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Vintage Follis resto project

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Vintage Follis resto project

Old 01-01-20, 03:24 PM
  #76  
orcas island 
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The bottom bracket has been rebuilt, along with the pedals. The chain set cleaned up reasonably well; however there are areas where the chrome is quite rough or missing entirely.
I realized why the bike came with the nut missing from the cotter pin on the drive side- someone ruined the threads on the cotter with a ham handed attempt at removal sometime in the distant past. Time to check the local shop or co-op for a replacement. This one is toast!


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Old 01-01-20, 03:29 PM
  #77  
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Nice work on the polishing, I think it looks superb.

One nit-pick: See how the big chainring is mounted asymmetrically on the crank? That works 100% as well as mounted symmetrically, but it upsets my OCD. There are 5 ways to mount that chainring and only one is "right", as in looking like the catalog shot.

-Mark
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Old 01-01-20, 03:42 PM
  #78  
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Original color would be lurid French purple. It fades to the color you are looking at. Many French bikes use the same purple and continued to do so into the 70s.
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Old 01-01-20, 04:39 PM
  #79  
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Originally Posted by orcas island
Make sure you get the large tub of popcorn; this is going to take a while!

Before...
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Old 01-01-20, 06:42 PM
  #80  
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^ Ah, good catch! I missed that when I was putting it back together. Quick fix!

Last edited by orcas island; 01-01-20 at 07:04 PM.
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Old 01-01-20, 06:44 PM
  #81  
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Originally Posted by 63rickert
Original color would be lurid French purple. It fades to the color you are looking at. Many French bikes use the same purple and continued to do so into the 70s.
Underneath the front changer is a nice patch of the original color. I wouldn’t describe it as purple, but as more of a cranberry red. It’s clear that it was originally done with a silver undercoat.
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Old 01-01-20, 08:44 PM
  #82  
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I assume @juvela is correct and you need 9mm cotters. I've got some.
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Old 01-01-20, 11:09 PM
  #83  
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It’s coming along... I think I can get it out for a test ride once I fit some temporary replacement wheels and find a new cotter for the drive side chainset.
I carefully removed the bicycle license sticker and realized (too late) that they had placed it directly over the top of an original Follis decal on the seattube. That got totally ruined in the removal process.
Anyways; some photos:


Remnants of the original Follis decal that was under the bicycle license

Original color of the bike

Yet another terrible photo of the bikes current state.
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Old 01-09-20, 04:39 PM
  #84  
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Mechanically it is all back together at this point. Bearings have all been repacked and adjusted, a couple of new cables run, 10lbs of rust and greasy dirt removed.
The wheelset on it currently has been pirated from my Motobecane Grand Jubile (keeping things consistently French)

Thanks to all who contributed knowledge and expertise about French bikes of this vintage; it’s old enough for Medicare this year!
Seriously, I learned a lot from your input...

Special thanks to Tiger1964 who passed along an entire replacement rear derailleur from his stash of goodies. The Follis is now wearing the cable end cover that his had, and which mine was missing.
Im hoping to have some time to take it out for a spin Saturday after making sure that all of the nuts and bolts are tightened. It is surprisingly light; I’d guess in the 25 lb range. Now to figure out what to do about the sad paint and chrome.
Call it patina, or think about a refinish?
Does anyone have thoughts about the color of bar wrap I should use? It’s a pretty drab machine as it stands. Anyway- photos:







Last edited by orcas island; 01-09-20 at 04:43 PM.
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Old 01-09-20, 06:50 PM
  #85  
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Originally Posted by bulgie
Nice work on the polishing, I think it looks superb.

One nit-pick: See how the big chainring is mounted asymmetrically on the crank? That works 100% as well as mounted symmetrically, but it upsets my OCD. There are 5 ways to mount that chainring and only one is "right", as in looking like the catalog shot.

-Mark
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This registration parameter betwixt crankarm and chainwheel spider is sometimes referred to as "clocking." Largely limited of five-pin pattern sets.

