Re:[CR]Chain for Legnano

(Example: Production Builders:Teledyne)

Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:32:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re:[CR]Chain for Legnano
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, SKlebold@aol.com
In-Reply-To: <bb9.326b3141.360d2cc1@aol.com>


The thing I find odd about the rear brake caliper is not its presence, but the hardware used.  This bike, like most classic Legnanos and some Frejus es, has the signature Legnano seat binder bolt in front of the seatube and below the toptube.  This means the rear CP brake hanger cannot be attache d to the binder bolt was would be done with a conventional binder.

The usual solution to this, as seen on my 1968 Tipo Roma, was that Legano tapped a hole into the back of the seatube near its top to mount a special brake hanger curved to match the tube curvature and secured to the tube by a bolt run through a hole in the hanger and threaded into the hole tappe d into the tube.  This bike instead has a seat collar which serves no fun ction but to provide a point to mount a conventional rear brake hanger.  I've never seen that before, and I highly doubt it is original.  Indeed one of the comments on the photos indicates the collar is from an Olmo.

I can't tell for sure, but I don't see the tapped hole in the back of the s eatube, although it might be obscured by the seat collar.  If in fact the re is no tapped hole in the back of the seattube, then I suspect the bike came with SP's, but the rear caliper was damaged or lost at some point and replaced with a CP, but there was no means to mount it without adding the Olmo collar.  If the hole is there, then perhaps the bike came with CP's but the special rear hanger was lost or damaged, and the Olmo collar wa s improvised to allow a conventional hanger to be used.  That, however, w ould not explain why the front brake was changed to a sidepull, unless the front brake as well and the rear hanger was lost or damaged.  The last po ssibility I can think of, if the hole is there, is that Legnano drilled all the frames, but only provided the special hanger if the bike was equipped with CP's.  Thus, when the rear SP was replaced with a CP, the hole was available, but the specila hanger was not, and the seat collar was resorted to. 

I've always sort of assumed that Legnano would have drilled all the frames, which would have allowed more flexibility in fitting brakes, at least as l ong as one could still obtain the special rear hanger from Legnano when swi tching from SP to CP.  Shaun, can you tell us if there is a threaded ho le in the back of the seatube, perhaps covered up by the seat collar? 

Regards,

Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA


--- On Thu, 9/25/08, SKlebold@aol.com wrote:


From: SKlebold@aol.com <SKlebold@aol.com> Subject: Re:[CR]Chain for Legnano To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Thursday, September 25, 2008, 1:04 PM

Why the centerpull rear caliper?

Aldo Ross Middletown, Ohio, USA

Great question, Aldo. Perhaps someone more expert than I can comment on

this? This was how the bike was configured when I purchased it over 20 ye ars ago (it has a chain, not original).

Regards, Shaun Klebold Auburn, Wa., USA

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