Stephen Barner wrote:
>
> What great photography for 1936! These guys are really booking, yet the
> image is quite crisp. What's up with the half-fender on the front of
> Speicher's bike? Is it part of a split fender that they didn't bother to
> remove, or were these used to reduce the road grime on the front brake?
>
> Now here's a question. What component on Speicher's bike was still available
> for retail sale, in virtually identical form, 40 years later (avoiding the
> obvious, like cables, spokes and bearings)?
>
> Steve Barner, Bolton, Vermont
It was pretty traditional for a racer to leave the front section of the two part front fender on his bike when he raced as the front half usually was mounted under the brake shaft nut and lock nut. Removal would have required adjusting the clearance (tightness) of the brake caliper each time.
The component that was unchanged in form and detail from what... the 1920s till just a few years ago was the ubiquitous Eugene Christophe steel toe clip, a truly idealized form! Incredible!!!
Equally amazing to me is that I had no takers when I offered this Eugene Christophe T-shirt to the list back in October:
Eugene Christophe's 1919 TdF Peugeot and
picture of the "Old Gaul" CriCri with
enormous handlebar mustache.
http://www.velo-retro.com/
Chuck Schmidt 2/4 South Pasadena, Southern California
.