Originally Posted by
vintagerando
Well maybe....but this was a high end frame at one time. Forged dropouts, light weight, there is signs of workmanship here......headset, seat, cranks indicate a higher end bike to me.
I'm not saying "Your dog is really ugly".
I just have an aversion to rust...
It looks like it started life as an early 70's mid range French model.
One thing that I find questionable is the seat stay top. It's either the type of workmanship found on many bike boom era French bikes or it's been poorly repaired. Remember though, the French built bikes to ride, not look at!
I say French bike because it has Simplex Ref. 881 dropouts. These were forged but didn't have an integral derailleur hanger. They were thinner than the standard dropouts with hangers which were 6mm to 7mm thick.
JUY SIMPLEX Lucien Juy was the founder of Simplex.
The British favored this type of dropout because it allowed the use of single speed or fixed gear setups, internal geared hubs like Sturmey Archer and derailleurs with a "claw" hanger.
It has a mishmash of components. They look very functional but not original.
I've built a lot of frankenbikes with whatever parts I had laying around and I've loved riding them. In fact, except for my all original collector bikes most of them have been built up that way.
This Motobecane Grand Jubile frame was rescued from a dump. It had been through a compactor garbage truck. I cleaned it up and had it realigned. Built it up with a mishmash of period correct components. It's one of my favorite riding bikes.
BTW, Numbers stamped into most frames have no meaning because they are generally untraceable and were frequently used for internal reasons such as orders or manufacturing batches from importers or distributors.
It should be a fun project.
To clarify my comment about not investing too much money into the bike, I suggest that you tune it up and ride it for a while to make sure that it fits you and you like the way it rides.
There's always a lot of "just restored" bikes on eBay. If you read between the lines, someone spent a lot of money on a bike and they don't like the results for some reason. They're selling it to recoup their expenses.
To reiterate, I don't like rust and repainting a frame is more work and expense than most bikes are worth to me... just my opinion.
verktyg
Chas.