Catnap

I started and finished this restoration over the weekend. It's a "Special C.N.C." made by Cycles CNC in Paris that I found on French eBay over the holidays. On Saturday I stripped it down to the frame and ran all the components through an ultrasonic cleaner, an anti-rust bath, and then hand-polished everything. Then on Sunday I re-assembled and tuned it up.

I kept it nearly original - just swapped out the bars, stem, saddle, brake hoods, and replaced the cables & housing. It came with a lame townie bar setup and Kalloy stem that was obviously added later, so I gave it a nice Belleri stem and G.B. randonneur bars. I switched the Ideale saddle for a Brooks Pro of the same vintage to match the new black leather tape. It came with a set of white Bluemels fenders that I kept on it. There are tire savers mounted inside the fenders, a very cool little detail. The wheels are Maillard 700 hubs laced to MAVIC tubulars, and a 5-speed Maillard "corncob" freewheel.

I am really impressed with the build quality of this bike. It's made of Reynolds 531 tubing, with carefully thinned and filed lugs. The chrome shined up lovely and my first experiment with Turtle Wax rubbing compound restored a lovely luster to the paint. I rode it to work today, and although it's a little small for me, it handles like a dream. The Simplex SLJ groupset and matching barcons shift smooth as butter. This bike wants to go FAST!




Here's some history on the brand that I was able to find online (thanks to Norris Lockley & Classic Rendezvous):

Catnap

two quick aesthetic questions:

I didn't have white brake housing to match the shift housing... is the black OK or does it really need white housing too?

and also, how does the bottle cage look? I added that bit. It's period-correct but I'm wondering if it's just a little too much.

thoughts?

orangeology 

like the elegant yet uniquely french looking of the bottle cage as is, and—IMO—white housing will look better, as you have nice white fenders.
very nice build, i admire a lot. exquisite!

rootboy 

VERY nice, Catnap. Pretty bike. I would go one way with the housing colors. Either all black or all white. I lean to white too on that bike. I think the bottle cage looks a little funny in that position, but I can't understand you might not have wanted to place it over the graphics, they're so cool. I did the same thing with one of my REG cages. BTW, speaking of graphics, can we some more detail shots of the graphics and frame? And I'd love to see a close up shot of those tire savers, if you can swing it. Neat bike. The willow leaf stay caps are beautiful.

ColonelJLloyd 

Nice work, as usual. I would go with white housing and lose that fugly cage.

Love the shifters; why the white tape on the end of the bars?

rootboy 

The bottle cage may look better if you mounted it directly in the middle of that red band on the seat tube. If that's not too blasphemous.

gaucho777 

Great looking bike. Ditto on the white cables. I don't mind the bottle cage, though it's placement does seem oddly low on the down tube (I realize you didn't want to cover/damage the decals).

Nice seat stay cap treatment.

You must work quickly. Teardown, polish & rebuild in one weekend! I'm just finishing my winter projects--from last winter!

Catnap

thanks for the advice, it seems unanimous on the white housing. i don't want to move the bottle cage at all, out of fear of damaging the paint. the logos and stripes, by the way, are all hand-painted and hand-lettered. so i think i'll just take the cage off.


i guess i do work fairly quickly - the ultrasonic cleaner makes it much easier to restore components in a short amount of time. i sort of "assembly line" the process and hope that i won't discover any broken or stuck bits that will hold up my flow. i also make sure i have all the bits, cables, housing, etc. needed to complete a restoration before I get started. i still think it takes too long though; my ideal scenario is to start & finish a restoration in one day.

CV-6 

That bike needs period dual bar mount bottle cages and bottles.

Catnap

not a bad idea... i own two sets. i'll play dress-up with them tonight.

romperrr 

Great restoration. I'd go with all white housing. It would contrast the bar wrap nicely and compliment the fenders. Would you mind taking a pic of the tire savers inside the fenders? I don't know what those are.

Regarding the bottle cage, I would keep it if you're going to use it. I don't think it works that great aesthetically.

miamijim

Nice bike...a couple of pointers...

1. Slide the rear brake cable forward a tick and then shorten it up at the lever, the loop up front is way too big.
2. Change the bar tape finishing tape from white to black.
3. Bar tape should be wrapped from bottom to top and from the inside out. White finishing tape may look OK up top...
4. Match the housing....black all around.

Lascauxcaveman 

Another vote here for white cable housing (and black finishing tape on the bar wrap.) I'm with Jim on shortening those brake cables. Those loops are pretty loopy. Although I always leave them long at first on a new build myself, as it's easy to go back cut some off.

I've said it before, but Catnap seems to play this game at a higher level than most of us.

Italuminium

Cette bicyclette est le awesomeballz totale. white housing 's good, not sure if the french were into ribbed housing at this this point but I think it looks spiffy anyway.