48cm French Mixte & 58cm 1950s 531 Belgian Road bike

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  • I have a couple of nice bikes that aren't getting used, so I'd like to move them on. The bikes are in Brussels and I'm not planning on driving back for a few weeks, so they'd need to be shipped to the UK. It'd cost £30 per bike, or £45 if anyone wanted both.

    Pics attached at the bottom.

    Caput 48cm Mixte: £180 SOLD

    I bought this from the son of the original owner about a year ago - no good reason to buy it, just it was pretty and at a good price! It was originally purchased in Paris in the 1970s, built in a small shop by an Italian man apparently. It's named after Louis Caput - a famous rider of the 1940-50s. It has been kept indoors for its entire life and seen very little use. I loaned it to a friend, who used it about twice and has now moved back to the UK.

    The frame is 48cm c-t. Should be ideal for someone around 5'2" - 5'7.

    The tubing is marked tecno tubi competizione - sounds Italian, but I've only ever seen it on lower end French track bikes in the past. It is very nicely made/finished and has pretty, spear-point lugs and Campagnolo dropouts. As a whole bike it's lighter than 531st framed mixtes that I've had in the past.

    It has Mafac Racer brakes with Olimpic 68 levers, a TA specialites double crankset, Simplex front mech and Shimano 105 Golden Arrow rear mech, Maillard hubs and Rigida rims.

    All equipment is original, except for the rear mech and freewheel - it came with a triplex mech (some sort of Shimano Crane rip-off) and a French freewheel and wasn't running or changing as smoothly as I'd have liked, so I swapped the freewheel for a nice wide-ratio Suntour and the mech for a 105 which shifts much better and doesn't look out of place.

    I bought a gents road bike from the same man (and same origin) that was named after another vaguely famous rider, but came with a pantographed Caput stem which I can also include - I would have fitted it to this bike, but the clamp diameter is different so it would need different bars too.

    1950s 58cm Belgian Road Bike: £160 NOW SOLD

    I bought this a couple of years ago from son of the first owner (not the same person as the mixte). I planned to use it to stand out from the crowd on vintage rides.

    According the the head tube sticker P Vanden Borre were at 17a Chaussee De Waterloo in Brussels - I checked it out the other day and the shop is now a tobacconist!

    It's a nicely made bike with good and rarish early componentry. The paint is very faded on the top tube and it's generally scruffy, but it's all very solid. Could do with new cables, but is rideable as it is. I took it on a 60km ride in the summer and it coped very well, cobbles et al.

    I believe the components are original except for the SR seatpost and Cinelli Unicanitor leather saddle - I replaced the original as it was a horrible plastic thing with a basic steel post. I could dig them out and include them if required.

    Reynolds 531 "3 tubes reinforcés" frame with fancy lugs, Huret "Tour De France" mechs (rear pull-chain)
    Cottered chainset with Milremo rings, Titan Bars and Stem - S Maes, M Kint, A Scotte, V Steenbergen engraved, Mafac Racer Brakes & Levers, Campagnolo Gran Sport Hubs with Weinemann Clincher Rims,
    Atom pedals included but not pictured.


    3 Attachments

    • vanden borre sml.jpg
    • caput stem.jpg
    • caput2.jpg
  • The Vanden Borre is now sold, but the Mixte is still available. Any takers?

  • Lovely, that mixte is a steal ...

  • Can I provisionally dibs until I get home? Can't view photos at work...

  • Yeah sure, please let me know as soon as you can so I can let others know if it's still available.

  • Not a peep from Juicy8, so it's still available.

  • Provisionally sold.

  • Hey there this looks lovely is the Caput still available?

  • Sold, sorry.

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48cm French Mixte & 58cm 1950s 531 Belgian Road bike

Posted by Avatar for BelgeWill @BelgeWill

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