Classic & Vintage - Need some teamwork here - fully chromed Nervex lugged bicycle !

We were just closing down the bike shop and walked outside to find this bike had been donated... and I am a little clueless as to what it might be so am calling on the help of the C&V sleuths to help solve the mystery.

Will be uploading a crapload of pictures but this should get you all started...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chrome1.JPG

The Gran Sport derailleurs make me think that the bike is a 53-63 if the parts were originally equipped.

The lugs are Nervex and the dropouts are Campagnolo, crank is a stronglight and the seatpost is 27.4 and there are no serial numbers or identifiers on the bike.

The headbadge is missing... rivets were to either side of the headtube.

Time for more pics...

The seat cluster...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromeseatcluster.JPG

The bicycle also came with some very shiny Airlite tubular wheels with QR's...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromeairlite.JPG

Pretty freaking cool what ever it is!!!


Cheers,
Chris

Gran Sport derailleurs... and not a Valentino.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromegransportfront1.JPG

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromegransportfront2.JPG

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromegransportrear.JPG

It looks like the bicycle was left outside for quite a long time...it was very dirty and the chrome is gonna need some lovin'.

Ian and I are here and are betting on how long it will take for someone to figure this one out... :)

What's the BB threading? I wouldn't expect a 27.4 out of metric 531 - in other words, is it French?

...or isn't it?

That's a third-gen Gran Sport RD, I believe - 1958-1963, IIRC.

-Kurt

Well, I can certainly understand why someone would leave it outside your door like a waddled red headed orphan child. The thing is hideous. But, I’m a magnanimous kinda guy, so I’d be willing to take it off your hands as a charity case. I know, I know; I’m a saint, it’s just the cross I have to bear.

We were just closing down the bike shop and walked outside to find this bike had been donated... and I am a little clueless as to what it might be so am calling on the help of the C&V sleuths to help solve the mystery.

Will be uploading a crapload of pictures but this should get you all started...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chrome1.JPG

.

Hi Sixty -
That's a bike-boom low end Murray POC. I'll take it off your hands for $5 and even pay for the shipping.

Hubs...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromefronthub.JPG


http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromerearhub.JPG

Headtube...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromehead1.JPG

Kurt, Have yet to check the bb but the nd cup looks to be French... the top tube guides are also Peugeot-like.

I thought we'd have this figured out already... :)

The rear cable guide stop is a simple L shaped tab but for some reason a cable clamp was used instead.

There are a lot of file marks on this frame and the seat stays are about as thin as they come.

Wish I had met the mysterious folks who dropped off the bike and wheels as they may have been able to provide some background information.

And with a re-measure the seat post is a 27.2... have yet to attempt any removal.

Another shot of the head tube... you can see where the head badge was positioned.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromehead2.JPG

Italvega
Ed

If we assume that the model 61 brakes and levers are original as well as the 3rd generation GS derailleurs this puts the bike in the 1960 - 1963 time frame...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromeseatstay.JPG

Skinny little stays... to go with a rather elegant fork.

Wondering what that braze on is for ?

The Airlite wheels are in amazing shape... lacing is 40 rear and 36 front and the Regina block looks fresh.

The hubs are also as smooth as butter on glass.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/airliteqr.JPG

Any numbers on the left rear dropout?

Time for me to pack up and head home... hoping we will figure out what this is as we need to figure out a reasonable price for the co-op as it was a donation and will be going to a new home where I am sure it will be most appreciated.

Frame seems to be a little tall for yours truly so am guessing that it is a 58cm and have a few friends who would fit this bike really well.

Any numbers on the left rear dropout?

Dude... had to move the qr and some more grime to see them.

"137"

OH he didn't leave the note? your to ship it to me! ;)

OH he didn't leave the note? your to ship it to me! ;)

:)

A few of my slightly taller friends were here when the bike came in and think they are looking to have a deathmatch to see who gets to take this bike home with them.

It is going to need a good deal of love as the chrome is in bad shape although everything else is moving smoothly and am hopeful I don;t have to deal with any frozen seatposts or stems.

Am thinking Scooper is going to win the sleuth prize tonight.

Any numbers on the left rear dropout?

It's definitely not what you think it is, Stan.

-Kurt

Very nice. I wish people would donate stuff half as nice to our shop.

this thread is exciting

Really makes you wonder what a person would be thinking about when they leave a bike like that, It's gorgeous whatever it is.

We get some pretty wonderful bikes donated here... these make up for the overabundance of bike shaped objects we receive.

My Ron Cooper was one such donation some years ago... :)

Really makes you wonder what a person would be thinking about when they leave a bike like that, It's gorgeous whatever it is.

to the person that left it, it was just 'Dads old bike'. perhaps Dad passed a few years ago and no one wanted it and it sat on the porch. now it is moving day and it has to go

to the person that left it, it was just 'Dads old bike'. perhaps Dad passed a few years ago and no one wanted it and it sat on the porch. now it is moving day and it has to go

Yeah I know, that's about how I got my Tour de France. It was the old bike hanging in the garage that no one wanted any more :)

This post is getting me all sentimental, kinda like Charlie Browns Christmas and Dickens Christmas Carol all rolled into one.

Damn... it looks like we are all stumped here.

Summing up... it is #137 of something and this is the only identifier on the frame.

Parts put it at '60 - '63 but it could be a much older frame that did not get built up until the early 60's or it is a newer frame that got built up with older parts.

Seat post size indicates that it is Reynold's or Columbus tubing.

The immense wheel clearance suggests that perhaps this bike was designed to roll on 27 inch wheels and the front and rear eyelets point to it being a sporting class frame and not a full on racing frame. If this is the case then it really points to this bike as being British in origin.

The gearing is some kind of steep with that Stronglight's high gears and a narrow Regina block... and England is pretty flat.

It comes with English spares.

It's previous owner was really tall... the Ambrosio stem may be a replacement to increase the reach.

The workmanship is middle of the road... there are a lot of file marks on this frame and this would not be the case if a more experienced builder had done the brazing. Hell... I would not leave this many file marks on a frame and I am just a newb when it comes to building frames.

The headbadge is missing... the rivet holes are horizontal and widely spaced which rules out anyone that used a head badge with vertical rivets.

Will be removing the cranks and seeing what kind of threading I am dealing with... although a Motobecane head badge would fit the parts spec is a little on the high side for that marque but if I find a Swiss threaded bb then a Motobecane head badge would probably fit.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a6/Motobecane_head_badge.JPG/220px-Motobecane_head_badge.JPG

What a great score. Love the look of that rear tubular. What kind is it? Is that a matching spare under the saddle?

awesome find.

Most certainly french bike with that kind of top tube cable...as the Mbecane head badge suggests.

I look at that frame I see I Inglish and french Super Course ... PX10ish 531 steel Any whooo nice catch

Paramount?

Wow, no clue. Nice bike thought. Headset looks English/Italian style.

My guess: it's British, it's 531 and from the '60s...and that's all I got. With a number like 137 it's likely a small-output builder, of which there were hundreds in the UK. Nothing here is a strong clue to any common model from any of the big names. One last guess: since the chrome was left rough on the main tubes, it was probably painted with transparent lacquer at least partially...what the Brits called a "flam" (for flamboyant) paint job.

Very interesting thread. Do we know if a Motobecane headbadge fits? I'm waiting for the verdict on BB threading.

Very interesting thread. Do we know if a Motobecane headbadge fits? I'm waiting for the verdict on BB threading.

I don't have a Motobecane headbadge to measure things... and MB used different cable guides from what I have seen.

It is a mix of design elements and more than a few people have also thought it may have come from a smaller British builder... it does have that look and feel to it.

Am really hoping the folks who dropped it off contact me (have sent out a few inquiries) and maybe they can tell me some stories about this bike.

I hang with a bunch of the older riders and collectors here and some of them have long memories... they would remember anyone who rode / raced a bike like this as full chrome frames are a bit of a rarity.

The Nervex / 531 combination is really common so offers no clue.

Even if we never know who made it, it is a lovely bike and it will be looking at getting a full frame restoration and all the parts seem to be sound and serviceable.

Let us know when you have an ID on the BB.

-Kurt

How about a Carlton?
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4795873514_557bdb5c51_z.jpg

And I would entertain the possibility that the frame was not intended to be all-chrome, but was largely painted originally, but stripped by a chrome idolater later. The inside-underside of steerer, or inside of head tube, might tell that story.

Any stampings beneath the bottom bracket shell?

If the seat tube diameter is noticeably larger than 28.0 mm. we can rule out ALL French bikes.

Campagnolo #1010 dropouts were really very rarely found on any older French bikes until the 1970s. Of course, we really don't know the true age of the frameset. Those nice top-end early Campagnolo components could have been take-off spares which a previous owner had saved from an earlier bike.

The coarse filing suggests that this bike was originally enameled and then later chrome plated.

I would REALLY love to see a clearer photo of that Stronglight crankset... :innocent: Appears to be a model 49D with the style of chainrings used during the late 1950s to early 60s - chainrings are similar to the web pattern of the model 57 cranks.

It was not at all unusual to see Stronglight headsets fitted any nationality of bike... but did anyone notice that a spare "upper" headset cup had been mounted on the bottom of the head tube...:lol:

Is that the remnants of a braze-on pump peg I see beneath the rear of the top tube? I've seen some which were simple "pins" and others which had a "U" shape opening. The latter was used for holding a more fancy pump head - like you'd find used on better racing bikes. Presence of these pins really did not indicate lower quality bikes.

The "tire savers" are pretty neat. They look like old Pelissier models which incorporated a sort of spring mechanism at their center to keep the sweeper gently skimming the surface of a tire.

"I would REALLY love to see a clearer photo of that Stronglight crankset"

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/50chromestronglight.JPG

Thanks for the crankset photo!

Here is a page scanned form a 1958 catalog by another vintage bike enthusuast (Robert S Broderick) from his original. I believe the secondary reinforcing ring seen on your crank was a very slightly later evolution (...perhaps just adding somewhere to sneak in a stamping of the Stronglight logo?).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2745/4170578921_9f21e6b9c7_b.jpg

Also, here are a couple of other shots showing what I would guess may be the "Tire Savers" or "Thorn Catchers" on your bike. The first was captured from an old eBay auction. The second was scanned from my copy of a 1963 Ron Kitching (British) cycle goods catalog. In mint condition these fetch some surprising prices today. They were French made but commonly distributed worldwide and they were among a wide range of different bike components and accessories marketed under the once famous name Charles Pelissier (1903-1959), a French racer (he won 16 stages of the Tour de France during the 1920s-30s).

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5178183062_36999c40bc_z.jpg?zz=1

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/2965855511_118dd3be33_z.jpg?zz=1