Re: [CR]re: Bike-watching in paris - Question

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme:2004)

In-Reply-To: <20040319.122654.704.164.richardsachs@juno.com>
References: <20040319.122654.704.164.richardsachs@juno.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 09:44:17 -0800
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Jan Heine" <heine93@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]re: Bike-watching in paris - Question


Let's not open that can of worms! I recently learned that in Japan, most traditional (or "French-style") cyclotouring bikes are made by Toei. But since they are designed by others, they carry other names. So it appears the Japanese consider the person filing the lugs secondary. I don't necessarily agree, but it's a point of view.

The French are somewhere in between:

A friend in Paris has a bike that says on the downtube "Transformée par Alex Singer." It is a 1940s men's bike (perhaps by Ducheron, Ernest Csuka doesn't remember exactly) that was converted in the early 1960s to a women's bike! They reworked the top head lug, made a new lug for the center of the seat tube, took off the top tube, added the diagonal tube and extra set of stays. They also added a bunch of braze-ons, etc., in the process, to get a very nice, if a bit inconsistent bike. The old lugs are a distinctly different style from the new one! But Singer did enough work on it to consider it theirs, of sorts, so it got their sticker. There are other bikes that don't even have the disclaimer - they simply say a name that isn't the original builder. (You can tell there wasn't much work at the time for them to undertake such radical surgery. The bike was owned by the wife of a good customer and friend, which may have had something to do with it.)

Frames of hand-built bikes in France are/were considered so valuable that it was common to "re-do" them 20 or more years after they were built. Usually, they would take off the old braze-ons and add new ones. Many an Herse lost its Cyclo rear and "maison" front derailleurs, sometimes even the Herse cantilever brakes in favor of Huret Allvit (with a derailleur hanger brazed onto the old dropouts) and Weinmann centerpulls. Then the frame would be re-chromed, painted and lettered and was as good as new. Often, it is hard to tell the age of a bike without looking at the serial number or looking for other clues among the components. (Maxi-Car hubs rarely were replaced because they don't wear out. So they often reveal the true age, unless the owner switched wheels from bike to bike.)

I like the idea of a continuously evolving history, even if I prefer bikes in original condition. One of my favorite bikes is a 1954 or so Singer with Mafac brakes and Huret Jubilee derailleurs! -- Jan Heine, Seattle Editor/Publisher Vintage Bicycle Quarterly http://www.mindspring.com/~heine/bikesite/bikesite/

snipped: "Constructeur does not necessarily mean that he makes the bikes himself (even though he does), but that he is the person running the show. Herse was a constructeur, even though he had a number of people working for him. "

nice! sorta like "chef". the chef isn't necessarily the cook, but he is the "chief" - the root of the word. i think it goes back to that dreaded thread from 2001 about "who made it..." and "what do you mean -<made>?" it is nearly always a collaboration. (i love that word).
e-RICHIE
chester, ct