Mastodawn

RE: https://todon.eu/@redjives/115718790871486689

Time for a quick update on the mystery bicycle. First, thank you to everyone who replied; you were all super helpful! As you may recall, the original theory was that I had a 1970s French cycle of some sort. That seemed to fit the components and general style. But, it quickly became clear that it was *not* from one of the large makers of the time, so not Peugeot, Gitane, Motocabane, etc. There were plenty of other smaller brands at the time, so the basic ideas was still plausible; it would just be more difficult to identify. After asking here on the fediverse someone suggested I try one of the forums specialized in vintage bicycles.

[1/n]

#BikeTooter #VintageBicycle

Remember the good old internet, where niche aficionados could come together and geek out? It still exists! At least, some of the time. I posted my question and the niche aficionados came through. First, with a whole bunch of details about the lugs and other bits and bobs and then with the real breakthrough: it's not from the 1970s! It's almost certainly older, likely post-WW2 French.

[2/n]

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/help-identifying-french-70s.501586/

Help identifying French 70s(?)

I have what appears—based on the components—to be a French bicycle from the ’70s. Here’s what I know: Derailleur: Simplex SO Freewheel: 3 speed Moyne "Inter" Hubs: Exceltoo Crank: Nervar Brakes: say "Racer" and I believe are CLB Dynamo: Soubitez Wingnuts: Huret Rack: Fiol The stem says: "∅...

Retrobike

They key was the derailleur hanger, or, really, the lack there of. The modern parallelogram form for the rear derailleur is not the first design that was tried. So even though this bike has a 70s or 80s era derailleur bolted onto it (a Simplex SO) the fittings on the frame are for a much older style. You can see how it works in the 3rd and 5th photo of this post: https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/vintage-french-randonneuers-and-porteurs.449944/page-23#post-3285014

Since this bike has the fittings for that style of derailleur, the frame is almost certainly pre-70s, and probably pre-60s. But, that still doesn't answer who made it, who "updated" it with 70s components, and especially, what of the decals and branding are original and what is from that refurb.

[3/n]

Vintage French randonneuer's and porteurs.

The French like our bikes too :) https://forum.tontonvelo.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=13164 The poor French. What have they done to deserve this? Need to pay an annual subscription to the CTC to legitimately ride it, look for vintage tweed plus fours, forced to drink mandatory milky tea, try to...

Retrobike

The shiny and generic decals, based on their style, are more likely later additions. But the faint brand painted on the down tube—if I could figure out what it said—might be a clue. Here @no_fuss came up with the breakthrough, pointing me to a list of brands maintained on the wiki of a french vintage bicycle forum. Based on that, the most likely reading of my faint and peeling letters was “R. Teulade”. Unfortunately, neither the wiki nor the french forum had any more information. But then…

[4/n]

But then I found Velos Vintages du Grenier, who on their website have two bicycles branded “R. Teulade” with the exact same cursive script! And what's more, they have the same Champion du Monde decal on the seat tube and a similar decal (but of a different famous race) on the head tube. Except, as noted, the decals appear to be newer than the frame I have. And the two bicycles on their website are quite different from mine. Maybe that means R. Teulade isn't the maker, but the name of someone fixing up old bikes? So I contacted Velos Vintages du Grenier…

[5/6]

https://velosvintagesdugrenier.com/products/velo-vintage-femme-mixte-vert-taille-s-m

Vélo vintage Femme/Mixte vert - Taille S/M

And never heard back. Maybe it was the poor quality of my machine translated French? Maybe they just don't have any information or don't know what to say? I don't know. That's the where the trail ends for now. I have started thinking about how to restore this bike, but that will be a thread for another time.

[6/6]

@redjives it seems they are on maternity leave until 17/3 so maybe that's the reason? I'm disappointed that this remains a mystery.

@F100 I missed that! I will try again in April I guess. (I'm not sure if that banner was there when I initially contacted them a few months ago, but I can imagine either way they were already ignoring low priority messages.)

