Retro-modern fusion gravel build madness. The new Superb!

[grantoury]

beautiful headbadge

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Bosses in place. As a bonus, they are almost centred on the tubes!
For a 7mm rivnut I've drilled 3mm holes, then enlarged to 6mm and then finished off with a 7mm reamer. The reamer leaves a nice round hole while the drill bits seem to leave a bit of a jagged edge.

Also polished the badge with a dremel and coated it with several layers of shellac. Hopefully that will stop the oxidising process.

Reamer! Top man
Looks like it's swinging along nicely and I'm all for the mods....a completely bare frame resto back to original of a french bike in the UK is a crazy undertaking if it was a super rare high end bike yeah give it a shot.
Just leave the little derailleur mount on there....please it's not in anyone's way !

 

[Woz]

Always interesting how we fall in slightly different camps. To be honest, I think we are all right.

My perspective of these - being the other side of the Cheddar Cheese Curtain that descended over Europe - is (long rant warning!):

- These types of bikes were extremely popular and produced in masses. There are lot's about. And reasonably priced.
- Some are in absolute superb condition, but most have been neglected and stuck in the back of the garage or attic space and find their way to charity shops or flea markets for peanuts. The local "Gumtree" here is loaded with them. Ebay much less so.
- There is something about these. From a time warp when if it wasn't Made in France there was no place for it on a bicycle and why the hell would you want a foreign bike to ride around France? It is impressive that from top to bottom everything was from one country; I can't think of a single bike element in this period where France would "lust" after or select something from abroad, it had so many home grown suppliers producing frame sets and parts. Not the case today. I think this point alone drives many French bike enthusiasts to attempt full restorations with hard work, because the NOS inventory is close to depletion.
- From a non-French perspective the quirkiness and originality is appealing. The potential money pit less so.

I fully agree with @Guinessisgoodforyou that frame mutilation is generally something criminal. We all lived through the fixie boom when 1000s of high end Italian road bikes got robbed of their mech hanger and cable stops and nobody wanted to put a bottle cage on them just so it looked like a track bike. The heritage and pedigree of the original machine gone forever.

Think @Mickeyspinn idea to dust off these very utilitarian bikes into todays world is a noble cause. I hate seeing these things rot away just because it involves work or even sadder a ridiculous low value part is missing or hard to find. It's a shame the critical parts are getting scarce to make these more accessible for more people. The environmental cause alone is compelling enough.

Love that @M_Chavez is having ago with a great example and the right condition for an experimental build. I've stood over about 4 of these type bikes and iffed and arrgged and came to the conclusion there is lot of time and pain involved, much more than rescuing a 90s MTB. So I'm learning and getting inspired to attempt one one day. Think I would be inclined to resolve the damn headset problem once and for all by pulling out something with a 1" threadless steerer from the tip and transplanting it onto the original fork with a collar. Then file down the crown race to the ISO standard. Don't have the skills to weld but it could be done I reckon. Would also try and resolve the BB issue with some French cups for a UN7x or UN9x sealed cartridge. Think I would start out with a SS BMX hub and the ultimate dream would be to have it 26" (I need another rim and tyre standard like I need a bullet in the head) with v-brakes, Tektro linear pull drop bar levers and fat tyres. No mudguards. Ooof. fat tyres and skinny gas pipe tubes is already making me want to lie down. Would also try a hub gear and try to get hold of an original Simplex mech just for a chain tensioner for an added WTF touch. Kore did make a chain stay tensioner for DH at some point so that braze on is screaming to be re-purposed. End result would be a messed up fun Monster Cross thing and would probably ride well. It's good to know that a normal hub can be forcibly put in these, but I would reserve this hack for something more road or urban use.

Carry on fellas!

 

[Imlach]

Always interesting how we fall in slightly different camps. To be honest, I think we are all right.

My perspective of these - being the other side of the Cheddar Cheese Curtain that descended over Europe - is (long rant warning!):

- These types of bikes were extremely popular and produced in masses. There are lot's about. And reasonably priced.
- Some are in absolute superb condition, but most have been neglected and stuck in the back of the garage or attic space and find their way to charity shops or flea markets for peanuts. The local "Gumtree" here is loaded with them. Ebay much less so.
- There is something about these. From a time warp when if it wasn't Made in France there was no place for it on a bicycle and why the hell would you want a foreign bike to ride around France? It is impressive that from top to bottom everything was from one country; I can't think of a single bike element in this period where France would "lust" after or select something from abroad, it had so many home grown suppliers producing frame sets and parts. Not the case today. I think this point alone drives many French bike enthusiasts to attempt full restorations with hard work, because the NOS inventory is close to depletion.
- From a non-French perspective the quirkiness and originality is appealing. The potential money pit less so.

I fully agree with @Guinessisgoodforyou that frame mutilation is generally something criminal. We all lived through the fixie boom when 1000s of high end Italian road bikes got robbed of their mech hanger and cable stops and nobody wanted to put a bottle cage on them just so it looked like a track bike. The heritage and pedigree of the original machine gone forever.

