1947 Legnano
1947 Legnano road racing bike
When cyclists get nostalgic and talk about mythical Italian racers of old, they recall Legnano, whether they know it or not.
For instance, Legnano was the bike Gino Bartali rode when he dueled with Fausto Coppi in the 1940s. Prior to Bartali, way back in the 1920’s Alfredo Binda won the Giro d’Italia five times a aboard a Legnano bicycle.
Emilio Bozzi founded his bike company in 1908, and named it Legnano, after his home town (a northwest suburb of Milan).
100 years later and the Legnano name survives under the stewardship of Bianchi bicycles.
This green beauty has a lot of cutting edge technology for a bike already in its seventies. It features thin-walled steel tubing resulting in a twenty-one pound racing bike. It has internal cable routing for a nice clean look, Campagnolo’s two lever Roubaix shifting system for a few different gear options, aluminum rims, a unique flat-railed saddle, and a tiny front fender to control spray off the front wheel.
Legnano head badge
Internal cables in 1947
The double lever Cambio-Corsa shifter
Front end detail
Legnano Crankset
Ideale flat rail saddle
By the way, there is a little bit of Argentinian heritage to go along with the Italian history for this Legnano.
A friend of ours was visiting Attilio Pavesi’s bike shop in Buenos Aires about twenty years ago. Attilio had won the road race at the 1932 Olympics, so you can imagine there was a fair amount of history decorating the retired athlete’s shop. Our friend Kevin was able to purchase the Legnano and bring it back with him to Seattle.
Under Juan Peron, a National Team was set up and talented young Argentinian athletes were given bicycles and support to race for their country. We aren’t sure of any specifics, but given the quality and age, this bike was probably ridden by several of these racers. It was restored to new condition sometime in the 1990’s.