Hi Guys,
My name is Steve Johnson. I attended college at Indiana University (1963-1966). While there I became interested in bicycling and purchased a used Frejus Road bike from a pretty well know rider at IU, Eddie Doerr who at one time rode for the Alpha Tau Omega Little 500 Race team. It had a chromed frame with complete Campagnolo equipment (Gran Sport derailleurs, dual shifters, headset, seat post, front and rear drop outs, cranks, pedals, chain wheels and quick release hubs).The handlebar stem is a Ambrosia Champion and the brakes are Universal Model 61 Center pulls. *The serial number is 94181* and it has lube fittings on the bottom bracket and on the head tube. When I bought the bike it had sew up tubulers. The seat tube had a Reynolds 531 butted frame tubes decal. When I first bought the bike, it had low flange Campagnolo quick release hubs, but my room mate had borrowed my rear wheel one day and had a pretty bad fall, He was real nice about it bought me a complete new real wheel and rim, with a Campagnolo high flange quick release hub. When I bought the bike, the chome on the top tube was pretty badly pitted (from sweat I believe). After IU the bike did not get used much other than an occasional ride as I entered the Air Force (1966-1970), had gotten married, finished college etc.In 1984 my family moved back to the Detroit area and I went to work for my father in-law's tool company. While there I became friendly with a guy in the shop who liked to ride a lot and got me interested again. This was about 1985 and when I looked at my bike, I decided it needed some refurbishing. I read as many articles I could and bought a few bicycle manuals, bought a bike stand and tools I needed and proceeded to take my bike apart. I bought new bearings for the headset and bottom bracket and repacked them. I also bought all new cables for the brakes, and shifters. I took the derailleur apart and inspected and cleaned it. I never liked the saddle that was on the bike when I bought it, so I replaced that,but dumb me I threw the old one away instead of keeping it. I think it was an Ideale saddle, but it was not leather.It was hard as a rock. Also the hoods on the brake levers were cracked and the levers themselves were scratched up, so I replaced them with Superbe Pro levers. Again, stupid me, I think I threw out the Universal levers. As I recall one of my rims had a dent in it, so I had both front and rear hubs refurbished and restrung onto clincher rims. I am sure you purest right now are pulling your hair out. Lastly, because the chrome was pretty badly pitted etc, I took the head badge off and had the frame sandblasted and painted a blue color by a local paint shop. I put the bike back together and rode regularly until about 1995. During this time, I would ride occasionally with my friend from the tool company. He wa quite a bit better rider than me as he often rode with the Wolverine Bike Club ridres. I also joined the Ann Arbor Bicycling Society. I mostly rode with their Far East Fringe group out of Plymouth 2-3 times a week. During this time I and my wife rode in several bike tours in the area. In 1995 and 1996 I had a couple of surgeries and I have not ridden much since then. My bike sits on the bike stand in the basement. However I am getting the bug again. I am thinking about getting the bike some what restored so it at least looks more like a Frejus. I am thinking that Assenmacher (Matt) Cycle shop wold be a good place to get that done as they have a great reputation and they are not far away. I've bought decals from Cyclomondo that look like the ones that were on my bike before I had it sandblasted. I did take a before picture of the seat tube showing the original decals. I recently received a copy of a 1960's era Frejus catalog from Velo Retro*. I** ** **have been hoping to pin down the date my bike was built*. The serial numbers on the Fejus serial number page do not seem to run in any real order. And then, researching around a bit, I see that Thomas Avenia was the big importer of Frejus here in the USA. But I came across the thread on this site that stated Tom had died. *Are there any authoritative resource or bike enthusiast that might tell more about my bike?* I suspect it may have been a high end Frejus in its day. I am confident that the frame tubes are Reynolds 531 butted tubing. I am not so sure what the forks, seat and chain stays are make of. My Reynolds decal only said the frame tubes were 531 butted. As I understand, this was not uncommon for Frejus. I subscribe to the email list, so I read all the various threads. I found the recent thread about the drop out screws interesting.At first I did not understand what they were talking about, so I went down and looked at my screws. I had replaced them with new ones when I had refurbished my bike in 85, so I have the caps.I will appreciate any and all comments and .criticisms. That Frejus is my connection back to my younger days. I see it as the Italian sports car that I will never own as it is too impractical. *One other question. I always found that the toe clips were uncomfortable during long rides. My toes would hurt. Should I put clip less pedals on the bike for riding? *No, I will not throw away the Campagnolo pedals. Or is there a remedy for the toe clips?
Steven Johnson
Canton, MI USA