John,
In the 40s I was riding a gas pipe tricycle! In the 50s a balloon tired bike until I got a "3 speed English Racer" about 1954 or 55. ;-)
When we sold those bikes in the 70s Legnano was the main brand and Frejus was??? We always received more Legnanos than Frejus bikes for whatever reason. I'm not sure we could even specify anything other than size.
I was told by at least one knowledgeable person that Legnano (probably Frejus too after the companies merged) used Reynolds 531 instead of Columbus tubing because of better dimensional consistency and tube finish.
I had some Columbus tube sets from the early 70s and they appeared to have been sized in a centerless grinder or belt sander. The surface was pretty rough and required a lot of sanding before painting.
Milan and other Italian industrial cities where heavily bombed during WWII. Italian bike builders may have started using Reynolds tubing after the war because of availability.
Why they used Falck tubing interchangeably with Reynolds 531, who knows. Falck tubing has been described as everything from cheap gas pipe to top quality material. They probably made a wide range of products.
Last year I saw a late 60s Legnano with a Falck tubing sticker. Lots of pictures but it was the first one I'd seen "in the flesh".
Sorry, doesn't answer your question but that's all that I know.
Chas. Colerich Oakland, CA USA
John D Proch wrote:
> Hello Charles,
>
> What were Frejus built with in the late 40's through the early 60's?
> Columbus or 531?
>
> Thank you,
> John Proch
> La Grange, Texas
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* verktyg
> *To:* oroboyz@aol.com;
> *Sent:* Sat, April 17, 2010
> *Subject:* Re: [CR] Legnano information
>
> We sold both Fejus and Legnano bikes from 1973 until about 1976 when
> the supply seemed to have dried up.
>
> Some of the frames were slightly different with the location of the
> seatpost binder bolt being the main variance besides decals and so on.
>
> There didn't seem to be much difference between the brands and it was
> apparent that they were both touched by the same hands.
>
> They either had a Reynolds 531 decal on the top tube or no sticker at
> all which we were told were made of Falck tubing. I've seen the all
> Campy (except universal Mod. 61 brakes) with Falck tubing and bikes with
> steel cranks and low end components with Reynolds 531 tubes.
>
> Most of the Frejus bikes were tan and maroon while the Legnanos were
> green and white or dark blue and white. We also had one or two white
> with light blue Legnanos.
>
> Overall the cosmetics and pre-assembly were quite nice for production
> bikes from that era.
>
> Chas. Colerich
> Oakland, CA USA