Ray Homiski wrote:
> I was preparing my Rene Herse bicycle frame today for a paint job
> that I am
> having done. I had only to remove the headset and BB. The headset
> came off
> without a problem. The BB also was fairly easy to remove. It is the
> RH BB
> set with bearing cartridges pressed into the BB. After removing the RH
> retainers to expose the cartridges I gently tapped the spindle to
> drive out
> the bearings, first one side then the other.
>
> To my surprise I saw inside the BB shell between the two bearing
> cartridges
> a load of what I can only describe as tiny metal spheres the size
> of poppy
> seeds. I mean there was a bunch of them in there. It was packed
> with them. I
> carefully removed the one side cartridge and brushed them into a
> plastic
> bag. I then tapped out the other bearing and brushed out more. I
> then took a
> flashlight and saw even more packed in the chainstays, seat tube and
> downtube. I took a wooden dowel and pushed from the top of the seat
> tube and
> out came more spheres and a wad of brown crepe paper. My guess is
> that the
> paper was used to prevent them from going up the seat tube. I then
> explored
> the downtube from inside the BB and found another wad of the same
> paper that
> I also removed. Like the last one it was clean at the top but dirty
> as it
> prevented these spheres from traveling up the tube.
>
> Next I turned my attention to the chain stays. There was more
> spheres so I
> oriented the frame so they would fall out as I tapped the frame with a
> rubber hammer. I put a piece of paper in the BB to catch all that
> came out.
> Once that was done, I could then see paper wads in them also. I
> could not
> get them out as they are pretty far up.
>
> This looks to be intentionally put in between the cartridges for some
> reason. They have a significant weight to them, probably more than
> a quarter
> pound. They are somewhat greasy but are not metal shavings, they are
> spheres. I took some photos so you all can see what I mean. I even
> took a
> close up shot of them. Then some placed on a penny for scale, then
> the whole
> bag full, minus one teaspoon full that dropped on the floor before
> I knew
> what was happening. I also took shots of the paper wads that I
> removed. The
> spheres can be picked up with a magnet so I know they are metal.
>
> I have never seen this before so I am going to the list and asking
> what can
> this be for? The frame is vintage late 60s or early 70s I am told.
> Could
> someone have put them there to add weight to the bike to slow
> someone down
> or lower the center of gravity. Again these are not shavings but in my
> opinion intentionally placed metal spheres. Click on the photo link
> and tell
> me what you think.
>
> http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/
> 4daere2&urlhint=actn,ren%3as,9%3af,0
>
> Ray Homiski
> Elizabeth, NJ
Ray, you've stumbled over the closely guarded secret "Le Treatment" that Alex Singer, Rene Herse, and all the French Constructeurs used on their bikes back in the day. The precisely formed metal spheres you found and their formulated placement in the tubes were all done in an orchestrated effort to make their bikes plane.
A few added pounds of ballast on a constructeur bike was, of course, of no consequence given the fact that, with the addition of this ballast, the bike would now be guaranteed to plane.
Now that the details of "Le Treatment" have been precisely documented in great detail by your photos I can finally replicate "Le Treatment" on my 1959 Alex Singer Sportif; the absense of "Le Treatment" when I removed the bottom bracket assembly of my Sportif had always baffled me no end. The elusive qualities that make a bike plane are mysterious indeed.
+-------------------------------------------------+ | "Imagination is more important than knowledge." | | --Albert Einstein | +-------------------------------------------------+ Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, CA