I recall that during the bike boom days, one shop in the town where I then lived (Warren, OH)had Arctic bikes. This shop was your basic bottom feeder, sold lawn mowers as well. I was told this dealer was selling obscure brands because his credit history was poor and the major companys wouldn't deal with him. As for the bikes, the ones I saw were typical entry level French stuff similar to a Peugeot UO-8. I figured Arctic was just another of the many brands the French made specifically for export to the US during the boom. I had no idea who actually made them until now. In fact, I never heard of Arctic again until now. Evidently, there were some Arctic bikes that were much higher end than the ones I saw. BTW, does anyone know why so many French manufacturers sold bikes in the US under brands made up for this market, rather than under their own names? Did importers see some advantage in making up a name just for the US? Since one of the selling points of "ten-speeds" in the US was the European mystique, you would have thought the tradition of Stella, having been ridden by Louison Bobet and all, would have been good advertising copy in the US. Bikes "ridden by the great French champion Louison Bobet" would probably have impressed many American buyers at the time, even if they had never actually heard of Bobet before. Most bike boom buyers didn't realize their $125 UO-8 was quite different from the bikes the European racers rode. Maybe someone who was actually in the business at the time can explain why the French made up these export brands.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
-----Original Message----- From: Paulie Davis [mailto:paulieflt@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 10:19 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Anybody Heard of the Stella Arctic?
Hi everybody,
Unpacking the latest eBay haul tonight I was greeted with my first set of Campy high flange hubs of some sort on nice Mavic polished aluminum box rims, extra unused Clement sew-up, ancient Ideale saddle and the famous open c QR skewers, for starters. Boy, is this fun!
The bad news was: no buffer zone in the end packing materials, resulting in bent drop out screws, through the frame still looks completely unharmed. FedEx ground was the carrier.
So has anybody ever heard of the *Arctic* made by Stella? The frame seems rather heavy, and the tubing says *Columbus Tubes Reinforces* -- but what do I know? I'm here to learn! I would think this a lower end frame, but the wheels and hubs were so nice. Universal, Pivo and Nervar Star rounded out the parts. It's orange and black. Guess it's perfect for October.
Thanks so much for your thoughts, Paulie Davis in Overcast L.A.
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