Thread: Etrand custom ?
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Old 06-10-19, 06:36 AM
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T-Mar
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The subject bicycle is a circa 1985-1988 Bertrand, which was the house brand for Cycles Bertrand of Hull, Quebec, across the river from you. The bicycles were built in the basement of the original Eddy Street store. Gilles Bertrand, son of the original store owner, had learned the craft from Michele Belly, another Canadian, who had apprenticed for LeJeune and Bador in France. Between running the retail store and frame business, which was operated under Fabricycle Ltée., Gilles had little time for frame building and hired frame builders. Given the apparent era, your frame was likely built by 'Tom', a Laotian was employed by Gilles. Tom wasn't his real name, but that's what he went by, as his real name was quite long. I'd almost certainly get it wrong and definitely wouldn't spell it correctly.

Regardless, the Bertrand of this era were quite nicely made and rode well. I had an SLX model. The only disappointment was the lack of embossing which you typically see on a high end frame. This is understandable given the small output but they simulated the embossing by using decals on places like the fork crown and stay caps. For me, this cheapened the appearance.

Edit: It looks like you've got a mixed bag of Campagnolo parts. The brakeset is Victory. The crankset is Chorus. The rear derailleur appears to be C-Record.

Last edited by T-Mar; 06-10-19 at 06:49 AM.
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