Mark,
FYI on what I had sent along to Tony the other day "OFF LIST" (...please see entire text below).
Assuming that the Gillott catalog date reference of 1963 is factual and not merely conjecture (...not knowing a whit about Gillott, I could not personally attest one way or the other - but that postal cancellation stamp found on the original envelope would seem to be an excellent indicator), this would be the earliest reference to MAVIC Monthlery named rims I have seen to date. My own reference point as to their introduction coming in 1965 had been founded in a passage on page 39 of the the 1966 dated edition of Gene Portuesi's Cyclo-Pedia catalog as seen here:
http://www.velo-pages.com/
...in conjunction with yet another period cycling reference which I cannot recall with certainty at this very moment, but which seemed to corroborate an introduction date of 1965 for MAVIC Monthlery rims.
At this point, I am inclined to amend my own understanding on the subject of their debut and strongly encourage anyone else who might have incontrovertible proof of their prior existence to contribute said evidence for benefit of the greater public "pool of knowledge"
Regards,
Robert "yes indeed, old dogs CAN learn new tricks (...but only if they WANT to)" Broderick ...the "Chronically Cloudy Clime" of Oregon Portland, USA
-----------------------------------
Tony,
I am pressed for time, so I will be uncharacteristically brief:
For future reference, you might consider looking here:
http://www.velo-retro.com/
...and here:
http://www.velo-pages.com/
...for basic MAVIC information. Also, I have embedded quite a lot of MAVIC background into the text associated with various components slated for use in my "tout MAVIC" themed Vitus 979 build as found here:
http://www.velo-pages.com/
Finally, with regard to MAVIC Monthlery rims, their history is quite convoluted to the extent that MAVIC homologized the brand designation over time but basically the original version was introduced in 1965 and thereafter produced with slight alteration through at least 1991 (...past that point in time, my expertise fails for about a decade until you get into truly modern equipment) ... but they were subcategorized into Monthlery Route, Monthlery Pro, and Monthlery Legere (...i.e. touring, training, and lightweight racing) as of late 1974 whereas prior to that point in time, there was only a single Monthlery offering. Of course, the decal scheme for any of those various models of Monthlery rims also changed multiple times over the years. As for the Argent 10 model, I believe that it was introduced in 1977 or 1978 (...I do not recall them being available in 1976 and they were positively available in 1978) and, again, they were produced through at least 1991, all the while undergoing various changes in their label graphics.
Regards,
Robert
> From: gillottspear@googlemail.com
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:16:29 +0000
> Subject: [CR] Mavic rim timeline
>
> Mavic Monthlery rims are in the spec for the 1963 Gillott ''Tour De
> Bretagne''
> http://www.flickr.com/
>
> Mark Stevens Evanton Scotland