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What kind of condition parts are you planning to put on it? Period correct 1937 parts in good enough condition to sit well with a refinish are not going to come easy or cheap. You might be better cleaning back the finish you’ve got and maybe applying the ‘correct’ repro decals. H Lloyd will do water slide if you ask / pay for them, which might look better. Personally I wouldn’t be too bothered about saving an earlier refinish.

There’s a 1949 Mercier catalogue in the VCC library. Not sure if that gets in to specifics about chainwheels or if even Simplex. There’s a nice diagram at the back that shows what French manufacturers they used for what component. Robergel spokes, Monte freewheels, Mavic tubulars, ... .

https://i.gifer.com/4qs.gif

🤓🤓 (I think I’m going to change my avatar to this guy)

You do not need to be shy, this is a safe space.

There's a 1949 HA isn't there?
I think there's a 49 Ron Kitching as well but I can't find it online anywhere, I think the VCC have it but it's not scanned.
The Fonteyn 1950 catalogue in the VCC is a good one, as far as I remember without checking FB hubs are in there.
I've got a repro of the 1955 Ron Kit, I'll have a look later but I think hubs they sold were all Milremo and chainrings TA.
I think the Brown Brothers tend to mainly by British manufacturers although I think I saw Christophe and Lapize in the 1952 when I checked a while ago, but might have misrememberd that!

Oof yeah what a shame. That’s right up my street though - ‘cheap’ frame, expensive repair and refinish, bosh!

I had to look that up. Not sure it's quite the same 😂

How about better to travel in hope than arrive in disappointment?

I'm close to being in a position I'm happy with - I did too much hoarding, not enough building for a while. Getting on top of it now, selling stuff and nearly finished all the stuff I needed to service or otherwise tart-up for sale, which is a real drag. Finally starting to get some sets of rims, hubs I'm happy with, etc. I'm looking forward to having time for things like having a go at wheelbuilding.

I was thinking similar. I hardly dare calculate the total cost of some of my ongoing refinished builds - a 'cheap' frame, refinishing, all the period components (nowhere near 4 grand but still not something I could get away with in one hit). But that is hours or even years of entertainment. If you spuffed the same money in one auction what does that get you? Anything beyond changing perishable stuff like tyres and grips and you're ruining it! You're right, every nut would have tool rash on it 😂

cough

Problem is I’ve got a late 30s stem and no bike to go with it.

Forks would make a nice lamp.

Mine too, although at £2,200 I was thinking that’s not awful for what it is, then refreshed the page!

Yeah I would have sold on everything apart from the Blumfields, I could make use of all of those. Bit of a risk not knowing how good the Hardens were - that could have been a decent chunk back. Risky spending big bucks on a job lot but it all looked pretty decent. Hey ho.

If anyone here won it or has any spare fronts and wants to part with one, please let me know!

Are you popping in a cheeky bid? :)

Ugh I just missed the job lot of hubs with Blumfield fronts, the job lot of levers with 2x Conloy and the nice Stratalite break.

@jeff80 I would but I have got the marginally earlier Tour de France model for my 1948 bike 🤓

http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=2C470BCA-4DF4-444E-BAB5-D20072EA6F65&Enum=113&AbsPos=33

Those Fiamme clinchers do come up, don't think there are any on Ebay at the moment. Quite a wide spread in pricing between reasonable and silly money.

Sounds peachy. I get you on the wheels, they are great but all the rest is so continental! Like you say low flange Italian with quick release fits nicely. Fiamme clinchers come up reasonably often, that the kind of thing you mean? Personally I like tubulars.

One bit of nerdery for you, pretty sure the GB stainless were a couple of years later. Those Christophe toeclips are great, they get my vote.

I like shopping from Hilary. If you can manage to force him to take your money you do get the good stuff 🤓

Go on then what’s the build spec?

Not red exactly but an orangey brown, could well be shellac based. Thanks for the meths tip I’ll give that a go. Thanks @sideshowbob and @jeff80 for advice. I’ll be glad when the rear is done!

Removing Tubular Cement

Anyone got any top tips for the really old, dry, thick, hard stuff. Like treacle but on like asphalt only harder? I'm guessing someone is going to say heat! I've just had a filthy morning with a front wheel.

Rubbing with an acetone soaked cloth just tickled it. Previous session with parafin and a brass bristle brush got about half off. This time I tried Acetone and the brush - not much difference apart from a nasty high. Then my dremel with a rotary wire brush and a rough grit buffing wheel which has got most of it off.

I still have the back wheel to do though so would like something that doesn't take 4 hours! I have seem heat recommended elsewhere and do have a little blowtorch somewhere, not sure what the likelihood of ruining the rim is though.

N.B. I tried soaking in Goo Gone as per some other forum thread but didn't even soften it.

This site has some nice old accesories:
https://velo-classic.de/oxid2/Rennrad/Bowdenzug-Material/Bowdenzug-Aussenhuelle-dunkelgruen-Durchmesser-aussen-4-8mm-Durchmesser-innen-2-3mm-pro-Meter.html
I've always thought black or something to contrast with frame colour, but matching with that dark red looks v classy.

Match the brake cables to the frame is a nice touch.

Nice thanks for the side-by-side. Looking at that Ebay listing on the bigger screen of my computer I'm not so sure anymore. Some pics look decidedly trapezoid! Also they are earlier than I previously wrote - as far as I can see there is the "Brevetto Longhi" stamping, it's just mostly rubbed off. That makes them pre 1959 as far as I know.

Yeah I can only guess a better fit will help, the Var tool I have is not a snug fit but clamping it in with a skewer and hernia inducing force means the contacts are pretty solid.

The bits in the side where the pawls go give purchase for a vice / tools. I would have been more wary of it if I wanted to keep that body, but I just wanted it off. Looking at it now though I've not done any damage.