Should I buy this entire bicycle collection? No restoration needed!

[@paulshaw529]

The Harry quinn is an english brand made in liverpool. The shop is still open but new oweners. Good racing pedigree.

[@maxwellspeedwell2585]

In the Summer of ‘72 (Oh what a year!) I was reading a cycling newspaper and they had an article about a frame builder by the name of Harry Quinn. The article was titled, “It’s just your average Harry Quinn… In Bronze! It was a five speed (1x5) TT bike with chrome lugs and a bronze plated frame that shone “like a new penny!” The bronze was lacquered so it didn’t oxidize. The bike had geometry that would rival Raquel Welch (Fathom) for a long-time staring competition.

[@felixjackson2670]

Harry Quinn..frame builder from Northern England. When Road Racing in early-mid 1970’s some of the top riders used his frames.

[@lindajesse8250]

Sweet purchase John. “Fray-yus”

[@aq7705]

That Jack Taylor looks awesome. Can't wait to see your refurb and touring vids with that.

[@upperpeninsulaphotography6624]

Glad you did. When I saw it, the first thing I thought of was you have Dave Stohler's Masi from Breaking Away, Roger de Vlaeminck's Gios Torino from A Sunday in Hell and Eddy Merck's De Rosa. What a find.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Crazy!! Hetchins, Gios!, DeRosa, Masi, Condor, Milano (not shown in the video)... pretty nuts! cant wait to pick them up

[@tappan8808]

love the idea of a highly curated, niche collection like that. thanks for pointing it out for the rest of us.

[@garyharmon5386]

So awesome. I love vintage European bikes with Campy Record. Wish I still had my 2001 Colnago Mapei MX Lite. It had Campy Chorus with Campy Euro wheels. Great video.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Thank you so much, the 2001 Colnago is pretty cool. Check out the video I posted today where I pick up this collection.

[@dinodaniel2237]

Hey John , nice video. Looking forward to your next video. All the best!

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Thanks!

[@ModatiStudios]

Exciting you picked up that collection, excited to see that video in due time.

[@nielskjr5432]

The Frejus is very similar to my first bike, when I started racing back in '69.

[@nobodyjones7632]

Another great video mate 👍 Great to see youve now got a Gios in your collection (my personal favs). Harry Quinn use to build frames just up the road from me. He was also mentor to Terry Dolan (Dolan bikes) who built frames under his own name aswell as his Cougar brand. Bloody great frames.. he built for the likes of Chris Boardman, Bradley wiggins etc. (Terry that is not Harry)

[@tourhead]

That little tank on the Harley cruiser is so cool! I want something similar for my old mini bike I've been building. Great stuff. Thanks John.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Those tanks obviously are there for show. It has a cool look. Thanks for watching

[@maxwellspeedwell2585]

Well, back in 1971 it was a Free-juss. Back then the only Italian words we knew were Colnago, and Tour Dee France.

[@DavidCasebeer-wf8by]

Frejus is Italian. Ba lee la and free jus. Harry Quinn was one of the oldest British Cycle companies. Had a couple of friends that raced Fejus bikes in the 70's. Go all Italian. Use Tipo hubs. Love Phil Wood. Fantastic stuff. I use a Phil on my Mercian Super Vigorelli Track bike (1973).

[@DavidCasebeer-wf8by]

That is a Phil BB on the Mercian. My first Phil hub were aluminum with a steel body, some of the first production models. You need to find a HiE bike frame. Harlan Meyers was an engineer in Nashville (Tenn not Illinois)and built some of the lightest hubs and rims. Also build an aluminum frame that was glued and bolted together. Saw several in my race days. All painted orangy. Creaked a bit.

[@rollinrat4850]

