Found this in a box of knick-knacks at my mums.
I would assume its the last surviving piece of a bike
Cycles Charles Longoni
Presenting me with a suitable rabbit hole to go down...
Early 1980 CNC randonneur, they made nice bikes. Owners translation below.
I'd like to introduce you to one of my randonneuses that I bought last summer and rode around Grenoble for a few kilometres before the winter. It's the first real randonneuse model that I've had in my size and in my possession.
A CNC built to order in the early 80s. I just fited a new seatpost and gold coloured cable casings to make it look more aesthetically pleasing.
The tubes are made of Durifort and as you can see it's a large size (60). I've since acquired other bikes that take a bit of time to put together and whose geometry suits me better.
Here are the photos of the beast. https://www.velovintageagogo.com/t7075-randonneuse-cnc
Good evening to you all,
This evening I'd like to introduce you to a nugget from my collection, a cyclocampeur made by Louis Pitard around 1955.
It bears the serial number 1388 and its very light frame is made entirely of Vitus tube.
I started from a very long way back, as I only salvaged the frame and fork, which had been daubed in stovepipe grey. The only remaining original paint was on the fork steerer tube, which told me that it was originally black like 80% of Pitards.
The frame measures 60 x 58 cm from axis to axis, which is perfectly within my dimensions. Louis Pitard was a great man, in every sense of the word and he had real expertise in large machines.
As a cyclocampeur himself he was always looking for ways to improve luggage transport, and we owe him the invention of low-profile luggage racks, which appeared at the 1947 Salon du Cycle.
On my bike, all that was left were the brackets, which were simply 6-bolts brazed to the seatstays.
Using Daniel Rebour's sketches, photos and measurements taken from a surviving example of another bike, a friend with brazing experience was able to rebuild it for me.
The frame was bead blasted, then lacquered and varnished in the old-fashioned way, and the wiring and markings were redone by Pascal Taka-Hira.
Meanwhile, I put together the other pieces of the jigsaw: Philippe dural handlebars on the same brand of steel stem, old Italian-standard bottom bracket (it may have been re-bored during its life), Stronglight 49d crankset with Rosa Dural triple-plate, Idéale saddle (now replaced by a numbered model on dural rails), Cyclo 4V rear derailleur and freewheel, Lefol mudguards, Jos/Radios lighting, M. A.F.A.C. cantilever brakes. M.A.F.A.C. cantilever brakes (rear tandem model), wide Mavic rims on second-generation Maxi-Car hubs, Ad-Hoc pump and bell, etc...
For his maiden voyage, I took him to visit his builder's grave at Mollans-sur-Ouvèze (see tribute to Louis Pitard), which gave me the opportunity to take him up the Ventoux. Needless to say, in the midst of the “carbon” of this spring Sunday, it stood out a little...
The 5-sprocket freewheel already existed in 1955. The limitation to 4 sprockets is not due to an insufficient width of the rear triangle but dictated by the dimensions of the Cyclo derailleur hanger. For 5 sprockets, you'd need a bracket further away from the chainstay, and I didn't want to touch that.
In any case, with three well-chosen chainrings (and, as luck would have it, that was the miracle 46-42-28 combination that my triple Rosa dural had) it wasn't necessary and a 14-17-21-26 freewheel was more than enough for me to be super happy! https://www.velovintageagogo.com/t16562-pitard-cyclocampeur-mi-50s
A beautiful Charrel randonneur proposed by a young collector on the outskirts of Lyon.
Dated from the 1940s.
The game consists of finding the original components
A beautiful Charrel randonneur proposed by a young collector on the outskirts of Lyon.
Dated from the 1940s.
The game consists of finding the original components
