Re: [CR]french mystery bike - help

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Avocet)

Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 21:14:29 +0100 (MET)
From: "kim klakow" <Akimbo71@gmx.net>
To: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
References: <20041208154717.59360.qmail@web81002.mail.yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]french mystery bike - help
cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org

Thank you all for being so informative. I´ve added some more shots to the album which might host more clues; Brake bridge, Lugs ,etc. We´ll figure this one out yet ...

Thanks again,

Kim Klakow Berlin Germany


> Well, you're right, we're just guessing, and there may even have been
> Italian subcontractors who would thread French at the request of a French
> customer. My experience with LeJeune is mostly from two 60's and one early 70's
> road bike which I own, includimg a tandem, and the only thing they have in
> common with the mystery bike is the seatstays. But later LeJeunes may
> have been make by different subcontractors, whose shops weren't even
> necessarily in France. So anything is possible.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Houston, TX
>
> Fred Rafael Rednor <fred_rednor@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Jerry,
> I'm not saying that Kim's frame is definitely French - but
> don't rule it out based on details like the heart shaped
> cutouts. In fact, if you look at the photos, you'll see that
> my Lejeune track bike also has them.
> Of course, since the frames were made by sub-contractors,
> you can't really say with complete authority where "French"
> bicycle like LeJeune were actually built.
> Cheers,
> Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
>
> > The seatstay treatment does indeed look like LeJeune, but
> > most of the high-end Lejeune road bikes I have seen,
> > including my 1973 F-70, have brazeon brake cable stops under
> > the top tube, and often a brazed on rear brake hanger. Also,
> > the long point lugs with heart cutouts are very un-LeJeune,
> > in fact very un-French. I've also never heard of a Lejeune
> > with Gipiemme DOs, unless maybe one of the later
> > South-African made Lejeunes. The lugs are more the Italian
> > style, but French thread pretty much rules out an Italian
> > bike, or a British one. Bertin definitely used lugs similar
> > to this, but Bertin had a pretty distinctive seatstay
> > treatment, which looked nothing like this. Some late
> > Follis's may also have had this lugwork, but again the
> > seatstays don't seem right. Of course this could be a more
> > obscure French marque we've never heard of, but I'm guessing
> > Belgian.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Jerry Moos
> > Houston, TX
> >
> >
> >
> > Fred Rafael Rednor wrote:
> > Kim,
> > I would not rule out that this is a French bicycle! It
> > looks very much like a road version of my LeJeune track bike,
> > which I believe was the output of some contract builder in
> > Saint Etienne. Note the similar lug and seatstay tretment:
> > http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/fred_rednor/album?.dir=7b39
> > Also, for me the front Huret dropouts and Simplex shifter
> > bosses would indicate a French bicycle. The same goes for
> > that
> > cable stop "widget" at the rear dropout.
> > Then again, without any markings, who can say? One thing I
> > would add is that many decent quality French bikes used
> > adhesive stickers rather than decals, so the lack of markings
> > under the second layer of paint might also hint to French
> > origins. I suppsoe this is another puzzle to be solved when
> > the messiah comes. Don't hold your breath...
> > Best regards,
> > Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
> >
> > > Hmm, French threading but Gipiemme rear DOs and more
> > "Italian
> > > style" long point lugs. Makes you wonder if maybe this
> > > isn't French at all, but some other nation that used French
> > > thread. That would probably be Belgium, Spain or
> > > Switzerland. This is not Zeus or Razesa, so Spain is
> > > unlikely, and most of the Swiss bikes used fancy Nervex
> > lugs.
> > > the least "French" of the French bikes was probably Bertin,
> > > (I think Andre himself may have been Belgian born), and
> > I've
> > > seen lower end Bertins marked as made in Belgium. But that
> > > semi-wraparound seat stay doesn't match anything I've ever
> > > seen on a Bertin. So maybe this is Belgian, Flandria maybe?
> >
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Jerry Moos
> > > Houston, TX
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > kim klakow wrote:
> > > Howdy Y´all,
> > >
> > > anybody have an idea what this might be? It used to be gold
> > > until it got
> > > this red paintjob. the fork was gold too and then got it
> > all
> > > scraped off.
> > > Threading is french, rear drop-outs are Gipiemme, front
> > > Huret. nicely
> > > wrapped stays. Might these be a give-away. Simple shifter
> > > braze-on.
> > > I don´t think it is top of the line tubing, but not all
> > bad.
> > >
> > > http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/akimbo1971/album?.dir=/2713
> > >
> > > To aid you francophiles, ....
> > >
> > >
> > > Kim "Marianne" Klakow
> > > Berlin, East France
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Kim Klakow
> > > Diplom Grafik Designer
> > > Akimbo71@gmx.net
> > > +49172-1786481
> > >
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-- Kim Klakow Diplom Grafik Designer Akimbo71@gmx.net +49172-1786481

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