....and of course Hans Orht in Beverly Hills (and Westwood?). An importer of exotic French bits and a tandem trailblazer as well. Hans died the same time I came into this world back in 1961. He had a brother who had a shop in San Francisco and imported/labeled French touring bikes in his
name.
Matthieu Gorski Le Belmont Sur Mer, CA
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Seth F Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 2:54 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]French bikes in L.A.1958
Hi Folks:
Chuck's getting overdrawn on his posting allotment now,so I'll chime
in as a former Angeleno from way back that kool French bikes were being
retailed in Los Angeles while we were both teen-agers.
Harding's Westwood Cyclery-the continuation of Ed Lynch's shop,had
Motobecane alpine touring bikes in the racks for sale by 1958.Fat white
650B's,rod shifter wide chainrings,and Simplex Rigidex 4 or 5 speed in
the back.Small wire racks over LeFol mudguards.For a few dollars
more,the same shop had Follis touring bikes with Stronglight/T.A. and so
forth,and the Simplex double right side lever.None of these bikes were
special ordered.
Ted Ernst senior was selling Peugeot alpine tourers quite similar to
the Motobecanes down on the Coast Highway in the South Bay.I have the
remains of one right here,with Tubes Helium and CLB cantilevers,yet.
Trick is that geographical placement made a big difference in what you
were exposed to 50 years ago.
Seth Finkelstein,Santa Cruz,CA