Think @Mickeyspinn idea to dust off these very utilitarian bikes into todays world is a noble cause. I hate seeing these things rot away just because it involves work or even sadder a ridiculous low value part is missing or hard to find. It's a shame the critical parts are getting scarce to make these more accessible for more people. The environmental cause alone is compelling enough.

Love that @M_Chavez is having ago with a great example and the right condition for an experimental build. I've stood over about 4 of these type bikes and iffed and arrgged and came to the conclusion there is lot of time and pain involved, much more than rescuing a 90s MTB. So I'm learning and getting inspired to attempt one one day. Think I would be inclined to resolve the damn headset problem once and for all by pulling out something with a 1" threadless steerer from the tip and transplanting it onto the original fork with a collar. Then file down the crown race to the ISO standard. Don't have the skills to weld but it could be done I reckon. Would also try and resolve the BB issue with some French cups for a UN7x or UN9x sealed cartridge. Think I would start out with a SS BMX hub and the ultimate dream would be to have it 26" (I need another rim and tyre standard like I need a bullet in the head) with v-brakes, Tektro linear pull drop bar levers and fat tyres. No mudguards. Ooof. fat tyres and skinny gas pipe tubes is already making me want to lie down. Would also try a hub gear and try to get hold of an original Simplex mech just for a chain tensioner for an added WTF touch. Kore did make a chain stay tensioner for DH at some point so that braze on is screaming to be re-purposed. End result would be a messed up fun Monster Cross thing and would probably ride well. It's good to know that a normal hub can be forcibly put in these, but I would reserve this hack for something more road or urban use.

Carry on fellas!

Best part of the day. When Woz is yet to have had his 7 'o' clock hydration rations and he singlehandedly serves the biking world a fistful of truths.

I'm parched.

 

[M_Chavez]

From a time warp when if it wasn't Made in France there was no place for it on a bicycle and why the hell would you want a foreign bike to ride around France?

Funny how many higher end French bikes were made out of Reynolds & Columbus.

because the NOS inventory is close to depletion.

For me this is a serious problem with period-correct retro bikes. If you ride 'em like you stole 'em, parts wear down to nothing rather quickly. Which means the bike is either only being used a few times a year on a sunny day, or needs to be converted to run something that's easier to buy & more affordable.

Re Frannie - yes, mass produced bike, not much historical value, better than hanging in the garage.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Oooh he's more than bonded.....these two are officially an item
First it was a polite Francine now it's Frannie....aww bless

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Funny how many higher end French bikes were made out of Reynolds & Columbus.


For me this is a serious problem with period-correct retro bikes. If you ride 'em like you stole 'em, parts wear down to nothing rather quickly. Which means the bike is either only being used a few times a year on a sunny day, or needs to be converted to run something that's easier to buy & more affordable.

Re Frannie - yes, mass produced bike, not much historical value, better than hanging in the garage.

True about the foreign tubing. .....but it's a rare thing for France to let go of its coveted Vitus tubing

 

[Woz]

Funny how many higher end French bikes were made out of Reynolds & Columbus.


For me this is a serious problem with period-correct retro bikes. If you ride 'em like you stole 'em, parts wear down to nothing rather quickly. Which means the bike is either only being used a few times a year on a sunny day, or needs to be converted to run something that's easier to buy & more affordable.

Re Frannie - yes, mass produced bike, not much historical value, better than hanging in the garage.

Frannie The 'r' is not silent though?

..... and you could tell the French were fuming all the way to the Bistro with all this foreign steel and drowned their sorrows. I guess once several Bistros got drunk dry and with enough sketches on the backs of napkins and menus and the hangover passing away they bounced back with Vitus and TVT figuring out how to glue AL tubes together. God I'm romantic and full of it sometimes. It is approaching that time.

Not sure if this is a mass produced bike looking at some of those French forums. Liberia certainly seems to have a reputation for high end custom hand built frames. Got the impression it was a fairly large and significant producer but no where near on the scale of Peugeot or Motobecane. But but but it was a thing of a few central manufactures banging out popular models and the regional builders would buy the frames, paint them, and stick their own labels on them. Someone more clued up on French forum would probably be able to tell you by looking at the lugs and drop-outs. Compared to that 40s Pug I wrenched on (errrrm, pulled bits off) this frame looks considerably more substantial.

 

[Woz]

Was looking at Ebay.fr and Leboncoin for French headsets and bottom brackets - it is shocking, virtually nothing and the NOS prices give you vertigo. Oddly, in the USA there seems more choice

These are the only NOS FRA BBs in France.




I spent the afternoon doing a little pre-study about a 26" Monster Cross, measured some parts, and did some quick maths, looks like it would be doomed due to getting the brake pads about 13mm lower. Everything else seemed feasible. Going to keep my eyes open for some cheap 650 B wheels. Even wondering if the BB problem can be solved with a beer can shim!

 

[M_Chavez]

Eyewatering prices.
Makes me want to cry as I fished out a Columbus-tubed Stella sx-76 frameset for a pal on ebay a wee while ago. In good condition with mint original campy bb and campy headset for £75 delivered

I know I'm about to lose a lot of forum credit, but I'm a sealed bearing guy. Was just going to shove one of these into the shell as deep as Franny can take it.