1970s Cherubim Model ‘V’ Sportif: Hitoshi Konno’s Fillet-Brazed Classic

By James Hickman, former USA Cycling Expert Coach and Masters racer. James has coached riders of all levels, including Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team In Training century riders, and is a Platinum finisher at El Tour de Tucson.

1970s Cherubim Model “V” Sportif: Hitoshi Konno’s Fillet-Brazed Classic

Every so often a bike crosses my desk that makes me stop scrolling and actually lean forward — this week’s feature is one of those. It’s a 1970s Cherubim Model “V” Sportif, hand-built by Hitoshi Konno, one of the most respected names in Japanese custom frame building. This particular example, a 21″/53cm frame measured center-to-center on the top tube and center-to-top on the seat tube, was displayed at the 2024 Classic Bicycles Auburn show and recently offered for sale by eBay seller stuck_seatpost, whose listing photos and documentation form the basis for this profile.

Who Was Hitoshi Konno, and Why Does Cherubim Matter?

Cherubim is one of the small handful of Japanese frame builders whose work genuinely stands alongside the great Italian and French constructeurs of the same era. Hitoshi Konno founded the shop and became known for fillet-brazed construction — a technique where tubes are joined with brass filler and hand-filed into smooth, lugless transitions rather than hidden inside ornate lugs. It’s unforgiving work. There’s nowhere for a sloppy joint to hide under a lug shell, so every seam on a Cherubim frame is a direct window into the builder’s skill.

Frame Details and Unique Features

This Model “V” Sportif carries two details that tell you Konno was building this frame with a specific rider and purpose in mind. First, it uses Cherubim’s proprietary rear dropouts — not off-the-shelf Campagnolo or Suntour dropouts, but shop-made pieces that mark this as a genuine custom build rather than a production frame with a Cherubim head badge.

Second, the frame has brazed-on centerpull brake bosses specifically fitted for MAFAC calipers, front and rear. Brazed-on centerpulls were the “correct” way to run this brake style on a quality frame in the 1970s — cleaner than a strap-on setup and a clear sign the builder was thinking about braking performance, not just tube mitering.

The 21″/53cm sizing (square geometry, CTC top tube and CTT seat tube) puts this squarely in sportif territory — a frame meant for spirited club rides and fast touring rather than a dedicated racing bike or a loaded tourer. That geometry choice lines up with every other spec on this build.

Full Build Specifications

Coach James: The drivetrain here tells a story on its own. Suntour Cyclone shifters and rear mech paired with a Superbe Pro front derailleur and a TA Pro triple-pin crank is a genuinely thoughtful mixed group — riders in this era weren’t loyal to one brand’s full gruppo the way we think of “complete group sets” today. They picked the best part for the job. That 48-38 chainring spread with a 6-speed Maillard freewheel tells you this bike was set up for rolling terrain, not the high mountains.

Provenance and Condition

This example has solid documentation behind it. It was shown publicly at the 2024 Classic Bicycles Auburn show, one of the better-regarded vintage and classic bicycle gatherings on the West Coast circuit, and the listing and photography come from eBay seller stuck_seatpost. If you want to see the bike in more detail or are considering it for your own collection, that listing is the place to start.

Why This Bike Matters

Frames like this Cherubim Model “V” sit at an interesting intersection in Japanese bicycle history. By the mid-1970s, Japanese frame builders were no longer working in the shadow of European constructeurs — shops like Cherubim, Toei, and 3Rensho were producing frames that matched or exceeded the fit-and-finish of their French and Italian counterparts, while developing their own construction signatures. The brazed-on MAFAC mounts and shop-made dropouts on this bike aren’t decorative flourishes; they’re evidence of a builder solving problems for a specific rider rather than assembling a catalog frame.

For collectors, a documented, show-quality Konno-built Cherubim with correct-period components is a genuinely significant find. Bikes like this don’t turn up often, and complete, unmolested build kits from this era are getting harder to source every year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who built this Cherubim Model “V” Sportif?
The frame was fillet-brazed by Hitoshi Konno, founder of Cherubim, one of Japan’s most respected custom frame shops.

What makes fillet brazing different from lugged construction?
Fillet brazing joins tubes with brass filler that is hand-filed into a smooth radius at each joint, rather than hiding the joint inside a decorative lug. It requires more skill to execute cleanly since there’s nowhere for an uneven joint to hide.

What size is this frame?
It’s a 21″/53cm frame, measured center-to-center on the top tube and center-to-top on the seat tube.

What brakes does this bike use?
MAFAC Competition centerpull brakes, mounted to frame-brazed bosses rather than a strap-on adapter — a detail specific to this build.

Where was this bike shown or documented?
It was displayed at the 2024 Classic Bicycles Auburn show, and the reference photos and details for this profile come from eBay seller stuck_seatpost.

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