Those were the good old days! I rode with guys on the Vitus and Alan screwed and glued bikes. They were great for rough roads, fire roads and 'cross. My semi-pro racer buddies, (mom and dad as sponsors!) had Graftek and Teledyne Ti frames. Ron Cooper made me a frame, but I really wanted an Eisentraut I couldn't afford. Nobody sponsored me. I bought bikes instead of cars for quite a few years. Not owning a car= more training! Ironically I could get the Cooper from England quicker too! Recently a customer gave me an 'allroad 'Traut' for free! Its getting rocked offroad to this day. I cant help myself. Another weight weenie pro buddy owned half of Klein bicycles in the beginning. Gary Klein didnt sound like a very nice guy. I remember the Hi-E, Weyless and Bullseye stuff. I still ride on some ancient Weyless rollers for which Ive made my own bearings. Ive got some vintage Phil Wood BBs and a first generation Chris King headset. He's a medical machinist like myself. This 'good old junk' is like cockroaches that wont die! I sold my old PW wheels though. I applied for a machinist job at Phil Wood here in San Jose once upon a time. I accepted a job at Rockshox in Mtn View instead in the early 90's. I was an inspector there. Id never buy a Rockshox again, but that's a different story! Now most of the larger bike industry is even more of a joke. 'Modern tech' including all the warranties and recalls are job security for mechanics such as myself. Nobodys fooling me! I went on to build lots of my own bike parts, simply because its the best means to get what I want and need. Soon Ill build a simple bike completely built by me, except for the tires, spokes, rims and saddle. Most of the parts are done, Im collecting tubing and learning to braze and tig weld. My favorites being a set of track hubs using Chris King's phenomenal AC bearings. These bearings will last indefinitely. I even ride 'em on my local rocky singletrack! Im planning on willing all this stuff to my grandchildren! Sorry for the rant IF youve gotten this far. Im a lifelong, lifestyle bike nerd.

[@maxwellspeedwell2585]

Rollinrat3850. You sound like the guy I’m looking for. 40 years ago I almost pulled the trigger on an RBS Bi-Valent type rear hub. Robert Barrett-Side cannot be found but he told me about his hub over the phone. Unlike the Bi-Valent, his front and rear wheels were not interchangeable. He modified a standard rear hub (Hi-E in my case, and fitted a Phil Wood bottom bracket spline. The freewheel attached to the drop-out, and the hub fit in the spline. The free wheel & chain stayed on the bike for wheel changes. More to it but that’s the basics. Way back near the beginning I chatted with Bev Bogle over the phone, and then spent some time with Gary at his …uhh factory. Gary back then he was very gracious. A later encounter had shown that the rigors of business had changed him. He was nice enough to heat treat my frame for me.

[@rollinrat4850]

@@maxwellspeedwell2585 Vance of Cupertino bikes had an old Cinelli with the bivalent set up. Id go there just to look at his collection of vintage steel. For the past 10 years Ive been riding a 'dinglespeed' cyclocross bike lots more than my derailleur bikes . Its either SS or fixed gear, but has 4-6 different gears available. If that sounds intriguing, I can give you a complete description.

[@worldofameiso5491]

Being a French bike, perhaps early Mavic rims would look good. I think 1960s is a good guess for this Frejus bike. I have a 1968 Jack Taylor Marathon, lovely bike by a great builder. My oldest bike is a 1947 Bates Vegrandis which has Cantiflex tubing and Diadrant forks, and a three speed Sturmey Archer with 26" Dunlop lightweight wheels.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Hi, just an FYI. Even thought Frejus is a french city. The bike is actually Italian. Go figure. Im thinking Fiamme, Nisi. Mavic still wouldn't be out of the question. Sounds like a good collection. My knowledge takes a dive from before 1965! lol.

[@Paramount531]

Congrats on the purchase of the collection! I love that Frejus, it's rare to find Italian chrome in such good condition. I also love those old Campy Gran Sports, do you know what year they discontinued using the cable adjuster on them? I think around 1960. I still have one that I got in 74 when I worked in a bike shop. It's pretty well worn but the plating is in perfect condition.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

A dirty secret, if you look up close on the fork the chrome is peeling on the Frejus

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

I'm not sure when they discontinued the barrel adjuster. I am not very familiar with 60s bicycle. Componentry. I have a basic knowledge, however this is my first bike that I purchased that is this old

[@spacemanonemillion2500]

Some lovely bikes in the collection, and well done from getting them . These are all my size also . The Gios is probably my favourite , had a few mates with those . Condor is nearly my local bike shop as I live in London. Lugs on the condor and fetching are lovely . Lppking forward to the pick up :)

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Hetchins is crazy.. Plus I never saw a Condor with those lugs. Unfortunately the Condor has the wrong fork. That's going to be a challenge finding the correct one.

[@rollinrat4850]

I still ride my mother's old Raliegh ('60's) as a fixed gear rain bike and pub crawler. Its got the original bird's head cottered cranks snd original BB. I rebuilt it once several decades ago and made my own cotter press. I machined zerk fittings into the cups. I pump it a few times every winter with boat trailer bearing grease. The seat tube is probably half filled with grease and its relatively quiet! Haha, better Cg!! I think these old cups and spindles were made from particularly hard steel!

