Re: [CR] L'express - Antwerp, Belgium

(Example: Framebuilders:Rene Herse)

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:54:08 -0800 (PST)
From: "Scott Gabriel" <slipangle2@yahoo.com>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, Jos van Veldhoven <jos_van_veldhoven@hotmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <SNT118-W57A8E0F10D821DCD797C27A1F00@phx.gbl>
Subject: Re: [CR] L'express - Antwerp, Belgium


Jos,

A marque I'd never heard of. beautiful machine. But please ! ...don't haunt us with tales of refuse containers full of Campagnolo parts. It's too much...

nice bike.

Scott Gabriel
Cape Cod
US


--- On Thu, 1/13/11, Jos van Veldhoven wrote:


> From: Jos van Veldhoven <jos_van_veldhoven@hotmail.com>

\r?\n> Subject: [CR] L'express - Antwerp, Belgium

\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org

\r?\n> Date: Thursday, January 13, 2011, 11:57 AM

\r?\n>

\r?\n> Hello All,

\r?\n>

\r?\n> I've been mostly reading the CR list and have added a

\r?\n> (very) few posts but I wanted to share some more of my Dutch

\r?\n> and Flemish racers with the list.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> Below is a link to my most recent bike, a 1978 L'express.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> http://www.flickr.com/photos/49515391@N03/sets/72157625655202488/with/5283746727/

\r?\n>

\r?\n> L'express was (is) a bikeshop in Antwerp with a long, long

\r?\n> history.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> They started in 1927 and started to focus more on racing

\r?\n> bikes in the forties and fifties.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> I believe Rik van Steenbergen also rode L'express at some

\r?\n> point.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> In 1975 the bikeshop was taken over by C.Van Den Bogaert

\r?\n> who was also renowned for his frame building.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> This bike dates from that period, in which they also

\r?\n> sponsored a local racing team called "Stuivenberrg" (see

\r?\n> picture) and 'tourist' club.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> I visited the shop in Antwerp about a year or 2 ago but

\r?\n> after yet another move hardly anything was left of the rich

\r?\n> past.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> In fact, I was told they needed a container to get rid of

\r?\n> all the old Suntour, Campy etc stuff that had been clogging

\r?\n> up their storage. (Garbage container that is....)

\r?\n>

\r?\n> Well, that's the way it goes, but I hope you guys like the

\r?\n> bike.

\r?\n>

\r?\n>

\r?\n> Kind regards, Jos van Veldhoven  --  Eindhoven,

\r?\n> Holland