>AVA I believe was making alloy stems before the WWII. Does anyone
>know if the very early ones were more or less reliable? It seems
>that many French parts were made to lower and lower quality
>standards by the 60's and 70's - did the AVA stems suffer this fate
>as well, or were they always a source of concern.
>
>Mike Kone in Boulder CO
In the 1930s, AVA and Mavic - then the same company - advertised their products as "Le Materiel de Securite" ("Components for Safety"). The stems had an excellent reputation, and they were made quite differently from the 1970s ones. I don't think AVA still was the same company in the 1970s, only the name survived.
Does anybody have any info on the name of AVA's parent company in the 1970s, or their address? I wonder whether Mavic was sold off, or AVA... because the two were separate companies by then.
The next issue of VBQ will feature two 1930s Reyhand bikes, both equipped with the best parts then available - including AVA stems.
Jan Heine
Editor
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
Seattle
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com