Charly and Louie preferred the more conventional gonfleur location.

I note they are wearing spare tires - literally!

The darker bike appears to have a Gran Sport but the lighter bike appears to have some other derailleur. What is it? It looks like a Suntour Cyclone or some such but it cannot be so, if I understand the era of the photograph. Please explain.

It's a Simplex (probably) or Cyclo bandspring POS, which was made obsolete by the Campagnolo Gran Sport, the first modern parallelogram rear derailleur. Note the normal-low reverse shift, meaning that if your cable slipped or snapped, the derailleur cage and chain would go right into the spokes, which could ruin your whole day on a fast descent during an attempted 4-5 shift.

The original 1960 Varsinentals came with the obsolete Simplex suicide shifter up front and the equally suicidal Simplex bandspring in back, because Frank Schwinn told Keith Kingbay to save $1.27 by using those junky components instead of the vastly superior Huret Allvit rear and matching front. In 1961, Kingbay got the Huret brothers drunk on martinis at a steak house in Chicago, and they agreed to match Lucien Juy's price.

CO2 inflators were quite common in the 1950s among racers.

https://www.classiclightweights.co.uk...nine-pump.html

Back then the most common use for CO2 cartridges was for soda dispensers .

It wouldn't go into the spokes if it was adjusted properly, just like modern derailleurs. I had a Simplex Tour de France on my '53 Claud. When I resumed cycling 25 years later I was disappointed that modern derailleurs worked "backwards". If I was climbing out of the saddle and hit the shifter with my knee, I'd knock myself into a higher gear!

Bite your tongue! You can't use words like "obsolete" in the C&V forum unless you ride a plastic bike.

t'ain't it the truth!

Neat link, thanks!