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Originally Posted by francophile
I assume @juvela is correct and you need 9mm cotters. I've got some.
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Machine's OEM wedgebolts were likely supplied by ALGI. Firm may also be responsible for seat binder, stem binder and stem expander bolts; although they do not show well enough in images for a positive ID.







Company yet in operation today but has not produced cycle fittings in over three decades.

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Appears one or two of the plates on the cycle's 460D's could benefit from a chiropractic ajust-a-mente.

---

Verily, some member must have a pair of old stock CIBIE pedal reflectors they could part with to complete the bicycle's set.

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Old 01-09-20, 08:08 PM
  #86  
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Juvela - I think there is some distortion in the perspective of the photo of the pedals. The inner and outer plates seem to be well aligned in person. Was that what you were referring to?
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Old 01-09-20, 08:54 PM
  #87  
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Oui, merci!

Perhaps me old yeux hath done me yet another disservice.

Me comment was anent the "front and back" plates rather than the end ones.

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Last edited by juvela; 01-10-20 at 09:17 AM. Reason: addition
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Old 01-10-20, 01:46 AM
  #88  
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Originally Posted by orcas island
Does anyone have thoughts about the color of bar wrap I should use? It’s a pretty drab machine as it stands.
I would go with a light blue picked from the decal
I had a similar issue with a subdued 1946 Hobbs of Barbican. I used a yellow tape (since replaced with yellow Dare handlebar sleeves). The reasoning is the subject of some debate and starts at https://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/v...rt=50#p1260149
Philip
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Old 01-10-20, 09:27 AM
  #89  
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Originally Posted by Big Block
I would go with a light blue picked from the decal
I had a similar issue with a subdued 1946 Hobbs of Barbican. I used a yellow tape (since replaced with yellow Dare handlebar sleeves). The reasoning is the subject of some debate and starts at https://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/v...rt=50#p1260149
Philip
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+1

Regarding trim -

first thing would be to replace the black cable casing with something in the silver-grey realm, similar to the casing for the rear mech. casing should be roundwire rather than flatwire. bicycle's OEM casing was likely EJAC brand as produced by Etablissements Jeunehomme. it exhibits a pattern of fine concentric ribs and is roundwire.

in choosing colour for bar wrap and toestraps (if used) you would want something not saturated/bright. bright and saturated colours tend to "wash out" the cycle as the eye always tends to go to colour.

we have so many restorations/rebuilds here on the forum where bright trim colours were employed inappropriately which only give the finished result a "worked on" look.

---

noticed that no handlebar plugs are visible in latest images. if originals missing or kaput a good candidate might be VELOX rubber with expander. these were offered in a half dozen hues, including an off-white which resembles colour of the frame's head and seat panels.

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Last edited by juvela; 01-10-20 at 02:28 PM. Reason: addition
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Old 01-10-20, 10:02 AM
  #90  
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Originally Posted by orcas island
.... Now to figure out what to do about the sad paint and chrome.
Call it patina, or think about a refinish?
Does anyone have thoughts about the color of bar wrap I should use? It’s a pretty drab machine as it stands. ...
If mine, and I chose to refresh it (I'd be leaning that way), I'd do the best I could with the existing chrome, and have the bike re-sprayed with a color as close to the original as possible. I'd put on replacement decals and put on an antique brown leather saddle (Brooks or Ideale, or possibly even a Wright's, Lycett, Speedic or B.I.M.) with matching bar tape. I believe that with that color scheme, you could get away with either black, brown, or metallic cable housings.
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Old 01-10-20, 12:04 PM
  #91  
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Nice to see this thing rolling!

For the bar tape, cotton obviously. I'm thinking red or white or black or brown. Also white with shellac would be nice.

First, ride it a while and see how you like it. If you plan to keep it, I'll stick my neck out and say that bike deserves a re-chrome, a repaint and carefully reproduced graphics. Patina is overrated and rust never sleeps. Higher end French performance mixtes are rare enough, and ones from that era just aren't seen. Maybe in France there's still a few kicking around.

