Fratelli Hubs - Re chrome

Re:

amazing, what one can find on this forum! and - wow - the stuff hasn't really changed all that much, over all those years ...
 
Fascinating info about the FB hubs.

Seeing the info prompted me to look at the 1959 Bike Aids, where FB alloy flange on steel barrel hubs are listed (no pic) as small flange for 36 shillings a pair and large flange for 72/–. Campag Q/R hubs are also listed, and the pic looks like alloy flange on steel barrels. The Campag prices are 69/9 for 'standard flange' and 99/6 for large flange. Much the same listing appears in the 1955 Bike Aids, although the prices are a few shillings cheaper.

Interestingly, the 1949 Bike Aids shows no Italian hubs, but only UK-made hubs; Harden, Chater-Lea, etc. I assume that was the post-war restrictions on certain imports.
 
Well done Gold Trader. I had never seen the site mentioned and I am very impressed by the period literature. I suspect that immediately post war there was a shortage of parts from Italy (and France), but by the late 40's it would seem that parts were available again. I have Gnutti cranks, Fiamme rims and high flange FB hubs with 49 on the cone nuts which I feel sure is a date stamp (as Campagnolo have on locknuts) and are certainly from this time. I suspect that companies like Bayliss and British Hubs were (post war) making products that undercut the Italian manufacturers, which may be why hubs from these companies are more common. Other areas of interest here are the ranges of products offered by Fonteyn before WW2. Gloria alloy brakes, Super Champion tub rims (Record), and AVA stems. AVA stems were considered to be top equipment at the time. Only later did AVA gain a reputation for poor quality stems which now means that the earlier stems can be found at very low cost despite being excellent quality. The earliest that I have seen AVA Dura stems advertised is 1937. At that time most UK manufacturers were still using steel.
 
I've got some really early Campagnolo hubs. I've always thought these were the first ones which were an FB hub with Campagnolo logos. No quick releases, unfortunately.

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VeloFellow54":34bwrrby said:
Well done Gold Trader. I had never seen the site mentioned and I am very impressed by the period literature. I suspect that immediately post war there was a shortage of parts from Italy (and France), but by the late 40's it would seem that parts were available again. I have Gnutti cranks, Fiamme rims and high flange FB hubs with 49 on the cone nuts which I feel sure is a date stamp (as Campagnolo have on locknuts) and are certainly from this time. I suspect that companies like Bayliss and British Hubs were (post war) making products that undercut the Italian manufacturers, which may be why hubs from these companies are more common. Other areas of interest here are the ranges of products offered by Fonteyn before WW2. Gloria alloy brakes, Super Champion tub rims (Record), and AVA stems. AVA stems were considered to be top equipment at the time. Only later did AVA gain a reputation for poor quality stems which now means that the earlier stems can be found at very low cost despite being excellent quality. The earliest that I have seen AVA Dura stems advertised is 1937. At that time most UK manufacturers were still using steel.


in france you find the AVA stems sufficiently easily - even the 50's one ( the later ones that were on some pugs are actually not that common)
I suspect they are not sought after as a lot of very high end randonneuses had some custom stems

I actually put a rather rare AVA on my 1950 randonneuse which had the initial Tigra stem broken in the forktube.



We suspect that AVA had a relationship with Mavic initially. Will try to post some period ads.
 
Interesting subject. I have copies of ads from the Fonteyn catalogues (37/9) advertising AVA Dura products (courtesy V C C library). These include stems (I have a couple of these early ones) and alloy handlebars in four patterns : Magne, Pelissier, Aerts and Leducq (all of whom were winners or participants in the TDF). I have no idea of the patterns of the latter 2 !
Fonteyn were selling Mavic clincher rims in 1937 at 35/- per pair.
 
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