velospace is about bikes and the people who ride them marketplace photos random forums








Home » content

Dufresne

By latron on 06/12/2014. Bike tags: Road bike | columbus | handmade | shimano 105
Bike photo
Click to view other photos

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.

People who friended this bike campystamp
» login or register to post comments

Cool fastback stays like

Submitted by tracksloth on 06/14/2014.

Cool fastback stays like Basso signature. As to the fork, BMC is just a sticker, the fork appears to be Columbus Air, like you'd find on Tommasinis, SLX frames and the like. Lug windows look very familiar, just can't nail it down ATM. It'll come to me.

» login or register to post comments

cool

Submitted by latron on 06/14/2014.

Thanks for the info -- much appreciated. Any idea on the rear dropouts?

» login or register to post comments

Not a clue. An uncommon look

Submitted by tracksloth on 06/14/2014.

Not a clue. An uncommon look for that vintage, particularly being vertical with what look like rack brazeons punched out rather haphazardly. The closest I have seen were on an Alan. Possibly a one-off or else someone took a set of existing dropouts and chopped them up custom. Same difference.

About the head tube..Someone took a fork with a steerer that was too short and cut down the headtube to fit it? Am I understanding that correctly? Cause that's just nutters!

» login or register to post comments

Correct understanding

Submitted by latron on 06/15/2014.

Yes, the idiot trimmed the head tube -- and tossed the original fork. Insane. On the rear dropouts, they're an unusual form, but definitely a proper industrial product. Nice design, actually; just have no clue who made them.

» login or register to post comments

That's absurd

Submitted by tracksloth on 06/15/2014.

And quite a lot of trouble to do it all wrong. On the bright side, that fork is really nice quality swag. I'd strip it down to chrome.

» login or register to post comments

Good to know

Submitted by latron on 06/15/2014.

At some point it'll end up on eBay, but for now, it's on the bike and it works.

» login or register to post comments

fun

Submitted by the fumingator on 06/14/2014.

thanks for the story

» login or register to post comments

my pleasure

Submitted by latron on 06/14/2014.

Just added some more photos. Seat cluster and vertical rear dropouts are interesting touches. The scarred paint on the trimmed headtube is clearly visible, and check out that fork crown -- never seen anything like it.

» login or register to post comments

shortening the head tube to make it fit?

Submitted by cicadashell on 06/12/2014.

there oughta be a law! but you're doing a good job nursing it back to health. interesting frame, especially the rear triangle -- the chain stays are pretty short, all the more noticeable in a larger frame. i'm also curious about seat stays that sit behind the rear spindle, although maybe that's simply a consequence of the short wheelbase. nice find.

» login or register to post comments

No kidding

Submitted by latron on 06/12/2014.

It's kind of painful to look at the head tube up close -- the paint is actually scorched at the ends, as though the guy used a torch or a belt sander to cut it down. I'd guess he pulled off maybe 5mm in all, then found an old-school headset that threads down into the head tube (ultra-short stack height). Still a hack job, and though the fork itself is interesting -- a full-on race number from the 1980s, with sort of an aero crown -- it has to go before I can get a real headset on the bike. Will look for a proper period Columbus one, then repaint to match.

On the rear triangle, yes, interesting. I think it's a consequence of the vertical rear dropouts (which have some "drillium" action). No maker's mark on them, so hard to say what they are; certainly unique.

» login or register to post comments


velospace | About | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | contact | blog | status | site map | ©ActionHub.com