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

I haven't rebuilt a cottered crank bb in 35 years. One of my bike shop friends has a press I could use. Im looking forward to doing something different!

[@steveconway11]

John if you’re riding the Cincy to Cleveland bike trail you might check out the National Bike Museum in New Bremen Ohio. (Near Dayton) The owner bought out the Schwinn stock when the plant closed in chicago. And lots more in there. Ask for the senior discount!

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Do I look that old?

[@markyoung950]

Look at the fork crown, there is a space or window where the blade enters the fork crown. The Reynolds 531 frame sets has that type of crown. I was looking for Frejus catalogs online and they are not that easy to find. Tapers on crank arms and BB spindles were not standardized in the days before Shimano Standardization. You did not buy that Louison Bobet in FL :(

[@peterkerr803]

As I recall the main tubes were Reynolds’s while the stays and fork blades were Columbus … netting a lighter bike.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

On which bicycle?

[@johnssonnz]

I am so happy u did... Well done stunning bikes 🎉🎉

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

THanks! looking forward to picking them up.

[@johnssonnz]

@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage I can't wait to see your the bikes, try make a video when o picking the bikes please..

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

@@johnssonnz absolutely, I'll have a video of the road trip going down, picking up the bikes, I will eulogize the gentlemen that owned them. Probably do a overview of each bicycle. Then sift through the parts collection that I'm getting as well. Then after that probably a video of each bicycle individually over time. Thanks for watching

[@maxwellspeedwell2585]

Should you buy the entire collection? Just remember to always apply “The Cycling Maxim” for any bike related purchase; “Nothing we do with bicycles has anything to do with “worth it”. Not worth it, or not worth it, pull the trigger and don’t look back.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

It was clickbait. I knew I was going to buy them LOL

[@maxwellspeedwell2585]

First Harry Quinn, I’ve ever seen without the vertical, in-line “Harry Quinn” on the back of the seat stays. I talked with a secretary at Tubo Techno Torino. (3Triple T, or 3T in ‘Mer-can-eze”). I don’t speak Italian (and she didn’t speak English) but I did learn the the name is pronounced “Tubo Tekno Tor-no”. We can all sleep well tonight.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

It's possible that this is a repaint and they omitted those decals

[@n22pdf]

I own a condor Acciaio beautiful bike, Columbus spirit 😊 ❤ great vid John as always 👍 🚴🏻 Pete

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Thanks. Do you know what Condor model this is?

[@maxwellspeedwell2585]

That Wastyn label may just double the value of the Frejus.

[@alexanderlawson1649]

Nice bikes, it would be fun to take them for a ride, in the best summer weather, of course. That touring machine with the head tube shifters and double rear cantis, interesting bike but adjusting those double cantis, could be a pain.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Hey, Yeah I agree. Those brakes might be a challenge. But honestly I dont need the power from both so if one is favored over the other I guess it wont matter. Im hoping the bike wont be as harsh as I think its going to be!

[@rickwarrington7605]

Hi John it’s Rick from the uk a little info on the Harry Quinn apparently he didn’t own a Q stamp so he used to use a 0 and 1 to make the Q for the frame number; apparently that’s how you check it’s original……

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Once I get it, I'll check it out! Thanks

[@returnofthenative]

Looking forward to it John.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Thanks!

[@atomicat]

Damn john. That's a good looking bike there

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Thanks!

[@larryt.atcycleitalia5786]

FRAY-JUICE Frejus BAH-LEELA Balilla JOESS Gios DAY-ROSA DeRosa. Please ditch "cockpit" as a term for a handlebar/stem. It's a vintage word..but it describes a hole in the ground that you throw fighting roosters into.

[@geraldwilliams860]

Great video, I had a Harry Quinn.great frames

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Thanks, I have a lot to learn about the Quinn

[@SkyhawkSteve]

Nice Frejus! Looking forward to a video of the battle of the cotter pins! The collection of top-line bikes was impressive! I've already got a Hetchins with curly stays and crazy lugs, so maybe that's why the Condor really caught my attention. The two-tone contrasting seat tube is great, as are the very curly lugs! I hope someone can provide some insight into those.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

I dont know if you noticed but the fork on the Condor wasn't the correct fork! That's going to be a challenge to find. Curious, they patented the stays on the Hetchins saying it gave a more comfortable ride.. Any truth to that?

