Classic & Vintage - A.Corbeau randonneur or a René Herse ?

I just acquired this very nice ''randonneuse'' bike equipped with a very nice René Herse crankset and possibly other Herse bits such as the brake straddle cable pulleys and the fenders. I couldn't find anything on A.Corbeau which is the name on the frame and was wondering if it could be a rebranded Herse or if A.Corbeau would have been a builder close to René Herse. Anyways it is very nice and quite light. I have more pictures if needed.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/4869180461_7548f53bf7_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4869185387_1bea8c8f9e_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4869188175_a3a144900f_b.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4869814966_095bc38b57.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4869825064_e4a148e27f.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4869218601_411fc30d7a.jpg

very beautiful whichever it turns out to be

very beautiful whichever it turns out to be

The frame does not look Herse to me, esp. the seat lug, it's investment cast. Maybe a new frame for an existing bike that needed it.

I would be tempted to sell the crank set, probably at that point be out nothing, place a TA on it and be happy and richer.

stunning! :love:

You would be much better off with a Surly LHT. Dump that one ... on me!!! :innocent:

The following website is a visual treat:

http://reneherse.com/

How does the bike ride? Is everything in order on it? Nice catch.

The following website is a visual treat:

http://reneherse.com/

That's what I would recommend, too. The OP might want to email the owner of that site, Alexander March. He would probably recognize the marque. Like repechage, I'm not familiar with that seat cluster. Very pretty bike, though.

Norris Lockley, Jan Heine, and possibly Hilary Stone might be able to give help also. Might have to post on CR list to get their feedback.

Thanks everyone.I agree that, If the bike ends up not being a later Herse ( from after René Herse's death I think), It would'nt make much sense to keep that crankset on the bike. I also forgot to mention that the owner told me it was from the mid 70's . The bike has oversized chain stays and main tubes which I don't think Columbus had in the 70's . I'll make sure to contact the experts when I have more time.

What's with those chainrings? Half-step plus downhill speed-demon?

you win.

The frame does not look Herse to me, esp. the seat lug, it's investment cast. Maybe a new frame for an existing bike that needed it.

I would be tempted to sell the crank set, probably at that point be out nothing, place a TA on it and be happy and richer.

I would not do a thing until you speak to Jan Heine or Alexander March about this bike. Herse was a custom bike builder and every one of the bikes were made to order so there is really nothing that is "not Herse" about this bike, beacuse it could be custom.

In fact there are several elements that are "Herseish." The internal cable ends on the top tube... the pointed brackets on the fenders, the fork crown, etc.

Information at the link below on "A. Corbeau" AKA Andre Corbeau... competitve French cyclist of the 1970's... maybe Herse made this bike for him? Who knows... but the details on this bike tell me that it is a constructeur bike of very high qualiy. I would leave it as is for now...

http://www.the-sports.org/cycling-corbeau-andre-results-identity-s2-c2-b4-o1-w47284.html

I would not do a thing until you speak to Jan Heine or Alexander March about this bike. Herse was a custom bike builder and every one of the bikes were made to order so there is really nothing that is "not Herse" about this bike, beacuse it could be custom.

In fact there are several elements that are "Herseish." The internal cable ends on the top tube... the pointed brackets on the fenders, the fork crown, etc.

Information at the link below on "A. Corbeau" AKA Andre Corbeau... competitve French cyclist of the 1970's... maybe Herse made this bike for him? Who knows... but the details on this bike tell me that it is a constructeur bike of very high qualiy. I would leave it as is for now...

http://www.the-sports.org/cycling-corbeau-andre-results-identity-s2-c2-b4-o1-w47284.html

Thank you very much sir. I'll try to contact the experts mentionned as soon as possible. The previous owner's name was definitely not A.Corbeau but now I am not quite sure if I did as him directly if he was the original owner, only if the bike had been custom built.

looks to me that a modern frame was adorned with Herse parts.

In fact there are several elements that are "Herseish." The internal cable ends on the top tube... the pointed brackets on the fenders, the fork crown, etc.
Internal cable ends are a standard modern part (http://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-frame-tubing/INTERNAL-BRAKE-GUIDE-COVERPLATE.html) -- so are the lugs (http://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-frame-tubing/LUGS-OS-ROAD-LS-36MM-HT.html)
I think that an old RH bike was scavenged for parts because the parts are considerably older than the frame. There is probably a Herse frame out there with modern parts on it, although it's possible that the fork was scavenged too.

There were early Hetchins' made with internal cable routing.

Well that sure is a beauty. Is that some sort of custom seatpost, or am I seeing things? Do you have a closer shot of it?

There were early Hetchins' made with internal cable routing.internal cable routing doesn't establish a date, my point is that the internal cable routing reinforcement parts used on this frame are currently available. Which would imply a relatively recent bike.


Well that sure is a beauty. Is that some sort of custom seatpost, or am I seeing things? Do you have a closer shot of it?I didn't notice that post before. I don't know if I've ever seen a commercial post built that way, does seem like it might be custom

I didn't notice that post before. I don't know if I've ever seen a commercial post built that way, does seem like it might be custom

Syncros had a post like that since the late 80's early 90's.

I wonder if this bike has had some frame detail updates such as a new TT/ Seat cluster because that cluster is later 80's.

vjp

There is absolutely nothing on this frame that in any way resembles a Herse frame. The lugs are investment cast, the internal cable inserts are standard production ones, the brake braze-on spring retention doohickey's are different from what Herse used, the arc that holds the rear brake cable stop, the bend of the fork, the shape of the chainstays... Everything in every way possible is wrong for it to be a Herse. It is more than likely that somebody crashed a Herse and replaced it with this frame, passing all the parts over from teh old bike to the new one. It would indeed be sensible if you were to sell off all the Herse bits and replace with other equally good or better parts that are readily available. You will end up with a bike that is every bit as good as now for free.


PS: I once found a partial titanium seat post like the one in the pictures (actually only the 27.2 mm tube and the half-moon lower rail support) and I fabricated the perfectly functional seatpost that you can see on this bike: http://velospace.org/node/18212