[CR]Liberia - Bike Boom - Francophiles ? ( Sheldon ? )

(Example: Framebuilding:Restoration)

From: "Raoul Delmare" <Raoul.L.Delmare@worldnet.att.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, "Bruce C." <BruceCumberland@comcast.net>
References: <1a2.168a8263.2c24f477@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 14:01:51 -0500
Subject: [CR]Liberia - Bike Boom - Francophiles ? ( Sheldon ? )

Sorry for the delay in reply . What size is your frame ? I always liked the Liberia labeled bicycles , honest , unassuming , fair values at fair prices . I have one too ( Grenoble , France ) .

Who made them ? Or were they more of a "house-label" , assembled from all sorts of sources ? Who imported them ? Who distributed them ?

I bought my Liberia bicycle on eBay , a couple-three years back . It was one of the first things I bought on eBay . I simply felt sorry for it . I didn't want it to be "parted-out" or "stripped" . After I struck up conversation with the seller ( as the winning bidder ) I learned he was frustrated by the lack of auction response ( and frustrated because he was selling it for a "former" girlfriend ) . The bicycle was indeed just one short step away from being stripped for parts .

The bicycle is way too small for me to ride . But I love it anyway . And it is such a time-capsule of "The Bike Boom" .

Looking at this bicycle brings back a certain moment in the bicycle industry . . .

It has many of those colorful aluminum-foil stickers , which usually died very quickly , and they're all in fine shape . It has fairly delicate decals and lots of pin-striping , nicely preserved also . It's all there , low mileage , all original . No clear coating on this one ! Just a lot of good storage .

The paint is excellent . Although it's not the nicest color . It's a shade of metallic root-beer-brown , or coffee-brown . But somehow , it just isn't quite as nice as the lovely similar shades done by Raleigh or Schwinn in the 1970's .

It must have been one of the top offerings from Liberia , at the time .

Frame set ( if I'm translating the foil stickers correctly ) 3 tubes double butted Vitus 172 tubing Prugnat lugs Simplex forged dropouts

Derailleur set all Campagnolo Nuovo Record rear - PATENT 72 front - with circlip levers - with guides with gray ferrules B.B. guides clamp-on right chainstay stop clamp-on

( yes , the Camp. N. Rec. rear is bolted directly to the hanger of that Simplex dropout ! )

Crankset - Stronglight 93 not motivated enough to go look at teeth , but fairly close , something like 52 - 47

Brake set - Mafac Competition ( this is a big thing to me personally , the Racer brakes are good , but I like the Competition brake set so much more ! )

Stem & handlebar - Belleri , allen stem , still has the foil sticker on the stem , "engraved" handlebar , very-very fancy as a matter of fact !

Pedals - Lyotard , mostly aluminum with some steel , "rat-trap" , track-style only slightly larger , fairly "touring" style . Too bad they didn't go for a more road-racing-style pedal from Lyotard .

Wheels - Super Champion aluminum 27-inch rims ( blue oval labels ) . The rims are a matched pair , the spokes and nipples are all a perfect match . Each stainless spoke head has an "E" on it . Hubs and quick releases from REG .

I can just imagine the work of the person who made the original specification decisions . With those Stronglight cranks , and Campagnolo derailleurs , I'm sure they would have chosen nicer hubs if they could . ( about all you can say for these hubs is that they have aluminum shells and quick release skewers ) Normandy Luxe , Maillard Team Issue , Campagnolo Nuovo Tipo , Campagnolo Record , those were probably all in very short supply , being snapped up by the big factories . Besides , any of those would have pushed the price-point up too high . . . probably why those pedals were chosen as well . . .

So , they went with extremely nice rims ( for the day ) , and the same on the spokes , and did what they could on the hubs .

The complex and interesting Simplex seat clamp , on a plain chromed-steel post , is a similar cost balancing solution .

Simplex brake cable-housing clips on the top tube , nice .

I really do wish I could find something similar in my frame size . Hey Bob , what size frame is your Liberia ?

( I have that lovely little Liberia - I even have a Ladies' Paramount - but currently ain't got no lady to go ridin' around with :^(

Cheers
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas


----- Original Message -----
From: Sunsurfslopes@aol.com
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 6:36 PM
Subject: [CR]Francophiles?



> Hi,
>
> I've got a Liberia frame from Grenoble that I want to sell. What's it worth?
> Anyone want to tackle this one?
>
> Bob Fulghum
> San Diego