I also have fond memories of Tommy, the man, and his store as the first place I saw a beautiful bicycle. It was 1971, and I had just gotten a job working in Harlem. I didn't have much money, so I commuted from the Bronx to work by bike. I had ridden old 3-speeds converted to fixed-wheels for several years --at first, on flat pedals with no straps or cages. We stopped by jamming one foot in between the seat-tube and rear wheel, and sometimes gloving the front. But, who needs to stop when you're 19.
On one of my commutes home, I happened to ride up 3rd Ave and saw this little bike shop. I can't remember why I went inside; but it was love at first sight. This little guy with a receding hairline wearing spectacles came to me and said that I should be riding a Frejus. I had never heard of them or seen anyone riding one (though I was from the Bronx, merely a province of the biking inner-circle of the city at the time). He looked at me, said "You take a 60cm." This little man, elderly-looking to me at the time, leaped up onto his counter (which seemed almost as high as his chest) and pulled down a bike in a color I can only describe as an iridescent pearl blue. He said it was Campagnolo throughout (but I'd never heard of the brand). I put down $5 on the $300 item immediately. It took me about 6 months to save up, and when I returned he said that the blue bike was gone; but that there was a red one available. It was also Campy, but was just a shiny Italian red. I was somewhat disappointed, but that stopped as soon as I took it out to ride. From riding, I met other riders and learned about racing and other bike names. It has shaped and changed my life, and Tommy was the start of it all.
Anyway, I have also wondered why the Frejus fix was so revered in NYC. My own theory is that fix-riding (in the Bronx and Manhattan) was popularized by West Indian immigrants. American kids were riding Schwinns (ime) until the "English racer" 3-speeds came along. I don't know much about the bike culture on the streets during the pre-WW2 era. There might have been a pre-existing tradition, or necessity, for fixed wheels earlier; but I don't know if the subsequent interest in them came from that. However, other than Schwinn Paramounts (which, iirc, were sold at Syd's bike shop and in the Bronx at a store whose name I can't recall, I don't believe there were any high-end bicycle dealers in the Bronx-Manhattan area. So, it was natural that people who had converted 3-speeds to "fixes" (not "fixies") eventually found Tommy's and Frejus. Otoh, I rarely saw Legnano's being ridden, and only rarely have I seen a Frejus road bike.
As for why riding fixes became popular, in general, I have no idea other than some might consider it somewhat equivalent to the difference between driving a 6speed manual and a 4speed automatic transmission. Anyway, I'm lucky enough to have a beautiful black Frejus pro. But, I have to admit that I'm still looking for another red 60cm model.
Steve James
Bronx, NY USofA
> From: devotion_finesse@hotmail.com
> To: andy@strawberrybicycle.com; classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:33:23 -0400
> Subject: Re: [CR] Thomas Avenia Bicycles
>
>
> Someone else (Nino Helman? Michael Allison?) will have to fill in the dates but as far as I know...
> Tommy moved from Spanish Harlem to a second Manhattan location at some point. He later moved the shop to the town of Haverstraw in Rockland County, north of Manhattan on the western side of the Hudson. Tommy was sick +/- 10 years ago when his son and daughter moved the shop to it's final location, a bit farther north in the town of Stony Point. His daughter Alice kept a bike shop open called "Thomas Avenia Bicycles" until about two years ago, though from what I hear it was hardly a shell of what her dad had operated. There were still a number of Frejus bikes in the shop, mostly family bikes that she was either not keen on selling or wanted WAY more than market rate for. I visted her a number of times at this location, mostly to hear the stories and see some the old photos and things that she kept around out of view. We became quite friendly and she ultimately let me scour throughevery nook and cranny I could find in the shop...I most certainly came across some neat stuff, though the shop had been thoroughly picked over many times before I had ever discovered it. About 4 or 5 years ago, I brought a trunk load of stuff from the shop and sold it at the T-Town swap for her. Rumor has it that while Tommy was sick (just before he passed), the shop was left in the care of his youngest son, who was selling off parts by the box load. "Collector types" where filling milk crates with old Campy gruppos and the kid was taking $50 for the contents of each box.
> Accidentally stumbling upon her shop lead to my discovery and subsequent fascination with the Frejus marque...launching my own obsessive research into the brand and attempts to understand the mistique that it still has in NYC among certain cycling communities. In many ways, it was a great fuel for my interest in the world of classic bikes. So even though I never got to meet him, I have to thank Tommy for showing me Frejus, for inspiring me to look a little more carefully and for understanding New York's long love of the Italian track bike on city streets.
> Which reminds me: anybody have a beat-up 56cm Frejus track bike they'd like to see returned to it's (sort of) natural habitat?
>
> Matthew Bowne
> Brooklyn, New York
>
>
> > Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:32:09 -0700
> > From: andy@strawberrybicycle.com
> > To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> > Subject: [CR] Thomas Avenia Bicycles
> >
> > Howdy,
> > Anybody know what happened to the Frejus importer in NYC Thomas Avenia?
> > I visited his shop in 1965 when I was on holiday with my parents after
> > high school graduation as I purchased a Frejus bike from Frans Pauwels
> > Kisslers Bike Shop in Portland. Very impressive little hole in the wall
> > shop with literally hundreds of beautiful Frejus frames hanging from the
> > ceiling.
> > Cheers,
> > Andy Newlands
> > Strawberry Bicycle
> > Portland, Oregon USA
> > http://www.strawberrybicycle.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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