[@SkyhawkSteve]

@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage the curved seat stays probably do flex a bit, but I'm sure that the tires flex a lot more! The main benefit of the curved stays is that they look cool. 🙂

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

@@SkyhawkSteve that is what I figured. However, while reading the history of the bikes, the theory was a fork with a rake is more comfortable than a straightfork, so therefore curved stays would be more comfortable. More comfortable. Yep it does sound gimmicky. Yes it does look cool

[@SkyhawkSteve]

@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage Forks have the advantage of only being attached at one end, so the free end can move a bit. The rake is primarily to optimize the steering characteristics, but a lot of rake does mean a longer fork blade, which should flex a bit more. When Dave Kirk was at Serotta, he did build some frames with significant curve in the seat stay. It had a pivot at the dropout, so it had the freedom to flex a bit. I saw one once: live.staticflickr.com/65535/50924218992_3e88d727cc_b_d.jpg

[@jeffhildreth9244]

To answer the question of "should I buy".. of course. I have mild regret for buying some things (buyer's remorse) but you can always sell them. My biggest regrets would be for the cars, motorcycles and bicycles I did not buy.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

I hear ya. They made it easy for me to purchase. I got a good price. For the sake of the family I'll keep the collection together for a while. I'll eulogize the owner of the collection in the video I do when picking them up. These are all premium bikes. I'll sell something else if needed before I get rid of these!

[@paulwheeless1080]

you have a healthy addiction!

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

LOL Could be worse.. drugs, alcohol, crack whores.. LOL

[@ttnyny]

I believe that "Frejus" is pronounced FRAY JUICE. In other words, with an e "aigue" (é) in the first syllable and with a (slightly) hard j in the second one. Although Frejus bicycles were built in Torino, Italy, there is a town in the southeast corner of France, not too far from the border with Italy (and about 4 hrs. from Torino), by the name of Fréjus. You can hear the pronunciation of this town's name by clicking the loudspeaker icon on its Wikipedia page. I tried to figure out if the accented e (in other words, é) is used in the bike manufacturer's name, but it's hard to tell. Accents are not used on capitalized letters in Italian or French, so you would need to see the name spelled in mixed case. However, the Frejus name appears in "all-caps" in brochures and on the bikes themselves, so without seeing a mixed-case occurrence, it's not possible to know for sure. The last point is that proper nouns, like the names of people and places, do not always follow the standard rules of pronunciation in Latin languages. P.S. "Nuovo" is pronounced NEW OH VO (and means "new").

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Thanks for the lesson! Im so lazy.. been saying nuvo forever! lol

[@ttnyny]

@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage "nuvo" is pretty close to the pronunciation of the French word for "new": nouveau. So, at least you are on the right continent! Seriously, as a cyclist who came of age in the 1970s and who worked in bike shops in the 1980s and early 1990s, I love your channel. Thanks for sharing.

[@RandyB-sl4pj]

John let me know when you plan on doing the Ohio to Erie (or Erie to Ohio) trail this year. Was planning on riding my vintage bike on that trail in a couple months.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

You'll see it on the channel. Any Ideas on transportation back to where I parked my car? I think im starting in Cinci

[@RandyB-sl4pj]

There’s a service that you can pay to meet you at the end (Edgewater Park), load your bike up and take you back down to Cincy. About 4 1/2 hours depending on where you parked

[@RandyB-sl4pj]

Look up Zipi Transit

[@ericanfinson7332]

I bought a Frejus frame from a HS friend in Platteville, WI. He had purchased it from a college student there. The BB was a bit of mystery with one cup not removable. Was it frozen or supposed to be that way? I brought it to Madison to see if any bike shops there knew what it was. At Yellow Jersey I don’t recall an answer but one of the managers told me that they were made using prison labor. The frames? Or were they assembled in a prison. I haven’t been able to confirm that. That seat cluster as you pointed out is unique. And the slotted fork crown is too. When I hit up another one of the Madison bike shops, a mechanic or manager greeted me and when he saw it he said that had been his bike when he was at UW-P and had sold it to my friend! Small world! He had purchased it from a speed skater in Chicago. Maybe it came from the same shop as yours! Sadly it was stolen. That was a deep cut at the time. Thanks for sharing your passion John. The fun is infectious!

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

I heard a similar story where someone thought it was a French bike and didn't know it had Italian threads. Therefore, couldn't get the fixed cup off. not sure if that was the same as your situation. Never heard anything about prison labor. LOL Ive had a few bikes stolen from me. No fun!

[@johndillon8051]

A Masi and a De Rosa. Mama Mia!

