Originally Posted by
afilado
It is near mint.
what a lovely C-34.brings back memories. probably the best value bike in the line at the time and our second most popular selling model.
It seems incongruous that a French bike would be so completely fitted with Japanese components.
Cycles Andre Bertin was the french distributor for Shimano. most models of bertins came with the option of shimano, or complete french road groups and the upper end racing models could also be spec'd with campagnolo as well.
And as I understand, Bertin was a modern man, a good businessman.
well.... as someone that worked for the us distributor at the time your bike was produced and imported into the u.s., one could say that there were both up and downsides to bertin philosophy & business practices.
I gauge it to be about a !979-80 model, based on the component group. I know the date is on the bits somewhere, and I'll get around to pinning it down someday. Any educated guesses?
i'd gather from the decalling and componentry that your c34 is from around 82, give or take a year. fwiw,arabesque was produced from 78-84
Is it of such pedigree that it should be saved intact as a document of the times, no matter how minor or schizophrenic?
yes. absolutely tho i wouldn't get fanatical
my wife's '81 c70 with shimano dura ace ex road group