As an aside WRT to the build, I strongly recommend ferrules on all the cable housing ends, both the brakes and derailleurs. You may need step down ferrules in places. The action will be much more positive and there's less risk of breaking cables.
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Old 01-10-20, 02:36 PM
  #92  
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My question is this: How did the paint go from that burgundy color you see under the FD band to the saturated brown it is now?
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Old 01-10-20, 03:24 PM
  #93  
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Originally Posted by francophile
My question is this: How did the paint go from that burgundy color you see under the FD band to the saturated brown it is now?

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Excellent!

Am thinking the UV radiation took all of the red out of the top colour. The brown we see may be an undercoat. This may be one of those two-stage or flambouyant finishes.


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Old 01-10-20, 03:29 PM
  #94  
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Rust/oxidation. The air did it.
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Old 01-10-20, 04:44 PM
  #95  
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The undercoat (showing in many places) is actually silver. I’m going to try a little polish to see if any of the original color comes back.

Last edited by orcas island; 01-10-20 at 04:59 PM.
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Old 01-10-20, 08:07 PM
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Oh, and I will say - it appears the cotters are either not filed correctly or haven't been fully pressed in?

I'm still shocked at how nice this came out. Most people would've picked off the mechs, then just scrapped the carcass and called it a day.
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Old 01-10-20, 09:49 PM
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Well, there is still a ton of “patina” here, but the mechanicals seem to be pretty well sorted out at this point. I’m sure I’ll have to make a few adjustments while test riding it for the first time tomorrow.
I knew that this was still likely to be pretty rough looking after my amateurish efforts. I was hoping that the chrome on the frame was going to clean up a bit better than it did.
It was quite a shock to see how nice the original cranberry-ish color was, and how much it had deteriorated over the years. I had just assumed that the frame had come from the factory in a brown color.
I picked this up because it was an interesting style, was of an age that I wasn’t familiar with, and thought my wife might enjoy tooling around on something with so much style and history. Well, two out of three ain’t bad! She doesn’t like it... In all fairness, she’s had a hip replacement and biking doesn’t hold a lot of appeal for her any longer.

This one probably deserves a full cosmetic restoration (paint and chrome), but I’m not sure I’m up for that kind of investment if my wife doesn’t love this bike. I think this one would look like an absolute classic with shiny chrome and new paint. I think either a Seafoam Green or light Blue with creme panels , or a Royal Purple with same would be sharp.

I’ll try to tighten the cotters a bit to see if they draw in further...

Last edited by orcas island; 01-10-20 at 10:09 PM.
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Old 01-11-20, 02:42 PM
  #98  
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Back from the first test ride around the neighborhood, and well, it’s interesting...
This bike is a very different animal from the kind of thing I’m used to riding!

Loads of trail in the front end geometry due to the big sweep of the front fork legs. That leads to a very springy front end as well as a lot of juddering under braking load even though everything is tightened down correctly up front.

The lack of a top tube seems to encourage a type of lateral flex when pedaling that I’ve not encountered before. Not terrible; just an unaccustomed sensation.

I never thought I’d be able to say this, but here is a Brooks saddle that may be too soft. The leather is pretty broken down and thin from all of the weathering this one has endured; it’s rideable for me at 155 lbs, a heavier rider might blow this up in short order.

The rear derailleur makes accurate, but leisurely shifts. The front derailleur requires an insanely long reach and twist to reach that suicide lever. You’d need to be half-brother to a contortionist to manage that maneuver easily.

Clearly, this bike was designed for a leisurely pace. It is cool to try out something as old as this. Fun for flat Sunday cruising!

Last edited by orcas island; 02-15-20 at 01:11 PM.
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Old 01-11-20, 02:46 PM
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Beautiful oldie, perhaps an obscure model that we never really got here in the states?
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Old 01-11-20, 03:18 PM
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Yes, it’s hard to imagine too many of these having been imported for sale in the States in the early-mid 1950’s
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