Thanks to all who emailed me on and off List with the answer as to the origin of my latest collectors item. You all need a medal for surviving the latest War of the Roses - bicycle collector style.
By the time I wrote that email I had worked out that the frame is German, simply because, if nothing else, it reminded me of all those 1000s of city-bikes with their ugly silver finishes and monumental lugwork that I have seen parked outside the Cologne bike show. I don't know of any European country of manufacture that turns out such unattractive frames.
Problem is that the frame has a pair of seat and chainstays that are ribbed along their length for stiffening - up purposes, and are quite attractive, as is the fork. The frame itself is not at all unduly heavy although there are no "tubing" stickers claiming Columbus, or Reynolds., but I suspect that the tubes are probably from Mannesmann, one of the very large German steel companies who made its name, in a cycling s ense at least, by supplying the steel from which the Italian company Mazzucatto drew out the ORIA tubing for Moser's world record breaking track bike... yes that funny one ! I don't know if Oria tubes were imported into the States or whether any of the frame-builders on the List ever used them. For quite a while I had a flirtation with quite a few of the company's "series" including the "STELLA" which had five deep grooves drawn along the length, a bit like Colnago's four grooves. I always found the tubes very good quality but they tended to be "hard" on the files. NB Sorry about that Freudian slip - as I'm still one of the "old school" builders who saws and files all the mitres on the tube ends. by hand.
summing up I reckon that my RIXE is probably the company's high-end frame, ugly as the lugs are - and Hell ! how ugly is that seat lug - and dates from around 1969. What I fail to understand is why the pretence, if that is what it is, to make it look all things French with its "Champion de France" and "Modele Special Andre Bertin" transfers. Google didn't offer any help as far as I could see.
Norris Lockley... thinking that I must sort out he Rixe's BB threads tomorrow .. Settle UK