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lugs -
this topic has come up earlier in the discussion
it has been suggested that the pattern may be an Oscar Egg one
have no familiarity with these so explored a bit
at the UK lightweights site there is an entry on Oscar Egg lugs
the head lug pattern shown does not resemble that of our subject bike
while the seat lug does somewhat resemble that of the bike
https://www.classiclightweights.co.u...scar-egg-lugs/
in this image courtesy of velofile figure nr. 48 illustrates a set of Oscar Egg lugs loose
decided to check a photocopy i have of the NERVEX catalogue dated 1958 to see if there is anything similar to the subject machine's tube joiners
one feature cut pattern which comes very close is Nr. 45
it is most commonly seen paired with nozzle cut Nr. 159
nozzle cut Nr. 159 closely resembles the Oscar Egg seat lug pattern
the one difference between the lugs on our frame and those of Nervex feature cut Nr. 45 is that the Nervex exhibits a triangular cutout "down there in the corner"...
here Nervex pattern 45/159 can be seen on a Ficelle brand cycle of ca. 1973, reportedly contract produced by MICMO -
since the lug pattern of the subject frame does not appear in the Nervex catalogue of 1958 i wonder if perhaps it was discontinued with the launch of feature cut nr. 45
pattern numbers in the catalogue have lots of jumps/gaps; the pattern shown immediately prior to that of nr. 45 is nr. 35
perhaps the numerous gaps may represent discontinued designs
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dating -
since we have a launch date for the Torevess products of 1949 and it looks obvious the frame was built for a manual front mech it is bracketed at the other end by the last manufacture of manual front mechs in the west which was 1961 (they continued to be manufactued east of "the curtain" at least until the late 1960's)
to my eye it looks like the sort of machine which would not have received a single plateau drive train; perhaps others may disagree
this gives a twelve year or so window
we may be able to narrow it further as we learn more...
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