Ateliers de la Rive / Vitus

[bduc61]

Jo Routens was a good French constructeur and bike looks to be made by pere and not fils. A bit better than a commuter. Routens was involved in the technical trials both before and after WW2. Have seen this bike on ebay for quite a while and it hasn't sold. Buyer is pitching at US and Japanese market. Problem for him is there aren't that many tall Japanese...... Frame might also be Vitus tubing which would not make it first quality/b]. Routens, Goeland, Herse and Singer all used Reynolds 531 for their best quality frames. What a seller believes it to be worth and what the market value is, can vary quite a bit. Fleabay sellers aren't always in the real world and some have expectations that are unrealistic to say the least. I think he believes by asking a daft price, someone will pay it. Caveat emptor.

There are some nice French bikes here:- http://www.reneherse.com/ :xmas-big-grin:

'Head's for thinking, feet for dancing'

Est-ce que je entends des sabots cliquetis?

I'll take the opportunity to comment on this post made on the sale of a Routens bike on ebay to add a bit of info on Vitus and its mother company Ateliers de la Rive

I'll allow myself to contradict that statement in bold :idea:
Or add some clarifications

As every tube manufacturer, Vitus or should we say "Ateliers de la Rive" which was the mother company produced an array of tubes from downmarket "heating pipe" to top of the range ones

In the 70's They were comparable in every manner to their contempary reynolds 531 or Columbus SL

It is less sought after probably by its less prestigious reputation rather than lack of qualities :facepalm:

It is also true that you find more racing machines with top of the range Super Vitus 971 or Super Vitus 980 from the 70's on, than Randonneuse style machines where Reynolds 531 had been ubiquitous from early on and continued .

So it is probably true to say that randonneuse style builders preferred 531 as it had proven its qualities - it appeared in 1935 I believe

For lighter tubes for racing machines, the french builders used a lot of SV 971 and it was even lighter than the Columbus SL tubing or plain 531 ( not the SL)

Earlier on, quite a few french builders used Rubis tubing which was premium too

Here a short history of Ateliers de la Rive by Norris Lockley

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/France ... istory.htm

For comparison