Raty, retro, road bike

[Gdcast]

Hi guys! When I found this bike it had a newish plastic seat, plastic grips and pedals, a mix of different color electric tape around it, it was a mess. But I started pouring some love at it and this is the result. Hope you like it!

PS: The saddle is made from scratch, here's how I did it: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/leather-saddle-from-scratch.110030/

 

[wheelbender6]

Nicely done. I am a single chain ring guy, myself.

 

[Gdcast]

Me too, but the Drelieur was original to the bike and so cool looking I had to keep it.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Me too, but the Drelieur was original to the bike and so cool looking I had to keep it.

...and yet, no pictures of the drive side of the bike. Don't leave us hanging like that!

 

[Gdcast]

All pics I have in my phone are from that side, I'll take some more when I get home from work.

 

[Grant]

Hi guys! When I found this bike it had a newish plastic seat, plastic grips and pedals, a mix of different color electric tape around it, it was a mess. But I started pouring some love at it and this is the result. Hope you like it!

PS: The saddle is made from scratch, here's how I did it: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/leather-saddle-from-scratch.110030/

How old is this bike? 30s? 40s? 50s? Too old looking for 60s. Wooden wheels? What brand and nationality is it? If younger than 1940, than it is a lower end model. I would like to see a rod action derailleur.

 

[Gdcast]

Well it´s probably a 50's bike. Wheels? not wooden but steel, painted as if they where wooden.
I' dont remember the brand on the headbadge, I do remember it's french. I'll check it out tonight.
Derailleur is not rod operated, it's cable, but bare in mind this is not a resto, I just removed all the plastic I could and put in things I think look close to period.
The idea was riding Erioca in it, I had everything ready (including the right type of shoes and not those crocs) but just days before I had a bad accident and that went south...

 

[Grant]

Well it´s probably a 50's bike. Wheels? not wooden but steel, painted as if they where wooden.
I' dont remember the brand on the headbadge, I do remember it's french. I'll check it out tonight.
Derailleur is not rod operated, it's cable, but bare in mind this is not a resto, I just removed all the plastic I could and put in things I think look close to period.
The idea was riding Erioca in it, I had everything ready (including the right type of shoes and not those crocs) but just days before I had a bad accident and that went south...

A rod action front derailleur was from the 30s and 40s. A rod action rear derailleur was from the late 20s to the early 30s. A state of the art bike from the 50s had duel cable action derailleurs and square taper cranks. Stronglight is the way to go with any 50s French build. They invented square taper cranks in the late 20s. Rene Herse was the improved the square taper crank in the 30s. He made it so there were bigger chainring bolts for easier maintenance.

Here is a 50s racing bike with Stronglight cranks and Campagnolo cable action derailleurs.

Here is a 40s bike with a cable action rear derailleur and no front derailleur. It also has cottered cranks.

 

[Gdcast]

I got into the barn last night and manege to get this pics, Head badge says "Confiance" but I couldn't get any info on it. and the derailleur says "Sachs Huret"...

 

[Grant]

How many speeds?

 

[Grant]

I got into the barn last night and manege to get this pics, Head badge says "Confiance" but I couldn't get any info on it. and the derailleur says "Sachs Huret"...

Sorry, but Huret made the worst derailleurs ever.

 

[Gdcast]

Sorry, but Huret made the worst derailleurs ever.

It's all right, I'm not planning on wining the Tour with it, It's just a cool looking bike that turns a few heads, nothing fancy.

 

[Grant]

How many speeds does that freewheel have?

 

[Gdcast]

3 speeds

 

[Grant]

3 speeds

Get a freewheel where there is a 1 tooth jump on each cog like 13, 14, 15.

 

[SpikeFC]

Me too, but the Drelieur was original to the bike and so cool looking I had to keep it.

Actually that derailleur is newer than the frame. It has an oiling port in the BB wich suggests a frame from before 1960 (leaning even more to before 1950), and that derailleur is a Sachs Huret from the seventies/eighties. Also not a lot of french bikes had german derailleurs. Original derailleur should have looked more like this:

 

[us56456712]

Sorry, but Huret made the worst derailleurs ever.

That Huret is not a horrible derailleur, it is easy to adjust and is reliable. I have them on my current Peugeot and had them on several old Schwinn bikes I had in the 70s (as Schwinn Approved Units). Cheap Campignolo ones from the 60s - 70s were worse, hard to adjust. The plastic Simplex was the worst parallelogram and front derailleur I ever owned. The Simplex plastic disintegrated and caused bad accidents. I had a Simplex front derailleur blow out on me a few years ago because the plastic shattered. They have a shelf and bike life that is way shorter than metal derailleurs. A Huret derailleur has put less people in the hospital than the Simplex so I think the Huret is only the third worst parallelogram derailleur. The Super Champion fork shift and the Suicide rod shifters, well that is another bad category.

 

[Grant]

That Huret is not a horrible derailleur, it is easy to adjust and is reliable. I have them on my current Peugeot and had them on several old Schwinn bikes I had in the 70s (as Schwinn Approved Units). Cheap Campignolo ones from the 60s - 70s were worse, hard to adjust. The plastic Simplex was the worst parallelogram and front derailleur I ever owned. The Simplex plastic disintegrated and caused bad accidents. I had a Simplex front derailleur blow out on me a few years ago because the plastic shattered. They have a shelf and bike life that is way shorter than metal derailleurs. A Huret derailleur has put less people in the hospital than the Simplex so I think the Huret is only the third worst parallelogram derailleur. The Super Champion fork shift and the Suicide rod shifters, well that is another bad category.

I forgot about Simplex.

 

[Grant]

Actually that derailleur is newer than the frame. It has an oiling port in the BB wich suggests a frame from before 1960 (leaning even more to before 1950), and that derailleur is a Sachs Huret from the seventies/eighties. Also not a lot of french bikes had german derailleurs. Original derailleur should have looked more like this:

It could also have been a Simplex.

 

[Grant]

Actually that derailleur is newer than the frame. It has an oiling port in the BB wich suggests a frame from before 1960 (leaning even more to before 1950), and that derailleur is a Sachs Huret from the seventies/eighties. Also not a lot of french bikes had german derailleurs. Original derailleur should have looked more like this:

That derailleur is made in France, not Germany.