Diamonds and Pearls

Well, it goes like this: there's an ad on an internet site, bad pic but a little photoshop work shows a nice bike. Or at least parts which should mean a good bike. So I call the guy, we talk bike and bread, he's happy with 50 euros, I'm happy with what I know about the bike. It turns up at my place by truck, the very first thing I see on opening the box is the RD... No hysterics, but I know it's a winner. The guy didn't get another call about the bike. Mad. It doesn't say Herse or Masi or something, people can't think for themselves, they're not interested. Then they see what the bike is, they start complaining. Go figure...

Anyhow, the bike is 60's, custom built, a fortune (then and now) in parts on it. And it's mine. Not for sale. Pseudo experts are free to crawl out of the woodwork and scream "mid range mass produced". No law against making yourself look stoopid if you want to, and pseudo experts should be allowed to have their day, freedom of expression :)

Beborex with cable actuating lever which slides in groove on brake arm.

Berthet Lyotard platforms

Campagnolo flipflop. The other side has a 5 speed Atom unit.

Shop still exists. They're researching the records, inquiring.

Handbuilt fork, wood plug.

Blades and stays also Vitus

Sure, nice seat cluster, but also a racer's pump peg. Saves about 10 seconds on a tub change.

Looks like Simplex Juy 61 Export. But what do I know ?

So that sums it up nicely. It also -this bike- ends a two year effort to build a bike collection starting with a 15 euro investment, then moving up by swapping, a bit of selling of uneeded parts. This collection is now at around 30 bikes and needs slimming to 20. All bikes I really like. Not necessarily prestigious, but some are, that's life. My size except 2 of 'em. If there is a moral to this, it might be that no amount of money can buy you what a little common sense and research, love of bikes and never taking anything for granted can. What you can buy with a load of bread is a great collection of five or six brands of bike. You can spend 250.000 bucks on building a giant collection of what every other rich collector in the world has. And that's OK too, I guess. But not quite my cup of tea, old chap.

One o' these days, I'll build a proper site and show 'em all. Probably show a few more here in the meantime.

Comments

[NM]

Fred, merci du commentaire et du lien. Oui, Je connais EA de nom, j'ai vu quelques pages de son site, du joli matos. Perso avec 70 biklouzes du Michaux au Grand Bi Rudge en passant par toutes sortes de "systèmes", aux vélos plus modernes avec ou sans palmarès, je pense que je ne vais pas tarder aussi à monter un site digne de ce nom. Et peut être un p'tit musée privé :)

Encore merci !

[Me]

Not yet
Thx. Indeed a lucky find. The crankset didn't need polishing, that's chrome which just needed a little rub with a rag and compound, and that is the condition I acquired the bike in. The BB set is Stronglight, the cranks are Durax, the adaptors (or arms, whatever) and chainrings are Simplex.

Cycles Dutrion still exist in Dijon, they're on Summer Holidays for the moment, I've had no reply from them as yet. However, there is a lead to the ex-mechanic of Dutrion, he might be the most reliable source of info.

So at the moment, sorry, but I have no info on this bike, provenance or build history. Except that it's nice :)

[1989Pre]

That is a very nice Stronglight crank. Which model is it? Did you polish it yourself?
The work on those fork crowns looks super. Can you tell us anything else about them?

[Me]

The bar ends or the fork plug ? What makes you nervous then ? How much it would cost if it were ever to be on sale ? Tell you what, the saddle is as hard as a rock, the lowest gear is 47 x 22, I took it 40 km against a strong gusting headwind on a really hilly course. My ass looks like a baboons face, I averaged under 20 kmh, my lumbars are jammed. On the return with a tailwind, it was so exciting I tore a quadriceps. A beautiful bike but a real disaster to ride. Worst 80 km ride ever. If you need corks, let me know which and I'll mail you a few. Economy class.

[amirinisrael]

I always get nervous when I see a cork like that.