Louison Bobet Cyclo Tourist
This mid-1960’s 15 speed Touring bike was built in France for the American market and was imported by Gene Portuesi’s Cyclo-Pedia mail order catalog and cycling hand book. The company was started in 1937 and traded well into the 1970’s, providing European components that were generally unavailable in the US until the 1970’s. Not only did they supply bikes and components but had a wealth of information on bike selection, bike tubing, use of derailleur gears, cycle camping, tubular tire repairs (remember them?), wheel building, spoke charts,cadence/gear charts, and gear ratio charts.
This particular bike was an entry level touring bike- steel frame, steel rims, cottered cranks, fenders, racks, and generator powered lights. A unique feature of the bike were the guidonnet brake levers, which enabled the rider to brake from the top of the handle bars rather than from the drops. This bike cost $100 at a time when an imported English 3-speed could be had for $40-50 and American balloon tire models cost $35 to $65. Of course, custom built cyclo-touring bikes with alloy components were hundreds of dollars so the Louison Bobet was really a bargain.
Since the derailleur, front rack, and head light are different, with no chain guard, I suspect that this bike is a slightly earlier model than the one on the page from this 1968 Cyclo Pedia catalog . Otherwise the bike is identical.
LB-1 by
fanegatrac, on Flickr
Cyclo-Pedia Catalog by
fanegatrac, on Flickr
LB-2 by
fanegatrac, on Flickr