I always had wondered about the Paris Galibier, considering the Schulz was advertised in the mags in the mid-1930s, complete with indexing derailleur...
Barra started building in the early 1930s. In 1936, he presented his aluminum bike at the technical trials. As far as I know, the fork crown was the same - overall, the look of the bikes changed little over time.
Do you know whether Rensch made his own frames? Could it be that he bought in Barra/Garrins?
Raymond Henry wrote an article on Barra, published in Cycle History (Proceedings of the International Cycle History Conference). It's one of the recent volumes. -- Jan Heine, Seattle Editor/Publisher Vintage Bicycle Quarterly c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles 140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C Seattle WA 98122 http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com
I could not help noticing the similarity with this bicycles front fork crown too the twin plate design that Spanner (Harry) Rensch employed on his Paris and Rensch frames. It is well known that Harry started building in 1935 and visited several Paris shows around this period. He even got his idea for the Paris Galibier design from a "Shultz" exhibited in the Paris Salon. This is also where he saw welded frame construction which made him change to this method of construction. What I would like to know is did he copy the Barra-Garrin fork crown or did his design come first? When did Barra-Garrin start making and what date is their front fork crown?
Thats all for now. Keep those wheels spinning, in your memories if not still on the road. Be lucky Mick Butler Huntingdon UK.