French Barn Find - Buckets of Patina!

[Woz]

Was even thinking it may be me being a bit of a moron / too OCD / too precise, but looking at French vintage forums it drives everyone nuts. They also have to deal with inches and fractions which is not a strong point since Mr. Decimal Napoleon Bonapart changed the education curriculum.

 

[Woz]

So what do you think you’ve got?

Measuring the external rim diameter, I get 653mm which puts me between 700A and rim 700B according to the French table above.

From 1912 table, and measuring in old money I get 25 10/16". The first rim profile get's me
very close and I fall with a 28 x 1 1/2" = 700B. The second profile I fall closest to 28 x 1 3/8" which is 700A.

700A means tyres from one supplier in France or one supplier Australia. 700B means better availability.

Started to think to take a plunge with the 700B; better too tight than too floppy, lots of oil to get
it to fit?????

 

[Woz]

....and then started to have doubts. Many many older bikes and some Dion - Boutons were built with 700A,
some are lucky that a riveted badge is on the rim to indicate the size.

Source: https://forum.tontonvelo.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=12369 - an utterly lovely restoration which I could never attain.

 

[Crambie]

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[Woz]

Well he had the advantage that his bike was in pretty ok condition, he still had chrome so much easier. Just a good amount of cleaning. Yours will turn out fine.

Actually if I've understood a few things right, it's not chrome, that came around the 30s. It's nickel.

I spent 20mins with a wire brush on an angle grinder to find the De Dion - Bouton engraving on the cranks,
it's there and faint but it definitely looks like all exposed steel is way too far gone to even dream of a shine.

It will be a clean, but rusty coloured rat if that makes any sense

 

[Woz]

More about the tyre / wheel size issue. I have tried a modern 700C front wheel with a wide 33mm gravel tyre in the
rear of the frame (spacing is 110mm) and it clears the rear stays OK, but I'm not comfortable with anything wider than that.

 

[Woz]

Update on the damn tyre size problem:

Found on off-chance a very retro NOS, French, narrow and true 700B tyre; a Michelin World Tour 700 X 35B

Paid reasonable money, but sadly they only had one and not a pair. Should arrive by the end of the week. Fingers crossed it will be the right size and I can close the size issue and get 50% of the wheels rolling.

I feel lucky already judging by how much these rare tyres are advertised for.....

 

[Woz]

Useless Weightweenie Fact #1

Did a front wheel weight comparison (actual +/- 5g) just out of curiosity to see if road bike technology actually
did advance since the dark ages:

80s NISI Moncalieri tubular rim (still with dried glue ), Campag Record hub (inc. QR), straight gauge spokes = 1 Kg.

20s Unidentified steel rim, unidentified steel hub (inc. butterfly nuts), straight gauge spokes = 1.44 Kg.

Or put another way, in approx. 60 years a 30% weight saving largely due to material change, rather than design change.

With this in mind, looks like I may lag behind a little out of the starting blocks.

 

[26er]

99,99 eurofukcs for a 35-635 :shock: :shock: :roll: jeeesus

You can get them at BT for cheaper than chips...

:facepalm:

Goddammit, this makes me think of Nena and her neun und neunzig luftballons.
Makes me think of Heartland and My Dominion, too...
My eyes are tearing with nostalgia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvoiHjZju5I

:cry: :cry: :cry:

 

[Woz]

I'm going to scream, and swear a bit. I've received a normal 700C and not a 700B tyre. Back to square one. :evil: :evil: :evil:

26er, just like my tyre supplier, you are getting your tyre sizes wrong! BT homepage does not have any 35-635 tyres. :facepalm: