potential french mystery frame
 

Hello everyone!
im glad to have joined this forum.. i always search info here when i need it but i am stumped with this one :twitchy:

i am currently restoring a road frame for a friend
it came to me with no decals and it must have been resprayed yellow may years back due to general condition of the paint job.

I was told that the components were:
simplex shifters (not sure model)
solida aluminium crank
mafac brakes (with many holes drilled into the levers)
French thread BB (thanks for help grand bois and jmichealdesign)

there is a serial number on the bottom bracket:
"M69912" followed by a very smalll number "2"
underneath the serial number is a "G" stamp
and where the down tube meet the BB there looks like a "D" stamp

the rear drop out is made by VITUS and has a eyelet for a fender

im guessing 70's era

I would like to restore it with original decals or at least a brand decal so figuring out what brand this frame is... will help me alot! lol

thanks for reading!

Hey, welcome to the forum.

Is there any hope that the original paint (and decals?) is preserved under the yellow respray?

You'll probably have to post photos of the lugs, seat stay treatment, fork crown, etc. We're very visually oriented people!

Photos or it doesn't exist. Drive side, lug details, fork crown, rear dropouts, seat stay cluster, BB area for starters.

Is this bike Steel or Aluminium framed??
Most French brands used Simplex DOs if they wanted forged DOs on their bikes. I don't think Vitus DOs were that common to start with. The Solida crank seems to point it towards a mid level to lower model bike as Solidas were usually seen on such. A high model bike would have had at least a nice TA, Stronglight, Mavic or Campagnolo crankset....so I'm hoping that the Solida was a later replacement for a better one that might be originally on the bike. The Mafac dirlled levers were quite common, but I have seen different finish levels on them and they can be quite beautiful if you have the better ones. British BB seems to point to at least an 80's bike, but I think some 531 tubed French bikes might have English treaded BBs in the 70's too.
It would help to see good pitctures of the frame to get a better answer to what this frame is.

Chombi

cool thanks guys!
i will take some photos now, i was thinking about that as i typed since im a very visual guy too lol
under the yellow paint was primer but they both came off so easy with the media blaster, original paint jobs usually are quite harder to blast off.

i couldnt find my camera so i used my phone lol sorry
it is a steel frame
the second picture shows a damaged part on the down tube, it looks like a cable guide used to be there and broke off.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=190322http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=190323http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=190324http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=190325http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=190326http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=190327http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=190328http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=190329http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=190330http://www.bikeforums.net/images/misc/pencil.png

I might have actually seen those angular Vitus rear DOs on a Mercier recently.......

Chombi

It would be interesting to measure the steerer, see whether it's French (22 mm) or English (22.2).

Oh, measure the seat tube too, inside and out.

I don't think there was a cable guide at the down tube where that scar is. It doesn't make sense as it is so close to the guides on the BB. I think it could be some sort of crash damage. If the gouge is not too deep, I would not worry too much about it, but watch it for any crack propagation in the future.

Chombi

I was thinking that too but there is 2 spots that look like spot welds and are spaced the same distance as the cable guides used on top tube lol but it may be a total fluke and may be damaged in a similar shape

Tomorrow I hope I will have a better camera and some good lighting and can show some better pics
I would also like to weight it because it does seem very light for steel.
What weight can one expect from a mid end range frame sized at 57cm or so
When I get back home I will also measure all those points (steer tube and seat post tube)

One more question
Is it common to have a British threaded BB with both sides being right hand thread?
I thread in my Bc 1.37" 24 T from a FSA crank I had to check the thread but only the RH bearing worked on both sides

Not just uncommon but unheard of. Where would you get a right-threaded British fixed cup? They don't exist. I'm sure it's French.

I don't know what the frame is, but I like it.

British cups will thread into a french bb shell just slightly loose. If its right hand thread on both sides its french for sure.