Classic & Vintage - follis lyon

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ephemeralskin
08-29-03, 12:33 PM
anyone know about follis bicycles? ive gathered that they are a french company who became more popular in the u.s. during the 70s. but what about older than that. i found a 1940s follis lyon for sale... is this a good bike? what should it cost me? thanks.
-dan.

lotek
08-29-03, 01:47 PM
Dan,

I'd write to Sheldon Brown at Harris Cycle about this.
He is very enamoured with French Bikes. I know the name,
and know that during the bike boom they sold high end to
mid level bikes, but nothing about the 40's.
also check classic Rendezvous they have a follis page.

Marty
Walter
08-29-03, 07:23 PM
SB maintains a site that's my usual first check. Doesn't help alot this time but if you want to chase the links:

http://sheldonbrown.com/vrbn-a-f.html#follis

"Follis
A well-regarded French marque. See Cycles de Oro's Follis page"

ephemeralskin
08-31-03, 05:59 PM
i already tried emailing brown and he said it looked sweet but pricey (the person is selling it on roadbikereview classifieds for $600). other than that he didnt offer any info about follis during the 40s. i checked the site he links to on his webpage also and they just talk about the 70s boom.

any idea what kind of tubing this would be? or apporx how heavy a 1940s track bike would weigh?

thanks.
Walter
09-01-03, 06:26 AM
A 1940s trackie shouldn't be much if any heavier than a 70s or 80s. Reynolds 531 has been around since 1935 (if that's what the Follis has) and quality wooden rims of that time shouldn't weigh alot more than alloy ones from 30 years later. I'd expect a quality track bike or 6 Day Racer to not weigh much more than 20#, maybe less.

Post script

I looked at the ad over on RBR. Obviously the bike is not original at all so what you're getting is a track frame with midlevel components. $600 is pricey but the seller is willing to negotiate. He won't get alot of attention from collectors so you may have a chance to bargain with him.

edited for the PS

:beer: