As has been discussed here fairly often, the 60's/70's French bikes with metric gauge 531 DB tubing, as exemplified by the Peugeot PX-10, had a characteristic ride which many Francophiles find the best riding bikes ever made. The pro quality French bikes of the time usually had very similar geometries to each other and clearly different from Italian frames, which also contributed to the ride. So yes, at least in the 70's there were distinct French and Italian "feel" based on different tubing and different geometry.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Nor Meyer <norbikes@gmail.com>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Ride Report on early 80's Zunow
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Sunday, March 22, 2009, 12:04 PM
\r?\n> * It definitely feels more Italian than French,
\r?\n> *
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> > I'm curious. What exactly duz the above
\r?\n> evaluation mean? Do
\r?\n> differant nationalities produce bikes with differant
\r?\n> "feel"? A little more
\r?\n> explication, please.
\r?\n> Thanx!
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Nor Meyer, in Mt. Vernon, IA