TheJackDude

Hey everybody! I'm new to this forum but I'm hoping somebody out there can help me. I recently purchased this old bike for $50 dollars but it's in kinda rough shape so I'm in the process of tearing it down and rebuilding it.

Anywho, I don't know any information about the bike. There aren't any decals on it and it looks like it's been repainted. On a couple of the pictures you can see a gold paint under the dark silver paint that's on top. There is also maybe a red paint under as well that you can see. There is a serial number on the bottom where the back wheel attaches, it reads 2 1665 93. A bike friend of mine says he thinks its 1960's but I don't have a clue... All of the hardware on it has the same logo on them but I don't know the company that has this logo. It looks like a 13 or maybe an ET if you turn it upside down.


If there is anybody out there that recognizes anything please let me know. Oh and half of that bottom bracket is stuck....anybody have any tips on getting it out?

Thanks for all the help!
-Jack


-EDIT1-

I forgot to mention about the tires/tubes. The front rim looks like it was replaced at some point but the back one may be original. The front will fit any ol' (I think 27") tire/tube I can buy for it, but the back one only fits a Sew-up tube. I didn't really know what they were until I bought the bike.


-EDIT2-

I just put all of the photos in one album and added a bunch more so here's the link to all of it.

https://imgur.com/a/iQGco#0

Velo Dog

Interesting pictures...I've been riding as an adult since 1970, used to be really serious about it, and I don't remember that logo at all. That may mean it's an off brand, but it also could mean I just didn't pay attention. Some of the brazing around the lugs looks sloppy, but I can't tell if it's brass or paint or painted-over rust. Hope somebody can ID it--I'm curious.
Re the stuck bottom bracket, one side of that is the "fixed cup," not meant to be removed for casual repairs. You can repack the BB with it in place. You could probably get it off with a big pipe wrench or maybe a hammer and cold chisel, but the few times I've had to do it, I've just taken it to a shop. They have the tools and can whip it off and put a new one on in a couple of minutes.

TheJackDude

Thanks for the help with the bottom bracket...I've been at it all day trying to get that sucker off. I'm taking it off mainly because it has Cottered Cranks and I'd really rather a more modern Crankset in there.

The brazing does look a bit sloppy around the lugs but I think, like you mentioned, it might be due to the paint. It looks to me like it's been painted at least 3 times over so they could have painted over some of the old rust. I plan on stripping it down to the metal tomorrow so I can repaint it myself. Once I do I will submit some more pictures of it. We should be able to see the lugs better after I do. Do you have any experience with "Airline Removal"? It was recommended to me by the guy at a local bike shop down here to use instead of sandpaper to get the old paint off. I bought some yesterday but I was a little hesitant to use it.

Thanks again for all of your input so far Velo Dog, and I look forward to figuring out what this thing is.

Sixty Fiver

It is quite rare that people post such good pictures but I am still baffled.

The construction points to the frame being lower end and hints of eastern European / Soviet Bloc construction... the prettier head lug and lower cable guides for the rear derailleur remind me of those seen on bikes like Favorit (Czechoslovakia).

Am not sure if the upper cable guides are original or just sloppy replacements.

What other components came with the bike ? If they are original these can lend clues and the logo has me baffled although if you flip it it might be a "cT".

jeffpoulin

This is just a guess, but it looks like a Louison Bobet bicycle from the 1970s. Louison Bobet was a French bike racer who won the Tour de France 3 times in the 1950s. He later had a line of bicycles in the 60s and 70s. The later models had the pump pegs and rear brake cable guides along the top tube as yours does (earlier models used a series of metal clamps for the brake housing, as did most bikes in the 60s). The "13" logo, if you look at it another way, could be "LB" (his initials), but I can't confirm if that's his logo. The style of the logo looks similar to some of his frame decals (especially the way the B in Bobet is drawn). Still, though, it's just a guess...

TheJackDude

It was pretty much a full bike when I got it I just took it all apart but I still have all the parts. Since it is 1:43 AM where I live I can't get any new pictures now but I will go and photograph everything I have tomorrow and post it up.

I forgot to mention about the tire/tubes. The front rim looks like it was replaced at some point but the back one may be original. The front will fit any ol' (I think 27") tire/tube I can buy for it, but the back one only fits a Sew-up tube.

ahsposo 

I think you got it.



Strongly resembles the logo on those parts.

TheJackDude

I really think you guys are right! This is awesome. Does anybody know if I can cross check the serial with a database for these kinds of bikes?

ahsposo 

I don't know of any but the C&V forum may have somebody that knows.

In some of the archived thread I saw a member (and legendary frame builder) Dave Moulton seemed to have a fair amount of knowledge on this badge.

jeffpoulin

This thread is interesting, especially the scans (and Google doc links) to a 1968 edition of Cyclo-pedia.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...st-ce-une-pipe

I agree that the Classic & Vintage forum is the place to pose this question. So many old bike experts there.

Good luck!

Sixty Fiver

Louison Bobet was a rather famous French cyclist and three time winner of the TdF, he raced for Mercier and they produced the bicycles that bore his name.

My partner's first racing bicycle was a Mercier with Huret's Louison Bobet Special derailleur: https://homepage3.nifty.com/ClassicBi.../huretSLB.html

The parts equipped to Bobet bicycles were similar to those used by Mercier and Huret sold the "Special Louison Bobet" long after Bobet had adopted Campagnolo and retired from the sport.

The quality of Bobet branded bicycles ranged from entry level to much nicer racing bicycles.

Velo Dog

If it is French of '70s vintage, you may have trouble finding parts. French bikes used different BB threading than English or Italian, for one thing...I don't remember everything I used to know, but one fact that sticks in my mind was that French stems were 22.0mm in diameter rather than the then-universal 22.2mm. It was just different enough that if you didn't know, you'd think it SHOULD fit and you must be doing something wrong....

Sixty Fiver

This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night...

I thought the markings on the derailleur were cyrillic in nature and knew I had seen something like it in my ramblings so I sent an email off to the rather wonderful Michael Sweatman of Disraeli Gears and he sent me a reply. I had looked at DG but must have missed this one in the collection as I was looking for Russian and Czech parts.

The derailleur and parts are Kharkov... made in the Ukraine (former USSR).




The bicycle also appears to be a Kharkov... he pointed out the head lugs as being ones that they used prominently and pointed me to a site that has a wealth of info and pictures of Soviet bicycles, he said the host of the site is not one to reply to emails but that may be a language issue... the bike probably dates to the late 1970's.

https://vk.com/id70117629

Someone owes me a bottle of vodka now.