TenGrainBread 

Hi all- Picked up this cycle a few years ago and finally pulling it out of storage to make it rideable. I am following Tim Dawson's approach of "restoration/preservation", so despite the pronounced wear on the finish I will not be repainting.
This is a 1950s era Jo Routens sport touring bike. It has most of the hallmarks of Routens' custom bikes, including helenic stays with brake cable routing thru the seattube, a custom-made Routens push-pull front derailleur, full braze-ons for a French 4 speed Cyclo rear derailleur (including cable guides), vertical dropouts, integral fender bosses, and forward-facing rear cantilever brake bosses. However, the customer clearly was on a budget because there are some cost-saving measures, including off-the-shelf seatstay caps and fork crown, as well as plain lugs at the headtube. The tubeset is not particularly lightweight, at about 3.1kg for frame and fork at size 54cm.
So far I have only cleaned the frame, repacked the headset, put on the front MAFACs with new pads, and installed a Velo Orange cartridge BB and TA Pro 5 Vis cranks.

John E

I love sport touring frames. Versatile and fun.

TenGrainBread 

When the cycle came to me it presented a few problems:

• Very corroded steel handlebars and rims
• Bottom bracket with damaged races and a very stuck fixed cup
• Routens custom front rack with broken braze joint on the left strut
• Original Le Cyclo derailleur cable had been cut during packing. Previous owner probably didn't know that these cables are unique and difficult to find

I have since had the original Excel solid axle hubs built with new spokes and alloy rims. I was able to remove the stuck BB with the Sheldon friction method. I will clean up and re-braze the rack to repair it and try to re-fabricate the Cyclo cable from new 0.038" stainless wire rope by removing the actuating nub and soldering it to the new cable. More on that to come.
Here's the broken front rack which attaches to the fork crown and to the cantilever boss mounting bolts. the rack itself is another indication that this is a budget machine as it is fabricated from solid steel round stock and simply painted black. The higher-end Routens frames had the same rack but constructed from lighter, stronger steel tubing and usually chrome-plated.
The original Cyclo derailleur is in great condition.

PilotFishBob 

Love the Routens touches, especially the rear cable routing and the custom front derailleur. I've missed out on a couple, but I've managed to find other ways to challenge the bike budget.

TenGrainBread 

Here's a picture of what this bike would have looked like if the original owner had had the francs for it. 1957 bike identical to mine but with fillet-brazed head tube, custom fork crown, tubular chromed front rack, and nicer components.

juvela

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excellent find

will look forward to following along

small bits -

lug pattern: BOCAMA Professional (without lip)

fork crown: Vagner PC+

fork ends: may be NERVEX Ref. 1440's series

pump pegs: NERVEX Ref. 845

seat stay bridge: NERVEX Ref. 600 serie

seat binder ears: NERVEX Ref. 850 serie

[do not have anything illustrating the "shoe horn" for rear brake cable]


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repechage

Stately Black.

Singer did a budget bike apparently too.
but perhaps outsourced fabrication.

TenGrainBread 

Routens and son also had outsourced frames, but I believe only during the bike boom in the 70s. They pop up from time to time, wholly unremarkable road frames with typical fittings.

juvela

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wonder if it would be too early to employ any Routens fittings other than the front mech?

have no knowledge of launch times for Routens components

thinking of items such as pedals and saddle pillars


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TenGrainBread 

The commercial Routens components were the brainchild of the son (Jean Paul Routens) after he had got involved in the business, which is why they are generally branded "JPR". I believe this side of the business started in the 70s, so yes too early for this frame. Seatposts, stems, QR skewers with build-in flashlight mount, headsets, decaleurs, pedals, and many more. Some with unique designs (most notably the brilliant one-piece seatpost) and some simply white label re-brands.

The Golden Boy 

I had a JPR seat post- I assume it's an 80s thing- looked pretty much like the concurrent Avocet post.

Catnap 

I had one of these and restored it a few years ago: https://djcatnap.com/jo-routens-650b-restoration/. Mine was one of the more upscale models (based on the seat stay cap treatment) but was either originally built for, or later converted to, a standard rear derailleur hanger. It retained the handmade Cyclo-style front derailleur.

mpetry912 

anybody got a pic of the Routens bottom bracket with the reinforcing webs ?

/markp

Catnap 

TenGrainBread 

A few minor updates:

I've repaired the front rack by re-brazing the arm back on and repainted it with Rustoleum primer and black enamel, brushed on to retain the original "worn" character:

BEFORE


AFTER


The bike came with its original Exceltoo steel hubs laced to some very rusty steel rims. I had the local wheelbuilder rebuild the wheels with new Pacenti rims:



I have a stash of Huret Luxe wingnuts for solid axle hubs. Was thinking of looking around for Exceltoo wingnuts but I don't see any evidence of their existence online, perhaps they never made wingnuts.



Bike originally came to me with a Cyclo freewheel, I think it's a 5 speed freewheel with only 4 cogs threaded on. Hubs and freewheel internals have been cleaned and repacked.



At this point I have a couple more tasks and challenges before I can fully reassemble:

• I have a Birmalux alloy seatpost that will fit but need to cut it down to allow clearance for the rear brake cable which is routed through the seattube.
• The original cheap Pivo stem it came with is way too short for me, only 40mm. I have a nice steel 100mm Ambrosio stem that is marked 22.0 for French steerers, but it is a little too tall, so I think I will shorten it and cut a new slit for the expander.
• The main challenge, re-creating the Cyclo (France) shift cable. The original that came to me with the bike was cut short for shipping. I have a nice stainless replacement cable of the same diameter (1mm) that is flexible enough for the shift lever, so I have to figure out how to make and attach the nub that fastens it to the shift lever. Any input is welcome. I tried removing the nub from the original cable but it is crimped on and not transferable without destroying it.

juvela

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​​​​​​

the Exceltoo marque was a creation of the firm Atelier J. Courson, 6 Rue Bernard Palissy, Saint Etienne

this was prior to their merger with the company Etablissements Perrin forming the entity Etablissements Perrin-Courson, makers of products with brand names New Star, Pelissier and Exceltoo as well as the Maillard 700 serie hubs

your example looks like it may be from the Super Competition series

here is a pair of Exceltoos dated 1925 -


& a catalogue page of the same annum

bi-metal skewer levers
​​​​​​

Exceltoo pedals were also produced

marque active well into the nineteen sixites & seemed to disappear during the nineteen seventies

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oneclick 

Is the cable intact except for the cut?
Is the cut in a section clear of guides/lever/mech?
Splice the cable - get a bit of brass tubing id just bigger than the cable, and use a good hot iron and some silver-bearing solder.

TenGrainBread 

I'll look into this