Tom,
Photos would be of interest, I'm still not 100% sure that this bike wasn't made in the Herse workshop, although as I wrote when the bike was first discussed on the list, it seems unlikely. We just weren't in the workshop at the time to know what was going on... We can only guess.
The tubing mark you read would be Speedy (not Speed), a heavier tube used for camping bikes, or town bikes, or slightly cheaper cyclotouring models of Herse or Goeland and many other makers.
Funnily enough, I have seen some bikes with Speedy tubing and very nice workmanship and filing of lugs etc... So a "cheap" bike with a lot of time spent on it. Apparently raw materials and Reynolds or Vitus tubing were more expensive than labour at the time.... This is one explanation of the poor workmanship seen on most modern bikes : nowadays time is money...
Alexander March
Bordeaux
France