Group.. I am offering my LOUISON BOBET bike to the list.. This is probably not an upper end bike, but more middle of the road-- it sports chrome tips and stays, but I'm not sure of the tubing. The paint finish has a lot of little nicks and scratches. The paint is worn almost through in spots, down to the light colored primer, but a lot of the wonderful box/detail lining is still left. The Chrome is not wonderful, but not completely flaked off, either. The best overall description of the bike is that it has lots of patina and charm. I have always liked this bike a lot--- it has an aura of charm, and is very representative to the European road racer bike of the era.. I would not even consider a "restoration" of this machine... It has a lovely presence on its own, and would be a fun ride.
I would hazard a guess at about 1967 to 1970 (Huret Luxe rear derailleur). It is very similar to bikes in a sales brochure from 1970 that I have (thanks Todd). The headbadge and the decal on the seat tube both feature Louison's grinning countenance, with the French red, white and blue bands around the seattube panels. I will list the basic specifications below:
60 cm c/c seat tube 56.5 cm c/c top tube
Pivo 100 mm alloy stem with unbranded alloy bars.. 37cm width c/c , and a small non-structural dent in the top of the left side.
MAFAC RACER brakeset with proper pads and holders.
Normandy Hubset--- old style with small diameter round holes. ATOM skewers. Alloy tubular rims with just a little bit of the remaining decals left. Tires are junk at this point. 5-speed freewheel.
Ideale 80 saddle in nice "crackled" but not scratched up condition (looks quite nice), with generic newer post that I supplied after losing the original-- if I ever had it.
Huret derailleur system--- shifters, front and rear---- rear is the Huret "Luxe" that I believe is one of the favorites of the "spend-a-lot-for-a derailleur group.
Crankset--- Nervar steel cottered TRIPLE 36/47/52 with "made in France" rat-trap pedals marked AHF? The chain is "HP", marked withlittle letters KMC-HP50.
Simplex forged dropouts.
I have a set of jpegs of the bike if anyone would like to look at it--- either out of curiosity or interest in purchase... please email me at nelsmiller@msn.com . The price is $300-- Thanks for your interest--
Nelson Miller // Seattle WA // USA