Canuk
Old School Grand Master
I've had a Topbike frame not dissimilar to this one, unfortunately there aren't really any distinguishing or obvious details on this frame meaning it could be one from hundreds of small issue frame builders. It's clearly a very well finished and specced frame and it appears to have a race number tag (oops I can see it's just a brake cable guide). Are there any markings or letters under the bottom bracket, could well be a pro order. It's a very similar situation in France, lots of individuals, most of them very talented knocking out fairly bulk products for bigger bike shops, chains and even professional team riders.
CNC Special is one such outfit based in Paris, it had legendary frame builders like Rene Andre, who was protégé of Herse. I've got one of his track frames (the shop had two lines, one for everyday use, and the other almost exclusively for professional teams, especially the eastern European bloc of Russia, East Germany, Poland etc ect.). They had a fairly big production of off the peg frames over the years, notable by bright silver foil decals.
The only real way to distinguish between the two (apart from the very high level of finish and metal filing, smooth lugs etc) was that the pro frames had hand painted decals, same as Rene Herse and a few other high end bespoke builders. They built pro frames for the Lejeune riders, Peugeot and Mercier Teams and it's documented that Eddy Merckx was a client.
All of these frames would likely be presented in a raw, filed and sanded finish ready for painting in the team colours. This was not considered 'cheating', merely a way to avoid tooling and paying for a specialist bike unit, and a guarantee of the very best quality builders without having to put them on the payroll.
My frame came from an over order for the Russian Olympic track team, who allegedly ordered 12 frames but would eventually only pay for 6. I've got the original receipt for it, along with a copy of an order for one Barry Hoban who rode for Lejeune Pelforth at the time.
Sorry can't be of more help, but once a frame like this has been repainted or lost the original decals, identification is extremely tough.
CNC Special is one such outfit based in Paris, it had legendary frame builders like Rene Andre, who was protégé of Herse. I've got one of his track frames (the shop had two lines, one for everyday use, and the other almost exclusively for professional teams, especially the eastern European bloc of Russia, East Germany, Poland etc ect.). They had a fairly big production of off the peg frames over the years, notable by bright silver foil decals.
The only real way to distinguish between the two (apart from the very high level of finish and metal filing, smooth lugs etc) was that the pro frames had hand painted decals, same as Rene Herse and a few other high end bespoke builders. They built pro frames for the Lejeune riders, Peugeot and Mercier Teams and it's documented that Eddy Merckx was a client.
All of these frames would likely be presented in a raw, filed and sanded finish ready for painting in the team colours. This was not considered 'cheating', merely a way to avoid tooling and paying for a specialist bike unit, and a guarantee of the very best quality builders without having to put them on the payroll.
My frame came from an over order for the Russian Olympic track team, who allegedly ordered 12 frames but would eventually only pay for 6. I've got the original receipt for it, along with a copy of an order for one Barry Hoban who rode for Lejeune Pelforth at the time.
Sorry can't be of more help, but once a frame like this has been repainted or lost the original decals, identification is extremely tough.
