Sometimes you find the bike, sometimes the bike finds you! I got a call from some folks who had inherited an old French bike. They found me on the 'Net and offered it to me, I couldn't refuse!
It is a brand I was not familiar with, Rochet. A search on the Web seems to indicate that this company goes way back to the turn of the century, but they don't seem to have lasted much past the '50s.
It's in many ways a typical high-end French tourer, though with 700c wheels instead of 650b. It's a 12 speed! 3 in front, (48-44-38) and 4 in back (14-16-18-22). I've never before seen or heard of a triple crank with a 4-speed freewheel.
It's got a very unusual Huret rear derailer, unlike any I've seen before. I found a picture of it in _The Dancing Chain_, where Berto says it dates from 1958, which would fit with the 4-speed bit.
It's also got the wonderful old high flange 3-piece Campagnolo hubs--the rear is a flip-flop!. The skewers are not quite like any others I've seen before, mainly in that the "D" spring on the acorn nut is a different shape, more squarish.
There's also a very unusual seatstay bridge, where the brake runs through a tubular fitting brazed to the top of the bridge. There's a separate vertical stud running down through the fender to hold it in place. The seatstay bridge has diamond shaped reinforcements, which are pretty common now, but I've never seen 'em on a bike this old.
I've put some photos up at http://sheldonbrown.org/
Sheldon "Vive La France" Brown
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772, 617-244-1040, FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
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