I didn't think it was aluminum based on the upper seat lug but I could be wrong. I see only one chainring, most likely the front derailleur would be left one as a chain guide and locked into position, as was common on cyclocross bikes due to the fact that most of these guys used the same bikes for road and then off season training. Note the other photos from the same time period in the album. Robic's bike appears completely different with a campy P-R shifter in 1950 on one bike. Of course he mixed as well. He rode for Bottechia around this time also. It also appears from his other photos that he rarely had gum hoods.
Walter Skrzypek
Falls Creek, Pa
>
> Aldo shared with us:
>> Pic of the Day
>> 11 August 2006
>>
>> Cyclocross 1950
>>
>> http://www.wooljersey.com/
>
> Cool photo (thanks Aldo), cool bike.
>
> I don't have a lot to base this on, but could that be an aluminum frame?
>
>
> Definitely bar-end shifters, at least on the left - you can see the
> housing exiting from under the tape near the stem. Left side would
> normally be for a front derailleur, so probably two chainrings? I do
> think I see a front derailleur cage as well. If I squint just right I
> imagine I see a Huret front derailleur, of the helical-activated type.
> And you know, that could just as well be a Huret (Louison Bobet type)
> rear mech right? Or do you see definitive Simplex attributes? (Robic
> did use Simplex in the '47 TdF though.)
>
> Maybe two handlebar pinch bolts side by side on the stem, underneath the
> bar? If so that might help ID the builder, it's somewhat rare. Herse
> did 'em that way, and a very few others. Herse pinch bolts are
> vertical, in front of the bar though (and of course his stems were
> shaped quite different from this one).
>
> Paging Jan Heine, we need you on this.
>
> Mark Bulgier
> Seattle WA USA