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Agree it could have been assembled at any point over the last 70 years - it sort of feels right though somehow. If it’s been living out in Italy for decades it would have been primo exotic.
‘What is this Chater Lea?’
😂
Didn’t know those Dugast tyres were being made still/again (FMB?) they’re pretty cool.Now you mention it, I remember hearing that about retrofitting QRs in Airlites, I wonder if Brits started doing that before BHC started making them.
I’ve been looking at Gnutti or FB hubs and wondering how early their (under license from Campag) QRs appeared over here.Having been out of the buying/selling old bike toot game for some years I’ve noticed there seems to have been a big L’Eroica effect in Italy - certainly in the optimistic pricing on eBay anyway.
absurdbird-
Sorry, you're right, Dugast. You'd never imagine that cream rubber tyres would looks so good! I like the FMB though, got a nice French flag on them too :)
The FB hubs in the 1950 Fonteyn catalogue are solid axle, the 1954 Holdsworth Aids is the first one with the Campag quick release hubs and BHC were advertising theirs in the 1955 catalogue. They definitely rushed them out, the quick release front hub just re-uses their rear barrel to accommodate the thicker drilled axle. Interesting looking at the Stronglight 1957 catalogue yesterday, talking about the 57 cranks their advice for cyclists upgrading from their 49 cranks was just to replace the right crank and rings. Pretty sure people were jamming Campag qr skewers in their Airlites as soon as they could get their hands on them!
I've got a feeling the Italians themselves don't pay those optimistic prices on Ebay. I suspect the 20% vat will bring prices down a bit, although no change for US and Asian buyers >.<
I got a nos Stronglight Competition headset a couple of years ago for £90 and thought I was splashing out. Amazing the inflation in prices in the last 18 months. There are a couple of nice Magistroni headsets on Ebay at the moment courtesy of @Nbenja3!
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I’ve been looking at Gnutti or FB hubs and wondering how early their (under license from Campag) QRs appeared over here.
I had some early Campagnolo branded FB hubs with QR. These were a bit of an oddball because they were ~1952 shape FB low-flange hubs but engraved with Campagnolo, not FB. Memory is a bit hazy on this but there were some distinct differences in the shape of the barrels and caps which gave away the year and whether it had been made by FB or Campagnolo. They were drilled 32/40 so (as I understand it) they were from the British market, not the continent. I didn’t have the skewers unfortunately; they’re mega rare but I would have liked to have seen them.
veloham
Jonny69
Yeah it’s great isn’t it? Those are modern tubs - without looking weren’t they FMB? Either way they’re cool. $$ but if I win the large flange Blumfield hubs and get to build the sprints I’ve been dreaming about for a couple of years I might get some :)
Agree the hubs are Airlite, I think it was common to put in Campag or Gnutti hollow axles and skewers. They fit in the older 5/16” barrel front Airlites - I had one I serviced to find a Campag axle and ‘53 date stamped locknuts. The stem is a nice touch. Could all have been put together last week obviously but certainly tells a romantic story.
I’m probably spending a year in Switzerland from August and have been debating what bikes to take. Pretty sure the R O Harrison is going so maybe at some point someone will wonder how that got so far from home :)