CV-6 

So I am told. I am learning about 50s derailleurs and the like now that I have a project for that period.

juvela

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Congratulations on this new arrival Lynn! And just your size to boot.

Shall look forward to following when you begin a project thread on it.

Does the royal blue look to you like the original finish?

Owned a Helyett about two or three years later than this. Exhibited Simplex stamped ends w/gear hanger. Its livery was dark sage with black trim. Head emblem was of the aluminum sheet type affixed with adhesive. Do you think this frame late enough to have worn that emblem as well or would it have been fitted with an earlier type?

Have you been able to ID fork crown? Looks more like something which would have come from Ekla or Haden rather than BOCAMA or NERVEX. Seat binder ears appear they may be NERVEX Nr. 851.

If Bernard built this for Helyett would it have been done in his Paris works or did he ever work in one of the Helyett facilities?

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CV-6 

I tend to buy what I can ride. AFA the dark blue, hard to say if it is original. Dating from other sources put it "in the 50s" so I have no idea what head badge, if any, it would have worn. There is no evidence of rivet holes on the head tube.

All I know is the fork is Helyett, the crown and finish on the ends (I am told) makes it so. I am terrible when it comes to lugs and the like. A definite black hole in my knowledge. The only info I have on BC building for Helyett is he did Anquetil's bikes and the few Carré marked Helyetts. From what I am told, most Carré Heyletts had early Simplex drops and obviously this one does not. So is it earlier or a custom or what? The tubing is a puzzler. A 26.0mm seat post often means heavy but this F/F are relatively light.

Before the late 60s is uncharted waters for me. There has already been more than a few "I didn't know that!" in the last few days.

repechage

I saw that frame set on French ebay, on another auction the shipping to the USA was unspecified.
The seller seems to periodically find interesting bikes and frames.
Under $100. to send?

CV-6 

It was more. But considering how well it was packed and how fast I got it, I have no complaints.

juvela

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Hello again Lynn,

Found a bit of information on the frame materials.

Lugset looks to be a version of NERVEX 41/159. The one NERVEX catalogue I have, dated 1958, shows feature cut pattern Nr. 41 with a triangular cutout in the side which your frame's lugs lack. Otherwise it is a match. Perhaps this is an earlier version of feature cut Nr. 41 without the cutout.

No ideas on crown. Surprised a reader has not as yet identified it.

Titan marking on steerer - This was a tubeset available as far back as 1924 according to one poster at Tonton. Here is the transfer for it:



Another Tonton poster reports having a Helyett in team green with Titan marked steerer, photos included:

https://forum.tontonvelo.com/posting....&f=30&p=186922









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non-fixie 

Beautiful frame!

You're lucky to be "French-sized".

juvela

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Came across this Helyett piste whose crown bears a familial resemblance to that of Lynn's frame -



Cycle was exhibited at Cirque du Cyclisme MMX.

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juvela

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All original Helyett ca. 1961-62 exhibiting same crown as Lynn's frame. Image from Cirque du Cyclisme MMV.



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rmfrance

Very nice indeed, and superficially close to my current project - an '81 PF10 in Vitus 181. The same colours as yours, too, so I have to ask: have you done a repaint? The 1st pic looks exactly like mine, but the rest seem slightly more steel-blue. I have some paint chips to touch-in, and I don't want to do a full refin, so wondered about getting a paint match. Not quite as bad, though, as my PBN10S, in pearlescent pale green...

Anyway, great bike - thanks for sharing.

santa fe 2926 

Thanks, lucky the frame is original and the paint arrived in very good condition. It’s definitely steel blue,
Best regards

bikemig 

Picked this bike up to rebuild for a friend. It's sweet. The decals are in fine shape as is the paint. The bike even came with a cool Gitane tool kit which is a dead ringer for the Mafac one that used to come on Pugs as well:

CV-6 

Dang. I need to check back more often.

The info about Titan as a tubing maker is new to me. Someone else had ID'd them as a maker of stems and bars, but tubing makes more sense. So now I wonder if the frame tubing is also Titan. Thanks for that tidbit. I had seen the Tonton velo posting. I have been wading through that lot.

There is no doubt in my mind the fork is Helyett. But the frame....what is its story? It looks Carré in many respects but is not consistent with the known Carré Helyetts out there. And it is not consistent with Helyett either. I removed some of the light blue paint over the weekend. Pretty certain the dark blue is the original color and someone went to some effort to remove most of it when they repainted. I was hoping to find some tubing marks, but nothing there. At least where I have checked. I sent a note to Norris Lockley. Hopefully he will respond but I have not had much luck with him responding lately.

styggno1

Still full winter here in Sweden. It gets me down sometimes... And when it does I try to think of something that makes me happy. Beauty is one such thing. French Beauty this time. It worked.

mountaindave 

Woah, is that a Mavic electronic shift RD? That bike is dead sexy!

styggno1

Yes it is - and thanks!

Some more about the build here:
Geliano 115 S with C-record or Mavic...

mountaindave 

Thanks for the link! Sadly some of the photos on photo bucket are gone, but you must’ve hosting elsewhere too because many are still there. Good to see a rare item like Mavic Zap.

styggno1

I fixed it - the pictures are there again. Yes - the XXXXX-fXcket scandal has really messed things up. I have always used flickr parallell with the forementioned XXXX-etc. In that thread it was just two pics that vanished. I have some other posts that are totally ruined and I have not had the time to fix it.

I really wanted to build with ZAP as it needs to be saved for posterity. Mavic was cutting edge with this system and it really works. Not to be confused with mektronik as this article highlights:

https://pelotonmagazine.com/travel-c...ton-mavic-zap/

Ghrumpy

I got to demo ZAP for a while, and I kinda liked the system. We did have some issues with it in the rain, it was a little sensitive to water intrusion IME, as any electronic system would be. As the magazine said, it was sort of elegantly crude. The upper jockey wheel moved a rack back and forth inside the rear derailleur, and the solenoids would engage the rack to move the pulley to the next gear. So there was a real but tiny loss as the chain powered the reciprocating rack, but I never felt it. I didn't particularly like the one-at-a-time shifting, but that's true for me of any such shifting system I've ever used, not just ZAP. On that at least you could hold the button down and it would dump the whole cogset.


But jeez, Peloton magazine, get an editor or a proofer who knows the difference between a brake and a break. Spell check isn't going to catch that one.

Chombi1 

All sorts of weird rumors were floated around Mavics electronic shifting system
Weirdest one I read was supposedly, some riders had their derailleurs shift on them by themselves when riding under high voltage lines. Supposedly because of the EMF coming from the power lines. Sounds a bitfishy cause the system was hard wired between the handlebar controls ad the RD, if I understand correctly, so how can EMF really affect it.....unless it is a very strong pulse like from an EMP bomb....

juvela

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Interesting that both your example and the catalogue illustration from Wheelgoods Corp. show the Gran Sport Luxe model coming through with mudguards at this time.

We received a great many of them out here on the Pacific coast in this period and AFAIK none of our Gran Sport Luxe included mudguards. It may be that they came from Mel Pinto.

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bikemig 

Apparently the Midwest Gitanes were better appointed than the West coast ones way back in the day, who knew? : )

Lovely fenders with green stripes on either side.

juvela

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Here is an orange GSL mixte with mudguards painted to match -



https://m.bikeforums.net/showpost.php...ostcount=45505

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zastolj

Broke a rear spoke last summer on the Bertin while sprinting, and ended up rebuilding a new rear wheel. Used new DT spokes and a lightly used high-flange Campagnolo hub and a slightly newer good condition Mavic GP4 rim. This set should last a long time. Glued the same Vittoria SC tubular on as I only took the bike out a handful of times last summer and tires are still like new.

On the indoor track the bike felt amazing. Most importantly with all the shiny chrome and aluminium it truly looks like jewelry! And now with the new wheel it runs perfectly. I 'm not surprised that a bike like this was top of the range in the early 80s, the performance feels weirdly close to modern carbon bikes.

I'm still looking for a comfortable saddle that looks appropriate to the bike. This Concor looks great, but not sure if I will be comfortable with it on long rides. Level of padding is fine, but the shape is a bit odd. The Regal it replaced was awkward for me too, too narrow I guess. Of all the reproduction classic saddles I guess I'm left with Rolls or Brooks.

Rear, front derailleurs, crankset, bb, brakes, brake levers: Nuovo Record/Super Record
Brake pads: Kool Stop salmon
Shifters: Spidel
Seat post: Milremo
Saddle: Selle San Marco Concor
Stem: 3TTT Olympic 110
Handlebar: 3TTT
Front hub: Campagnolo low flange
Rear hub: Campagnolo high flange
Front rim: Mavic GP4 oldest model gold label 36h
Rear rim: Mavic GP4 newer model 36h
Weight: a bit over 9 kg

Chombi1 

If you like Turbo shaped saddles, you might try out a Reydel GTi on that bike, to give it some more French flavor. I have it on my Gitane TdF, in black patterned suede finish, and it feels really good, (very similar to the Turbo and the Rolls saddles in shape and padding) and looks really good too.....


bought two, NOS from a guy in Turkey, of all places, almost two years ago.... the other one is currently on my Peugeot PSV....

There's actually one almost new one for sale at eBay right now for 70 some bucks.....I think that's quite a bargain at that price for a Reydel GTi in VGC.