Norris,
First off thanks for your detective work :^) Mine is indeed black with a dark red head tube and seat tube panel, so I guess it is a Course Super Professional. Is there a discrete date range for this model?
Doug Van Cleve A bit better educated in Chandler, AZ USA
On 3/20/07, Norris Lockley <norris.lockley@talktalk.net> wrote:
> I am trying to throw some light on Douglas Van Cleve's Andre Bertin fram
> e, but it is difficult to find much information on this brand, other than t
> he references to Bertin's joint ownership with Ron Fitching of the "Milremo
> " brand of accesories.
>
> The company is still base as it always has been in the N of France, not
> far from Arras, just west of the main road from Paris to Calais. The compan
> y still trades and anyone passing through the suburbs of Arras will note th
> e finger-posts directing drivers to the Bertin depot.
>
> I have several Bertin catalogues from which I have been able to decide t
> hat Doug's frame is most likely to be the top-of-the range model the "COURS
> E SUPER PROFESSIONAL" as this is the only one on which Nervex Pro lugs were
> used, the tubes being Reynolds 531 DB. In the 60s this frame would probabl
> y have been painted in BERTIN team colours of gloss black with red head and
> seat tube panels.
>
> All the other models were called "COURSE,,,something or other such as "A
> MATEUR, or "COMPETITION", but none of them, as far as I can see had the Ner
> vex lugs, nor the Reynolds tubes. VITUS EXTRA and DURIFORT tubes tend
> ed to be used on the other ranges, coupled up with Bocama lugs, although so
> me frames that I have seen have featured lugs and crowns that, over here in
> the UK, were sold under the MILREMO brand.
>
> "Andre Bertin" is very much a regional brand, much seen in the north of
> France and in Belgium, and it very unlikely that many were sold south
> of Paris. I have tried for a couple of decades to discover more about Bert
> in bikes and frames, but because I was a good customer of Ron Kitching's co
> mpany and knew Ron well, I never managed to pluck up enough courage to visi
> t Bertin's HQ in France, lest Andre informes Ron that I was trading behind
> his back.
>
> The source of Bertin's frames is a bit of a mystery as iy is unlikely th
> at they were made in- house. Although there used to be sevral good and repu
> table frame and cycle builders such as Dangre, Leleu, Delcroix, all within
> an hour's drive of Bertin's HQ, I still harbour an idea that the frames wer
> e probably made by a company such as Jeunet in the Doubs area, some distanc
> e away.
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> Norris Lockley...Settle UK
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> Norris Lockley
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