Dear listers,
Here is a story, not too long I hope!
>From time to time 'the bike' seems to draw me into the 'Zuidwesthoek', an
area of the Netherlands about 60 kms south of Rotterdam where I live, but
close to the Belgian border (actually, in the post-war period, this area was
'famous' for smuggling butter from Holland to Belgium). I got to know the
area when I was actively racing in the early 80s, every village (hamlet
even) seemed to have its own criterium, and still has possibly. This is an
area where many racers with a claim to fame originated from: Wim an Est,
Rene Pijnen, Johan Lammerts, Adrie van der Poel; others moved there to make
training easier with f.i. Belgian pros: Jan Janssen, Hennie Kuiper and
Gerrie Knetemann.
Anyway, the area had two bicycle companies, or framebuilders as we might
call them: De Mol (
http://wooljersey.com/
OK, let me get to the point of this story. Remy had a tradition of building frames 'to measure': for every customer the bike was build specifically. Wim van Est (aka 'the locomotive') had his bike build by Remy and, in 1950, he won Bordeaux-Paris on a Remy bike (later, 1952, he gained the yellow jersey in the TdF, first Dutchman to do that, only to lose it the next day by falling into a ravine on the descent of the Aubisque). This was a good reason for the people of Garin, the team he was riding for, to undertake the trip to Ossendrecht, to Remy, and have a look at what they were producing there. After careful consideration (I assume) Garin let Remy produce Garin frames under license. How many, or how long, I have no idea.
The Garin bike (white, with an arrow on the downtube) got very popular in the Zuidwesthoek. For that time I guess, because I've never seen one!
Not long ago I travelled to Ossendrecht, to have a look at and possibly buy a Remy from the late 70s, one of the last to be produced I suppose. Unfortunately the bike was in such a state it wasn't worth the trouble. Still I liked the craftmanship that was still obvious on this frame. It had chrome headlugs too, so it had style!
I don't know if any of you have a Garin bike, have a close look, it might very well be a Remy!
*(this little story owes all credits to the book 'De wielerkampioenen, 100 jaar wielersport in de Zuidwesthoek van **Brabant**' by P.J. van den Bussche.)*
**
Freek Faro
Rotterdam Netherlands