Well after 30 years of kidding my wife about keeping her eyes open at garage sales for French bikes, my karma took control of my wallet. I recently bought an Andre Bertin cyclotouriste bike of unknown age full well knowing all of the liabilities of dealing with French specs in early French bikes. I’m placing this bike in the late 70’s on the basis of a mixture of components aware that Bertin was known to use mixes of components depending on the times, the customer, and availability. It may be older.



The frame is Vitus 172 with seemingly strange ridged end caps on the seat stays. it has an alloy Specialites TA crankset; alloy Atax (a Milremo associate) stem; steel bars by Milremo ( with a cool cyclist graphic); brakes are Mafac Racer CP.

Also Milremo (= Normandy?) hubs with rear marked 25 78 and front marked 36 79 . Rims are alloy Super Champion 700c.



Curiously the dropouts are Milremo but also marked with what appears to be a date The NDS side is 5 77V; and the DS is 19 78 ? These seem to be substantial dropouts but are they forged or ??



All of this is leading me to conclude a date of around 1978 but there are not integral cable guides on the top tube; but the web shows bikes reported to be older that have welded cable guides. The guides on the bottom bracket are also clamp ons and so too are the studs for the shifters on the down tube.



So I’ve got a cyclotouriste frame, Made in France, from Vitus 172 and Mafac Racer brakes, pushing an ID away from the C34 model and toward the C132 model. BTW the Bertinclassiccycles word press site has be a great source of info.



Interestingly, there are no chrome socks on the fork nor are there the usual multicolored stripes and it appears stickers have been removed from the fork or if a replacement its a good paint match. There is no large Bertin labeling on either the seat tube or down tube. The brake levers are Shimano 600 and the Front Deraileur, a Shimano ARX. The RD is a short cage Simplex but thats as far as my Simplex ID can go. Pedals are Lyotard manufactured in 82.



The bike strikes me as a fairly light bike and promises to be a fun ride once I go through it a bit more thoroughly. Its hardly pristine but like most desert SW bikes, its amazingly rust free. I continue to research the date and model info for this bike.

Late 70s Bertin?

Dated?

Dated dropout

Atom

Vitus 172

Cycotourste

Mafac racer

ridged end caps on seat stay

Peruano-

That is a very well preserved late 70s or early 80s Bertin touring bike. The C 132 guess looks to be about right but the Vitus 172 main frame would be an upgrade. The ridged stay caps usually denote Durifort on Bertins of this period. Check the forks just below the crown on the inside of the fork blades. They will likely will be stamped either durifort/Durifort or v. 172 to identify the material. The number 58 stamping on the rear NDS dropout indicates the center to top frame size measurement. Often the serial would be right below the frame size stamping but sometimes, like yours, the serial (1978) is on the drive side dropout face like here. The bike is largely original in its livery and its equipment but it is likely missing a Bertin head badge style decal right in the middle if the seat tube panel between the world championship stripes bands. It is also possible the Andre Bertin would have appeared on the down tube. The 78 and 79 on the Normandy/Milremo hubs indicate production dates . The Rear Simplex looks to be a Simplex SX 410 T. https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...=108&AbsPos=77
The front would likely have been an SJ 104. https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...=113&AbsPos=29

See the inserted C 37 photo below:

Wow. Thanks so much for substantiating some of my conclusions. BTW Re you the author of the word press sie? Its a treasure. Tom

Well preserved.
be sure to perform a reference rebuild.
those hub cones might be a challenge to locate, rebuild the hubs before premature wear.
same goes for the bottom bracket.

Bertin suffered a devastating fire in 1975, in the regrouping after things get even more unpredictable.
your bike’s geometry should provide solid performance.

Different animal but my 1972 C-37 is a terrific bike.

Peruano-

Yes, I'm the author of the site and thank you.

repechage-

The Milremo hubs are re-branded Normandy/Atom production and should take standard Normandy and Atom cones. The HF and LF quick release hub cones are interchangeable between Milremo, Normandy and Atom branded hubs of that period, in my previous experience. Solid axle cones will not work due to differences in axle diameter. Good advice about repacking and adjusting everything.

Nice bike!
I'm looking for Mafac hoods like those for my Bertin.

That is a hot ship. Swap those steel bars out for some nice Philippe and rage.

[QUOTE=bertinjim;23535795]repechage-

The Milremo hubs are re-branded Normandy/Atom production and should take standard Normandy and Atom cones. The HF and LF quick release hub cones are interchangeable between Milremo, Normandy and Atom branded hubs of that period, in my previous experience. Solid axle cones will not work due to differences in axle diameter. Good advice about repacking and adjusting everything.[/mQUOTE]

you are correct, but the cones are scarce now. Or, of absurd tariff.
my urging was to avoid the abuse and tears, service the hubs if not too late.

Hello, Jim -

Agreed - a C-132. Wasn’t the “Cyclo-Touriste” decal just above the shifters unique to that model (and the mixte version C-117)?

The “1978” stamp on the driveside rear dropout is the date of manufacture. Pretty sure the handlebars are aluminum.

Here’s a scan from the 1980 catalog that I donated to Velo-Base:

Nice!

I appreciate catalog info. Indeed Milremo bars are alloy. Not sure how to id the crank model. I would love to force it to a triple. Clearly I didn't get an original seat post or saddle. The seller inherited it from an uncle who lived in Colorado. I'm loving it about as much as my Centurion Pro Tour but for different reasons.

Cycotourste

The crank is a Specialites TA Pro 5 Vis, aka the Cyclotouriste model. You can still get parts made by Specialites TA itself from Peter White, the importer. https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tach.php

I'm a huge fan of the TA cranks. A half step plus granny works very well for the old five and six speed freewheels. Here's a couple Motobecanes for examples.


Motobecane Grand Touring, too big for me. This shows a Cannondale bag.

1973 Grand Jubilé next to the Canal de l’Aisne à la Marne. It has a red Cannondale bag held by a VO decaleur

I was getting good vibes from this crank. Super

That's what I increasingly want in a road bike. Wider tires, barcons, and a triple chainring.

There’s no way those are steel handle bars. Please check again.

the milremo rear dropouts are forged and were made by same company that supplied Campagnolo. They are 1010 copies (per Chas).

Strangely there is magnetic attraction in the expanded diameter near the middle of the bar but not lateral to that mid-collar. Could it be an alloy bar reinforced with steel near the stem. Note i did check with the magnet lateral to the expanded area and there was no attraction i.e. the bar is alloy. I grabbed the bathroom scale and the bike as ready to ride measured 25 pounds, but hardly a precise measure. Sorry for the confusion about bar composition. The nonmagnetic sensitive part of the bar was covered with tape and only the central reinforced part was immediately accessible.