an attacked it with various rust removal processes. The paint and decals were attacked in the process, too. It's a yellow-green color not unlike many of the Legnanos from the same era. I had built it up as a fixed gear bike, hung various newer parts on it at times and planned on stripping and repainting it or powder coating it. After seeing the Bruno Bianchi I gathered up the pieces and put it together again with all it's original parts and fenders, minus the original wheels which were too far gone with rust to keep. This bike featured internal cables for the rear brake and Campy Valentino rear derailleur connected to the single clamp-on shift lever. It also has the cool handle bars with brazed on levers and interesting grips. There was a generator powering a headlight and tailight with internal wiring. There's a small hole where the wire went in to the headtube and one near the rear drop outs that were both plugged by a tiny rubber grommet. Also included (shown in the last photos) was a locking device that clamped to the seat stays. This flimsy device used an arm that crossed through the rear wheel's spokes and would prevent the wheel from turning. The original key was included. One of the nicest features is the 4-speed Regina freewheel. Oh, and the seat is a Brooks replacement.
What happened to Doneselli Bicycles?
http://www.twistcomm.com/
Fred Yavorsky
Jenkintown, PA