That's very interesting. The upper pivot only appears to also be a mount! Pretty cool.

Wow; great work!

I'll just echo the others - neat bike.

Wow. That is one cool bike.

Interesting and that makes sense for the times. Manly men of Italy snub the already French multi gear device. Real excuse was the Italians didn't have the know how.

More ironic and comical the TdF 'Frenchman' promoter Henri Derainged. Banned the use of them until the mid 30's. Go figure.

Italian stallions telling French males, "you're weaklings", so of course the French pride would prove their strength and also race sans shift devices.

In France, its multi gear change devices were only for woman, the invalid or over 45 years of age. Lol

I like the picture of you riding it!

How do you get the rear wing nuts tight enough?

Absolutely beautiful bike. Congrats!

Fantastic bike! Thanks so much for sharing.

If there is such a thing as a Grail bike, you have found it. It exudes magic.

So that’s what was under all that black paint. Nice work bringing it back, looks great.

I was going to ask about the paint. Iab obviously has good taste in showing off the bare steel, but I was sure he could not be purchasing bikes that were already in such a state - they'd likely be nearly rusted through without paint after so many years. Are there any photos of how the bicycle looked prior to cleaning it up? Cheers!

-Gregory

Check out his photo link on the first post, go to page 2 and scroll to the bottom.

Ah, sweet! I didn't realize some pre-restoration photos were included. Mostly stared at the first page then went off to ogle his other albums! It sure looks like something more special when it's down to the bare steel. Maybe I'll have to pick up one of those cheapo 1930s road bikes advertised on Ebay France sometime and strip it down... :D

If you look close it appears he was able to save some silver paint which is pretty amazing.

Bringing old bikes back can be fun and rewarding, just realize there is a lot more work there than you think. I made the mistake of jumping into multiple projects at the same time and it is slow going, but that’s OK because I’m in no hurry to finish them up. Plus I lack the focus iab has.:lol:

He did do a great job with this one, as with the others!
And I've been doing this sort of work and far more tedious crafts for a while, but thanks for the heads up. I wouldn't assume anyone around here doesn't know the effort involved in restoring vintage bicycles.

In reflection, that was more of a self indictment than a assessment of typical forum members capabilities.:lol:

I'd say it's luck, but it's not ;)

Many great miles on it IAB.

Nice, it found the right guy.

The wheel would fall off. ;) :rimshot:

Rattle-can black was stripped. Below is nickel-plating, not silver paint. Not in perfect condition, but not too shabby either.

My sister (7) and I (5) stayed at a house with a pool. Our mother interviewed us separately.

Mom: What would you do if you fell into the pool and I was not around?
Sister: I would swim to the other side and climb out.
Mom: No, you would swim to the side where you fell off and climb out.

Mom: What would you do if you fell into the pool and I was not around?
Me: I would drown.