Huret dropouts on a GS of that vintage?
Rick Chasteen
Kansas City
> My first guess was along the same lines as Greg Parker. Perhaps a late 60s
> Gran Sport. I've not seen one that I recall, but the same vintage
> Competition had chromed Nervex lugs, forks and stays (not sure about the
> stays, I have to dig back into some photos over the weekend) and came in
> either black or forest green. The GSs would probably have been a different
> color. Probably Huret dropouts but again, I have to dig back into the
> archives. Not trusting MY memory for a minute! Not today. However, the
> 73/74 RRAs as suggested by Peter K would have a "CC" cutout in the bb
> shell, Campy vertical dropouts on the rear, and no bridge for a rear
> centerpull brake.
>
> >
> >Nervex Pro lugs - but no sign of the lugs ever having been chromed
> >Forged, flat crown with epaulets - but no inner stiffeners, and again, no
> >sign of chrome
>
> Some of this makes sense but I'm not sure about fork blade stiffeners on
> the Comps/GSs. Absense of chrome is a stumper. What does the rear brake
> bridge look like? Not sure what you meant by "solid".
>
>
> >No signs of chrome on fork or stay tips
> >Huret dropouts (amazing what you find when you scrape off layers of spray
> >paint)
> >27.2 seatpost size, English threaded BB
> >Round section chain stays with a very fast taper to a very small
> >cross-section
> >
> >Interesting notes - the headset (I know, might not be original) is devoid
of
> >all markings - steel, good chrome, and the lower race (above the fork
crown
> >race and lower bearings) has ten wrench flats (dexagonal? I dunno).
>
> The 10-flat no-name headsets were standard Raleigh issue. Not sure if it's
> Brampton or some other brand, or what other makes of bike they may have
> appeared on. I accidentally found a couple of these new at T-town but they
> turned out to be French threading. I'll find a way to make them work or
> just steal parts out of them.
>
> >
> >The paint on the fork steerer, as well as the paint that seems closest to
> >the metal, is white. The lugs are also white when you get down far
enough.
> >
> >What the bike makes me think of is an International, but with Huret ends.
I
> >have a vague memory of an early version of the Competition coming with
Huret
> >ends and Nervex lugs, but weren't those all black? Back when we had a
> >lively thread, it seems to me the earliest Comps came with Zeus cranks,
> >Simplex derailleurs, etc. Then the Comp Mk. II, Comp GS, etc. - which
this
> >bike definitely isn't.
>
> Keep scraping the paint off the bb shell and try to find a serial number.
> Should be a letter followed by four numbers if it's something like an
early
> Comp/Gran Sport.
>
> Gotta go
> Larry "All answers questioned" Osborn