This started out as a post for “What have you been wrenching on” but got out of hand. Days, then weeks went by and I was just sitting on a bunch of the story in my notes app. And after today (yesterday), this bike deserves its own thread. I will try to make this as salient as I can. I am no author. I do like the story though. So what better place to start then from the beginning. Part One: The new Beginning

My pop and I were given this bike from the original owner after he passed. He was an incredible man with a lot of mystery around him. He was tall, and the bike was set up for him. High stem, high bars, low BB. My pop took it for a spin and didn’t like it. He bottomed out when turning and it just wasn’t right. So it sat for many years like this.


We have moved many times since. And time and space are not abundant. We decided it was time to sell the bike. I couldn’t find out much of anything about the frame. Again, mystery shrouds the history. I thought, “hey, there are many cool period correct parts worth a decent deal of money.” (Phil hubs and BB, XC thumbies, XC power levers, Mafac cantis, old school Jim Blackburn) “If I sell it cheap some will buy it for parts and I’ll put some money back in the bike jar for pop and I. Plus more space.”

No bites. Even at $200 bucks. The cantis sell for that much. So it sat for a couple months. When the Jack Taylor came into my possession, the Mafac cantilevers suddenly had a place. So I decided to strip it, sell the other parts and give away the frame. I couldnt find any info on it and no one seemed to want it.

One evening, I was stripping it down while my lady sat beside me drawing. She is an illustrator pushing into graphic design. She can practice and learn while I play with bikes. It’s nice to share the time. I was telling her how much of a bummer it was that this bike is so big. The green is such a good green and the headbadge and downtube decal are so beautiful. Very art nouveau inspired. Which the both of us love. Without looking up she said “yeah it’s by far my favorite bike of yours.” I kept *****ing about how cool it is and how bummed I am that I couldn’t really get to the bottom of it’s history. It seemed that it was a dud. By then I had stripped everything but the saddle, headset, cranks and the cable housing on the top tube. It looked smaller without all the parts on it..

I said “That’s weird. The frame doesn’t look that big with all the crap off it.”

She looked up. “It really doesn’t.”

I said “yeah.. but the frame geometry is deceiving. It’s a pretty large frame.”

“Did you measure it?” She asked. It was clearly one of those questions your woman asks you when she already knows the answer.
“I must have!” I ran to grab my tape. I measured my International from the middle of the bottom bracket to the center of my saddle. -27.5 inches- I Ran back with determination, threw the tape up to the frame and gasped. It seemed like it could fit. French fit for sure but it could work. I certainly didnt measure. With how tall the bars were and how low the BB was.. both my pop and I just wrote it off as something that would fit me. I rushed to find a cockpit and look at that… I had a vision and was inspired. It was certainly worth a try.