>
>
>But what about non-proletarian French bikes? Well, for racing,
>howzabout a Helyett? Apart from having a name you can pronounce in
>a way that sounds like a drunken affirmation from my part of the
>world, weren't they classic race bikes? What about an Automoto - I
>mean, if it was good enough for the Pelissiers and Bottechia, you
>know?
I suspect it was the same as with the Peugeots - the racers didn't
ride what was written on their bikes. They went to the custom
builders. All those makers you mention (and Rochet and many others)
were mass-producers who covered the entire range of bicycles
(price-wise), just like Schwinn in this country. Some models were
better than others.
>The '38 Reyhand in the 1st ed. of The Dancing Chain made my heart go
>thumpity-thump. The lines and the proportions were just so
>inexplicably correct on that one ... I need to spend the money with
>Jan and get his book, just so I can drool.
That very bike, plus 2 other Reyhands, are featured in our new book "The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles." Yes, they are amazing bikes. There were two Reyhands at the Cirque, of less than a dozen known to exist world-wide, plus a 1930s aluminum Barra.
Herse, Singer et al., refined the concept, but the pioneers were the 1930s builders. -- 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