Pre 1950s rides of LFGSS: old bikes, vintage rats, classic lightweights

What an incredible find! I'm no expert, but the lugs and especially the rear dropouts would seem typically Hersé. Those Nivex derailleurs are supposed to be very good. They've also recently brought out a modern version.

Every detail of those bikes appear to be technical marvels. Even the design of the rear dropouts apparently was for very particular reasoning. Happened to see this:

Herse’s custom-made dropouts place the wheel centers in the prolongation of the stays and fork blades. That way, the wheels are centered in the end points of the frame, which ties the whole bike together. As an added benefit, this allows the dropouts to be smaller, stiffer and lighter.

There's a nice link here of a 1948 Hersé, perhaps you have seen it already: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stronglight/4189731966/in/photolist-7oetm3-7oeBGU-UAucAj-7oaFjc-TSwjdQ-6q9SAB-6qdMDr-34gmUa-VbG8fn-6pJ7Kc-VbJaGx-UZ4qkF-72EiME-V89qkN-7oez4A-7gA9t8-7oaG58-7oaHYT-7oazTB-TSwjK1-V6uuAy-72Ep6E-72EiGf-72AjGg-72Ej3j-72Aj7c-72EiXN-VbJbSP-TUc9aj-TX3Xcp-UWguDW-UZ4Rfa-V89njN-VbHC6r-UZ4BRr-UWgehy-72Ekp5-72Amei-72AkYp-72Amon-72AmjT-72Am4x-72EoR1-72Bt4z-bwrNBD-72Epb3-72FsqQ-UAuKry-UZ4hfT-VbG6oM

Another wonder is of course that the lettering was hand painted, like those of René André.

Looking forward to seeing the bike develop!