Greetings, members! This is my first post here, having just joined
today. I've been riding for around twenty five years, and currently have
a circa 1980 Olmo with pantographed SR group, as well as a couple of
more "off topic" bikes; a Serotta Legend Ti and a Trek OCLV. But you can
bet that when the weather's nice, I'll be out riding the Olmo. But on to
the question...
I recently found an old frame constructed by French builder Andre
Sabliere. The paint's in horrible condition, and there's really only one
legible decal remaining on the frame, which runs down the seat tube and
reads "A. Sabliere". I found a web page via Google for a company that
now sells modern bikes under this name, which are not built by Mr.
Sabliere, but are "designed" by him. Then, just yesterday, I received my
new issue of Vintage Bicycle Quarterly, and right there on the bottom of
the fourth page is an illustration of a Tandem built by Sabliere in
1960. Aside from these two bits of information, I've been unable to
unearth anything else on this builder or his work. I'm seriously
interested in restoring the frame I have here, which was dated "1966" by
a previous owner on the underside of the bottom bracket shell, but I've
been unable to find any photos, catalogs or illustrations (other than
the illustration noted above) which would give me an idea of what this
bike might have looked like when new. Even the Classic Rendezvous
section on French builders fails to mention Sabliere. Do any of you
folks have any information on this builder?
Thanks very much in advance,
Joe Giannone
Sacramento, CA