Old Italian frame. Anyone recognise it?

TerrXL
TerrXL Posts: 10
edited July 2012 in Road general
I picked up an old steel 56cm frame the other day and am planning on building something with it (haven't quite decided what.) One of its previous owners had decided it would be a brilliant idea to remove its original paint and repaint it with radiator paint with no primer underneath so I have no idea what brand it is. Would anyone like to take a guess?

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I'm pretty sure it's Italian as the bottom bracket shell is 700mm wide and the threads are Italian. It might be French too, I suppose. I took some pictures of the lugs, the BB and the top tube. I think those little hooks are for attaching a pump. So maybe it's an old touring bike?

Comments

  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,042
    an old clunker I would say, looks to be made of gas piping
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  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Pressed dropouts and pump lugs are pretty uninspiring. Should be able to work out what tubing it is made of by weighing it but my money is on scaffold poles.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • TerrXL
    TerrXL Posts: 10
    I've got my money on it being scaffolding rather than piping. It's steel. Can anyone make an educated guess concerning its origins? Decade of manufacture perhaps?
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,257
    With no mech hanger, it's probably 1950-60s, if it has 120 mm rear dropouts it's almost perfect for a fixie conversion.
    No idea of the maker, could be anyone, really and italian threads were used outside italy too.
    The pump pegs were common on race frames of the time
    left the forum March 2023
  • me-109
    me-109 Posts: 1,915
    I'd say the lug on the r/h seat stay is for a chainguard and the chainstay bridge is designed to take a stand, not fasten mudguards to. The pump pegs are nasty as previously pointed out and not of a quality to be found on a 'race bike'.

    Looks like it was only designed for a single front ring, which might also give a clue to age and/or cheapness.