I have been away from these pages for far too long, work and the general pressures of life have taken up far too much of my time pretty much since the end of Covid and I've spent too little time simply fettling bicycles and posting details of my exploits on these pages. But a recent trip to France has put paid to that for a while.
Wandering the streets of Amiens looking at all the stalls in their bi annual flea market this last weekend I stumbled upon a gent selling all sorts of wares but what caught my eye mostly was two bike frames, both very scruffy and the scruffiest one with mostly all its components apart from the wheels. To my shame it wasn't a maker I recognised so originally I only bought the scruffiest of the two and that was basically for the components it had still fitted to it, I went back later and bought the 2nd frame because well shiny things and all that.
So after a little research on the ferry on the way back to Blighty I discovered what I'd actually bought was two frames from what is purported to have been Frances finest frame builder.
So what to do with them, well the later of the two frames is in by far the nicest condition so is in the process of being built up for me to use as we speak. I started with the intention of building it up period correct and I understand M. Depierre favoured Italian and especially Campagnolo components, so that was my first dig into my parts boxes. When going to test fit some wheels I found the rear stays spacing was quite modern in their dimensions so now I'm favouring a mix of period and semi modern as a sort of resto mod to make it a nicer machine to use, so the wheels and the brake levers in the picture will probably change to 9speed Campagnolo as I've managed to get Nuevo Record mechs to work well enough with modern 9 speed mechs and brifters.
The older of the two frames is a bit more of a quandary as much I do like to restore them myself I think this one might deserve the services of a professional. The chrome on the forks is in a shocking state so they will need to be completely re done and finding a platers locally that doesn't think what they are doing is some form of metallurgical magic who charges on that basis will be my first challenge. Next is of course decals, I have been in touch with the Gemini FB group who have photo's of some of the decals but they don't quite match mine, I will have a go at printing some as I have done so successfully for smaller decals but never this large so that's going to be a bit of a challenge, and finally components. The frame had a mix of components on it and some of which were obviously not original but what interested me were the first series Shimano Dura Ace brakes and Dura Ace decal on the frame. As stated M. Depierre it seems favoured Italian components as do I normally, but as I have it I'm thinking I might go full 1st series Dura Ace on this one as its definitely age appropriate.
Pictures as they are below and I shall add to this thread as I go but don't expect it to be overly speedy as those work and life pressures I mention at the top are still ever present.
Wandering the streets of Amiens looking at all the stalls in their bi annual flea market this last weekend I stumbled upon a gent selling all sorts of wares but what caught my eye mostly was two bike frames, both very scruffy and the scruffiest one with mostly all its components apart from the wheels. To my shame it wasn't a maker I recognised so originally I only bought the scruffiest of the two and that was basically for the components it had still fitted to it, I went back later and bought the 2nd frame because well shiny things and all that.
So after a little research on the ferry on the way back to Blighty I discovered what I'd actually bought was two frames from what is purported to have been Frances finest frame builder.
So what to do with them, well the later of the two frames is in by far the nicest condition so is in the process of being built up for me to use as we speak. I started with the intention of building it up period correct and I understand M. Depierre favoured Italian and especially Campagnolo components, so that was my first dig into my parts boxes. When going to test fit some wheels I found the rear stays spacing was quite modern in their dimensions so now I'm favouring a mix of period and semi modern as a sort of resto mod to make it a nicer machine to use, so the wheels and the brake levers in the picture will probably change to 9speed Campagnolo as I've managed to get Nuevo Record mechs to work well enough with modern 9 speed mechs and brifters.
The older of the two frames is a bit more of a quandary as much I do like to restore them myself I think this one might deserve the services of a professional. The chrome on the forks is in a shocking state so they will need to be completely re done and finding a platers locally that doesn't think what they are doing is some form of metallurgical magic who charges on that basis will be my first challenge. Next is of course decals, I have been in touch with the Gemini FB group who have photo's of some of the decals but they don't quite match mine, I will have a go at printing some as I have done so successfully for smaller decals but never this large so that's going to be a bit of a challenge, and finally components. The frame had a mix of components on it and some of which were obviously not original but what interested me were the first series Shimano Dura Ace brakes and Dura Ace decal on the frame. As stated M. Depierre it seems favoured Italian components as do I normally, but as I have it I'm thinking I might go full 1st series Dura Ace on this one as its definitely age appropriate.
Pictures as they are below and I shall add to this thread as I go but don't expect it to be overly speedy as those work and life pressures I mention at the top are still ever present.