@redjives I think you should just go visit, I mean, some of those Peugeots etc... gorgeous.

Dr. Sobek Mar 10

@redjives Why not ask a native French speaker to actually translate your inquiry ?

(I'd probably be able to do it)

@Sobex Ah thank you! I will probably try to reach out to them again in a few months and so many call on you then.

Patrick Dersjant RCX Mar 10

@redjives Ah, thanks for allowing me a quick jump down the rabbit hole. As a seasoned genealogy researcher, I haven't been able to track down poor Roberts grave yet, though it is probably in Croumaly.
Robert you ask? Yes, Robert Roger TEULADE was born on the 15th of August in Bassignac-le-Bas. I have not been able to find anything in this quick time about his youth, but he started his business at 69 Rue Paul Doumer in Aurillac on 25th December 1955. Probably started out with bicycles, and expanded into motorcycles and other vehicles. I do not know how the bicycle market looked like in the 50s and 60s, but could it be he was buying in parts and assembling them into full bikes to sell under his own name?
Anyways, at the end of 1989 his business was liquidated, either due to pension or health reasons. He passed away on the 23rd of june 1994 in Aurillac. It doesn't seem like he ever married or got kids, but I love to stand corrected.

Patrick Dersjant RCX Mar 10

@redjives PS: Sources are the wiki on tontonvelo, acte-deces, societe dot com and the aurillac archives.

@patrick Fascinating, thank you! That definitely adds to the picture.

moomin_hattifatteners

@redjives I look at that and my first thought is that it's crying out for a fixed gear conversion, but that's only because that's my first thought on seeing any vaguely horizontal drop out.

@ravenbait Yeah… and that would be a lot easier because then I could remove the freewheel destructively, cf. my latest toot: https://todon.eu/@redjives/116210066041780292

On the one hand the derailleur, while vintage, is probably not original. On the other hand, the freewheel itself likely is original and I would kind of hate to see it go. I think single and/or fixed gear will be the backup option.

J—dV (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image On the restoration front, one of the things I need to do make this bicycle rideable again is replacing the broken spoken on the back wheel. To do that one has to first remove the freewheel (the gears), because otherwise you can't feed the spoke through the eyelet in the hub. In principle, not a problem. Freewheels can be stubborn, but they are designed to be removable … with the appropriate tool that matches the notches or splines on the freewheel. Basically, it slips into that center bit, you grab a really big wrench, the tool engages the notches or splines, and you unscrew it¹. For any reasonably modern freewheel you just measure it and order the right tool. But this thing is old enough that none of the modern standards match and I haven't been able to find anything that is quite right. So… [1/2] [1: You can see the idea here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrV6XXiLGk4 ] #BikeTooter #VintageBicycle

Todon.eu

moomin_hattifatteners

@redjives Yes, I saw the toot. I wish you luck in finding an appropriate tool for the job. My worry would be that the freewheel is so jammed on it's not recoverable without application of a lever so large you damage it anyway.

@ravenbait That might be. The other option would be to source a replacement, destroy this one, and put a "new" vintage one on its place. Actually, that is probably the easiest … but would it be as much fun?

moomin_hattifatteners

@redjives I mean, I went to the effort of finding contemporary Campag aero levers for a 1983 Raleigh Sun Solo fixed conversion, so I'm probably the wrong person to ask!

ReneDamkot Mar 11

@redjives Suntour 2 prong doesn't (almost) fit?

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html

Traditional Thread-on Freewheels

Information on how to rebuild freewheels, which were very common on derailer-equipped bicycles and which offer a great variety of options for sprocket sizes.

@ReneDamkot @ravenbait Nope. Those notches are much closer together than what I have.

moomin_hattifatteners

@redjives @ReneDamkot I thought they might be. Not sure if this thread is helpful?

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?t=137661

There are tool nerds on the YACF forum (yacf.co.uk) who may be able to advise if you have no luck finding anything.

Freewheel removal tools - Cycling UK Forum

@ravenbait @ReneDamkot I'll have a look! Thank you!