French Barn Find - Buckets of Patina!

[OldTel]

Re:

Hi, all is not lost, the chart is not 100% true, 700B's are not the same as the old large roadsters, as it is a narrower width, off the top of my head, I think the old roadsters are 42mm wide and 700B's are 30'ish. You can get a new narrow 635 tyre, I have a couple ready to try on my Alcyon project, and I did buy new 700A's from Australia, after buying them I found an Italian supplier of the tyres , they look okay https://www.flickr.com/photos/tk_photos ... 802662687/. Also I have used 27inch 1 1/4 rims ( 630 mm ) as a back stop, they look okay https://www.flickr.com/photos/tk_photos ... 660435149/ . Keep the good work up, worth the effort. Thanks Terry

 

[Woz]

Thanks for the input.

The outer rim width is 29mm (1 1/8") and the Bead Seat Circumference as best as I can measure it looks bang on 2 meters. From what you are saying and the table below, it looks like I'm in 700B territory.

The French call the style of rim "Chapeau de Gendarme", and would be more suitable for rod brakes IMHO.

There are no hooks on the rim wall. I haven't tried to put a 700C tyre on to find out more - I only have Kevlar
bead folding tyres and I suspect they would blow off the rim immediately.

I also found this: https://www.ebay.fr/itm/Pneu-chapeau-de ... 4583316672

At 100 Euro for a bikes worth, that's pretty steep. I'll do an update later about the state of the wheels, so all-n-all there's a few things to consider.

 

[Woz]

BTW Terry, lovely couple of bikes you got there!

I'm pretty sure this will not turn out to be a museum piece, but I will be more than happy to get it in a state to do the Burgundy canal bike path.

 

[OldTel]

Re:

Hi, you will find that rim was used for rim braking, not rod brakes, it is a French thing thanks terry

 

[Woz]

Oh blimey. I've just measured the outer rim diameter with no axle to get the best measurement possible
and it is 653mm - which now puts me in 700A territory!

EDIT: Quote from below link:
"When I measured the rim diameter as 650 mm, I had a slight panic attack – what the heck size is this? As it turns out, these wheels are 700A or 37-642 ETRTO or ISO 28″ x 1 3/8″. That is not a size that is even listed on Sheldon Brown’s rim size chart. Yikes! "

https://restoringvintagebicycles.com/20 ... n-bicycle/

I'm thinking the best way forward right now to eliminate measurement errors is simply get hold of any
reasonable condition 700A or 700B tyre at the recycling center and just try it.

 

[Woz]

The thread is getting too technical with far too many numbers to juggle. I'm no Sir David Brailsford.

Back to the simpler things, elegant French lady with an old bike time!

 

[Woz]

Little progress update concerning the drivetrain.

Initially what appeared to be an oversized rivet holding the chain together turned out to be a very early SRAM Powerlink, version 0.001 at a guess.

The 1/8" chain is well worn, and the teeth on the 20T Peregrine freewheel confirms that a fair few Kms have been put on it; all appear to be original but for the bin. I managed to get the freewheel off without a freewheel remover by using what appears defacto tools so far - a dot punch and hammer.

The no-name 18T fixed sprocket doesn't look used at all and well made; I would actually prefer a larger fixed sprocket but that may prove difficult to find.

All hub / sprocket threads are old French standard, so nothing too weird there. A quick look on Ebay
says I can source replacement stuff, even NOS

 

[26er]

Yo, check this out so you know what kind of pain's awaiting you.
And I'm not talking about your breakfast croissants here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sK0bsQ7A7Q&t=16s

:facepalm:

And don't worry about your tubeless ready. It's beyond obvious they gotta be 700A since that's the only size that says both FRENCH and OBSOLETE.

:facepalm: :facepalm:



:facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:

 

[Woz]

The whole wheel and tyre thing is driving me absolute nuts.

The more I search, the more I measure the less it seems I'm going forward with this build

From 1911. The rim profiles are most similar to the top one, except externally more rounded like the bottom ones, but without an internal hook. :?

 

[The History Man]

So what do you think you’ve got?