What a stunner the front q/r is the wrong way round. I'll get my coat....
.... see post above I think you had better get your coat, it's French remember
What a stunner the front q/r is the wrong way round. I'll get my coat....
Black tape, cables and saddle for me too.
It is saved mate you should be very pleased. Quite a journey. Please post in the French threadYup - black cables is also my go to. For this I had black cables put aside and did have them on a mock build up. I later changed to these very old ribbed thinner diameter cables that mechanically suit the cable guides better and match with that decal on the seat-tube; I think it helps balance the look of the bike a bit better.
There's quite a bit of black on some of the parts, so I didn't want to make it "too heavy" looking either. Another thing is attempting to match all the steel and aluminium finishing is pretty much impossible; as we know the French didn't really embrace the Groupset concept.
Overall I think it looks coherent, a bit of a nod to the past like a Path Racer and a bit of nod to the future to make it more of a rider.
What did you use to photograph it?Bars, Grips, Wine Cork, and Mafac Centre Pulls
As you can see, I ended up leaving drop bars off this "demi-course" in favour of something a bit different. The style is somewhat similar to an inverted North Road, but not exactly the same. They flare out slightly and importantly are the absolute precise bar for those wonderful Mafac levers which are curved and are fixed just after the grip area, right on the start of the curve. They worked well also with the Philippe Porteur bars but not with Moustache bars.
I'm using some old black grips from a doner bike (60s / 70s); originally I thought about tape and shellac but got really put off at the mess and how difficult it is to do any colour matching. Perhaps I may have a go in the future, but another thing I don't like is that removing it to change the stem or brake levers will be a royal pain.
No French bike would be complete without a Wine Cork stuffed somewhere. I've seen it done elsewhere and thought it is a nice touch to help tie in the contact points together with an aged look. The vibration damping qualities will also help on that sprint up the Champs Elysee later on.
View attachment 755677
View attachment 755678