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Crazy!! Hetchins, Gios!, DeRosa, Masi, Condor, Milano (not shown in the video)... pretty nuts! cant wait to pick them up

[@frankgyomoryjr6167]

Stop at the sewing stores for her!

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Absolutely.

[@Tarmaccyclocross]

A cockpit is an enclosed area, show me an enclosed area on a bike it’s called steering🤣🤣

[@steveconway11]

Cockpit bugs me too.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Sorry to bother you! LOL

[@kavanobrien6547]

Harry Quinn was a bike manufacturer from Liverpool England started in 1890 .

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Thanks! just reading up on that now. Once I get the serial number I can figure out what year it was and see if it was actually HQ built.

[@zbillster]

Hey 61cm ... Bikes closer to my size! Let me know if you need to get rid of one. 😁

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Wont be for a while. I promised to keep the collection together for a period. Plus, I haven't sold a bike in ages. LOL

[@zbillster]

@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage I am Bill's lack of surprise. 🙃

[@kavanobrien6547]

Harry was the son of the founder coronet cycles started in 1890 , Harry went on to create Harry Quinn bikes.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Thanks! just reading up on that now. Once I get the serial number I can figure out what year it was and see if it was actually HQ built.

[@lele1974.]

show !!! man!! manda uma dessas pra mim aqui no sul do brasil ... kkk

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Greetings Brazil! Thanks for watching!

[@imagringa]

would you mind sharing how much do you pay for that beauty ?

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Hi, Sorry. I can't. I did get it "discounted" from someone and I cant reveal that. Thanks!

[@MichaelFitzgerald1]

Fréjus is French: fray-ZHOOS. The "j" in Fréjus would be like the "s" in "leisure". Generally, the last "s" in French words would not be pronounced, but it is in Fréjus.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

The name is French. The bike is actually Italian. Go figure!

[@maxwellspeedwell2585]

Toe-may-toe, Toe-mah-toe

[@StanEby1]

In southern France pronounced like this kzbin.info/www/bejne/noDcYouuiad8gMksi=1rPrB9OqRDymUvZw In Italian it is pronounced about the same, except the e is not as closed, and the u is more like the oo in moo. At any rate, the accent is on the first syllable and the j is like zh, or the middle consonant in measure. In Italian you can flip the r. You should pronounced the s like a typical unvoiced sibilant. All the best.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

Hey, thanks for that!

[@edernhaushofer2011]

I think the name is misleading. Fréjus might be a french town halfway between Cannes and Saint Tropez but the company is actually italian. So in french you'd say fré (with the french "rrr" and the "é" sound as in "É"ducation in english) jus, with a "jj" and not the english "dj", a "ü" sound which would be an inbetween of "u" (like in "U"niversity but without the "yiu" sound, just then end "u" if that makes sens) and "ee", and lastly a simple "s" sound. In italian it's the same except for the slightly rolled "rrl" and the "u", pronounced "oo" (like in blood, oh non nevermind like in "mooh"). I swear english pronounciation is hell made sounds. The inconsistancy makes it funny to try to describe to anybody 😅 Go for the italian style on this one. It pains me to say it as a french but the bike is theirs 😉 Cheers

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

This is my second Frejus. When I purchased one exactly a year ago I thought I was buying a french bike, Ive seen them but always assumed it was French. When I saw it had Italian threading I was a bit shocked. LOL

[@edernhaushofer2011]

@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage Hehe true. Just like Bugatti being a french company. There's a lot of cultural continuity between southern France and northern Italy, in part because of the italian immigration, but mostly because it's all mediterrannean alps anyway. Great channel and awesome collection by the way !! Love that you made me discover US made bikes like the Paramound. I just wish you'd present more french bikes, aside from the PX10. We had great bikes back in the 70's, Lejeune for instance is a favorite brand of mine. And the Spidel (Simplex SLJ, Mafac Compétition, Maillard 700 and Stronglight 105 bis or 106) componants are also great imo. Oh and Huret Jubilee ! But maybe they didn't sell them in your corner of the world ? :/ Anyway please keep up the great work it's always nice to see you drop a new video ! 😀

[@maxwellspeedwell2585]

Ee-gor I-gor Frederick Froderick …. Let’s call the whole thing off.

[@NicolaDiMarco]

poor bikes. They're not meant to be sitting there.

[@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage]

See my latest video. I purchased them and will be overhauling them and putting them back on the road!

[@NicolaDiMarco]

amazing, congrats! @@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage