New bike! Andre Bertin
 

Hi Guys,

Long time lurker, new-time poster. Just thought I'd post-up my recent bike purchase, a move up from my old singlespeed as my weekly commute is becoming longer and uphill! Plus as a second more secret reason, i'd love to do a sportive or long bike ride race. Looking through the local listings, found a lovely bike advertised as a 1970's Andre Bertin steel bike for sale, so I went to go take a look, rode it up and down the road and fell in love with it!

Of course once I got it home I started noticing the problems more and it's now become (much to my fiance's anger) a fixer-upper :) From what I can tell, it's nearly all NOS, and apart from a few stints outside has mostly been kept in a garage by the looks of it.

From what I've been able to tell so far:

Andre Bertin Bike 56cm frame - Blue decals (I have not found anything similar like these decals unfortunately as I'd love to get it repainted) - slight rust spots in places, paint around the forks needs fixing up
Milremo stem - if you can tell from the pictures the bolt seems to have split. No issues with steering, but might take it to LBS to see if they can replace it while keeping the stem
Pelissier 2000 Professional Hubs - in good nick, but again slight rust that needs to be cleaned up
Mavic module e2 wheels - michelin tyres, cracked rubber with fabric coming out so obv need to be replaced - but glue tyres are completely new to me and haven't seen any at LBS :(
Super Mighty crank
Lyotard pedals with milremo toe clips - sadly leather bits are long gone, but picked up some replacement already
Huret eco derailleur system - tbh I took this apart and can't remember how to put it back together properly (almost there though i think!)
Laprade seat post
Mafac 'Racer' brakes - good god do I hate these, 're-tuning' the things has taken me the better part of a day but I think i've got it figured out now.
Also some lovely huret down tube levers - unfortunately the cable end has wedged in the end so i'm soaking it atm to see if that will release it.

At the moment I think i've done as much as I can - taken it apart, cleaned it up, replaced cables, removed as much rust as I can etc. The next step i think is to take it over to the LBS to see what else they can do and also talk about either a) fixing up the paint or b) getting it completely repainted.

So as a novice, any ideas on what I should look at getting done/that I haven't thought of? I'm desperate to get it back out on the road again, but also understand the value of patience!

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=303843http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=303844http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=303845http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=303846

Paint looks GREAT! A few little spots here and there, you can deal with, UNLESS it gets under the paint and bubbles. Glue on tires, LOTS of folks on here use them, but they are harder to find than they usual stuff. Looks beautiful, welcome to the Forum, lots of folk here know how to get it done!

I am just very paranoid about paint and rust! It's really around the forks that i'm worried about as it was flaking off, mainly where the hub was resting against it.

Love the forum here, lots of good ideas in every thread and very education for someone born in the 1980s.

Congrats on joining the Bertin owners club. :thumb: From what I've seen these are fairly rare. I picked up a C-37 (I think) back in November (I think), not knowing anything about them. I was mostly after the Campagnolo NR parts on it, but I learned here at BF that it was a TOTL model, with Reynolds 531 DB, and some sweet-looking lugs, but it also took a pretty good hit, & needs the fork & frame both straightened. ;) So mine is a mixed bag, but should be well worth fixing. :) I actually might get that done this month, before riding weather truly arrives. :D

Here you go, this should help you quite a bit. :) http://bertinclassiccycles.com/bicycle-models Be sure to go to that site's homepage too, where you'll be able to find lots of cool stuff.

Cheers, very useful!

I've found it's bloody hard to figure out what model it is, I think I've narrowed it down to either a C-31 or C-37, but I'll post pictures up there to see if the experts can help :)

It really is a very lovely bike, which I know I'll enjoy when i get it up and running again. Now it's been cleaned up a bit, I really a a lot more optimistic about it, I need to work on making it a bit more shiny - and fixing that derailleur, as I've got it setup as a singlespeed till then!

Completely agree about the riding weather though, it's hit -2 here in London with gale force winds. Think it'll be a little while till I can truly enjoy being outside again.

Painted!!? That? Nice bike, 52, and it looks to be in very good condition. Don't worry about the paint. Flake off the bits that bother you down by the fork ends and cover with paste wax. Clean the whole frame with warm soap and water, dry thoroughly and then some good wax to protect it.
As we like to say here, it is only original once. If you want a bright, shiny new paint job, you can get one of those on a new bike. But part of the charm of a vintage bike is its honestly earned scars and patina.

By the way, I'm wondering how you change gears. Where is the rear derailleur?

Very good question! I took the derailleur apart (it was rusted and very, very dirty) but struggled a bit to put it back together - think I've managed it but now just need to get around to putting it back on and lengthening the chain again.

And yes, I'm a bit of a magpie in terms of shiny things, plus I'm a bit paranoid about rust - seeing as how this is a) my second ever bike and b) it's older than I am. However from everyone's comments it seems like that this is nothing to worry about - as long as it's treated. Like I said, I'm desperate to get it out on the road so I can ride it properly, but I want to make sure it's in good nick first.

Don't paint it! As for model, if it came with sew-ups ("glue-ons") then it is probably a C-37. Not that I"m a Bertin expert.

I don't know what you mean about bolt split on the steering. The hex-head bolt on the top of the stem, that tightens the stem into the steerer tube? The bolt on the front of the stem which clamps onto the handlebar?

You should probably clean and lube all the key bearings. That means at least the wheels. You should probably do the bottom bracket (the crank) too and even the headset, but the bottom bracket requires special tools. The headset may have lots of little bearing that can escape and roll under the fridge. If you do get that far into the project, check back with us!. Well, check back anyway.

Question - was the rear derailleur attached and the chain routed properly when you got it? From those pics it looks like the chain isn't nearly long enough. I'm just wondering if someone had converted it into a sing-speed.

I shall definitely steer away from the paint then! And in regerds to the split bolt, it's the hex-head bolt on top of the stem - leaving it slightly too large for any of my tools.

Tbh, this project has been very useful in establishing my comfort zone/limits with looking after bikes. It's definitely given me confidence in certain areas that were originally very daunting (e.g. derailleur maintenance), but also made me realise that this is very hard to do in my rather small flat. I'm looking forward to moving and having a dedicated area for this sort of thing, as I could see myself doing this a lot more in the future if this project turns out well :)

One thing it's made me realise, whatever tools I have, I always need more. I think I've been to the bike shop about 5 times in the last week. So much for a quick fixer-upper!

Yes, it was attached and chain was correct length. However I was despairing at fixing the derailleur so i converted the chain to a singlespeed until i can get it to a LBS to fix properly. I think i've got it figured out now though, so I'll be restoring the chain length and testing the derailleur soon.

Is the bolt head really split or just what perhaps an odd size? Or maybe rounded out by someone using the wrong tool? If I had to guess I'd say it is probably 6mm. But they could have used something else. Cinelli used 7mm for many years, an uncommon size.

As for the rear derailleur (which we usually just abbreviate to RD), most people don't take them apart except maybe take the mounting bolt out, maybe remove the pulley cage from the body, and certainly remove the pulleys to clean their bushings.

Mafac brakes, yes, well, they are one of the better stopping centerpull brakes. They do tend to squeal sometimes, and getting that to stop can be frustrating. Getting them centered, as with any cernterpull, is really just two things - make sure the caliper itself is reasonably centered when the cable is loose, and then when you attach the cable push the hanger across the straddle cable a tiny bit to even up the pull between the two arms. It pulls harder on the arm that it is closer to, which of course makes the opposite brake pull harder. Usually the hanger will stay put just from the friction.

While this is far from a top line model this silver bike will most likely provide a rewarding ride.
When I see the chain set as is is it reminds me of two things, Ron Skarin way back training on the off season on a multi speed fixed, he had a freewheel welded shut, and changed gears by dismounting and moving the chain and resetting the axle, he got about a 6 or 8 tooth range that way with horizontal dropouts.
My second thought is I can imagine that some offshore company reverse engineers the old Campagnolo cambia corsa shift mechanism and makes new bikes that the current "fixie" crowd could get into and still have gears, so retro.

Hi, li52jw-

If the paint and decals are original, you've probably got an early 80s C 70. They came with tubulars stock or HP clinchers. They were hi-tensile but Bertin spent the money on equipment spec. Good luck with refurbishing the bike.

bertinjim

Manly men don't need derailleurs. We just reach down & move the chain with our bare hands. And we don't stop pedaling either, unless we're going uphill. :D ;) Don't mind me, I'm just silly sometimes. Life's more fun that way. ;)

Many men spit on their chains to lube them too. Smoker's chains tend to last longer because of the nicotine laced pleghm they tend to hack out of their system......