Dufresne






Dufresne, 60cm, 1980s
Belleri, generic
"BMC," full chrome under paint
Pelissier 2000 hub, Super Champion "Gentleman 81" rim, tied-and-soldered spokes (32), Schwalbe Marathon tire
Shimano 7-speed cassette hub (36), Mavic MA40 rim, Schwalbe Marathon tire
Shimano 105 double, 170mm
Serfas Cosmos, way hacked
Wellgo
'70s Huret downtube shifters, Shimano 105 derailleurs
Shimano 105, Shimano Exage aero
52/42
Bought in Paris in 2012 for a big 40 euros off the local equivalent of Craigslist, le Bon Coin ("the good spot"). Apparently was custom built in the 1980s by a maker in the town of Bondy, north of the city. High quality, including Columbus tubing and nice cutout lugs, but it had suffered since -- flopped-and-chopped bars, hacked fork replacement (including shortening the head tube to make it fit), crudely filed-down stem. But great stuff too. The front wheel in particular is a museum piece, with an ultra-rare cartridge-bearing Pelissier 2000 hub, tied-and-soldered spokes, and a "Gentleman 81" Super Champion rim -- state of the art back in the day.
Rebuilt it slowly, concentrating on fixing problems: Swapped the bars, stem, and levers, put on a slightly less mucked-up headset and bigger tires for the Paris cobblestones. Sanding down the new stem from 22.2mm (English) to 22mm (metric) was fun, and the result is perfect. More fixes to come, but it's a good city rider now.