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Follis ~ bicyclette française masochiste

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Follis ~ bicyclette française masochiste

Old 03-20-20, 10:27 PM
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Strange times. The world in crisis and our State governor ordered the majority to bunker down.

Anyways, got back into working on it this late afternoon.

Nervar bottom bracket. Plastic bearing cages with only 7 balls per side! Remarkably in excellent condition.

Nothing special.

Cranks were crusty corroded. Cleaned up nicely. Chain rings are next.

Shop stash of snacks. Time to re-order and delivery from Amazon.

Last edited by crank_addict; 03-20-20 at 10:39 PM.
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Old 03-20-20, 11:50 PM
  #52  
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Nice job with the cranks.
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Old 03-22-20, 05:45 AM
  #53  
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Spent a couple of night hours on cleaning components.

Simplex flat lever meets Simplex dropout

Nothing official here. Derailleur mount parts.

Lets establish, Helicomatic ain't no freehub.

Huret meets Simplex dropout. Photo bomb pooch

French threaded Atom pedals with Lapize toe clips and straps.

Polished the aluminum centers. Platform is chrome plate steel
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Old 03-22-20, 07:23 AM
  #54  
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Remarkable condition on the headset and bottom bracket! Reminding me I need to tear down my UO-8 after winter riding.

Cool project.
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Old 03-22-20, 01:39 PM
  #55  
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You may want to switch to loose balls so you can increase the ball count. And yes, that's an impressively well made BB.
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Old 03-22-20, 01:48 PM
  #56  
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It's great when you open up a bike and find that the HS and BB are in great condition like that. That is remarkably few bearings in the HS and BB. I reckon Follis was trying to save a few centimes!
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Old 03-22-20, 03:31 PM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by noglider
You may want to switch to loose balls so you can increase the ball count. And yes, that's an impressively well made BB.
Thinking alike, and actually started to layout for individual.

But then had a moment and laughed, asking myself how could such cheap and quirky French stuff like this last so well? My gosh, bb's are pittance cheap, so why did they do this? This cheapazz factory bearing arraignment fits the build and so I decided to re-use. Lol
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Old 03-22-20, 03:36 PM
  #58  
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Ball cages aren't to save money on balls, they are to save on labor because they make assembly easier.
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Old 03-22-20, 06:58 PM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by crank_addict
This cheapazz factory bearing arraignment fits the build and so I decided to re-use. Lol
Those are definitely the ball cages supplied by Nervar. I bought a Nervar Star crankset in '72 with my first paycheck from working part time at a bike shop. It came in a very nice display box, all the parts presented like they were jewelry. And to me they were, the nicest bike parts I'd ever worked on at that point in my life. (They didn't let newby mechanics work on the Campy stuff.) So those parts are burned into my memory, which is why I'm sure those are the ball cages mine came with.

Mark B
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Old 03-23-20, 12:05 PM
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Settling in Covid19 Winter.

Making a bit of progress. For grins I weighed it, sans brakes, chain and cables. Few pounds lighter than expected, right now at 22.0 lbs..

Thinking of using blue brake cable housing I have on hand. Prefer silver but I'm short on supply or perhaps just go plain with black?








Time to try a pair of near new vintage Trimline tires. Thailand rubber, wire bead that fit perfect to the non-hook Weinmann concave rims. Labeled as 700x28 but they measure 23mm width!
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Old 03-24-20, 09:42 AM
  #61  
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Day break for brake-
Calipers were seized and had sprayed them the day the carton arrived yet took some persistance to dismantle. One is deeply pitted though should be safe to use. Springs are rough. I may swap a few parts from a second set of Racers.
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Old 03-24-20, 09:48 AM
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I wish replacement hardware was not so expensive; it would cost more than you have in the bike is my guess:

https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop...erpull-brakes/
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Old 03-24-20, 09:49 AM
  #63  
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How could we not mention the great Jean Forestier. Still with us, from Lyon France same as Follis. Long successful pro cycling career, early on started with Follis. Cheers




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Old 03-24-20, 09:52 AM
  #64  
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Originally Posted by bikemig
I wish replacement hardware was not so expensive; it would cost more than you have in the bike is my guess:

https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop...erpull-brakes/
Yep. He's offered that rebuild kit for quite a few years. At that price, curious if he sold any.
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Old 03-24-20, 01:18 PM
  #65  
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Originally Posted by crank_addict
Yep. He's offered that rebuild kit for quite a few years. At that price, curious if he sold any.
My hunch is they sell a few a month to people doing expensive new custom builds with old MAFAC brakes (Chapman, Coast, Norther, Jeff Lyon, etc...), where the cost is large enough that this doesn't really put a dent in the budget.

For those with less $, the obvious answer is cannibalizing other brakes for good hardware. Even then it's not often necessary. The MAFAC hardware is surprisingly resilient despite corrosion and can often be cleaned up, greased, and reused.

If the thin pivot bolts get rounded off or broken, there's no rule that you need the exact same bolts. A trip to the hardware store for some stainless M6 bolts does it unless you are going for ultimate "correctness".

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Old 03-24-20, 01:27 PM
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That rebuild kit is silly, at least for those of us who can get our hands on spare calipers. Take four calipers and make two working ones out of them. I hoarded a pair of RAID calipers with the idea that I'll one day have a project worthy of them. They are seized, but I'll be able to get them working for not much money.
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Old 03-28-20, 10:26 AM
  #67  
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Chiseling away very late night, I'm asking myself why on earth would I be screwing around with this old corroded stuff, especially during these times? No conclusive reasoning other than it might be some whacky therapy. Haha

The MAFAC pile. Had planned to swap out the corroded center arm on the Competition with a spare set of Racers though the backside had cast in maker marks and subtle detail difference. The bushings on the Competition are brass vs nylon on the Racer. I decided on taking them down a bit by sanding and polishing. Good enough.

I forget where to have acquired the Racer set, but here I found a better set of levers with half hoods. One has a slight split but still soft. The AME aftermarket hoods that came with this project just didn't have French mojo. Was able to sneak them on without removing the original bar wrap.

Last on the list: Awaiting replacement grommets and dropout adjuster screws.

-technical difficulty, wuhan neutron - upload pic problems


Time burned on 64 pieces of old corroded MAFAC cal's

Last edited by crank_addict; 03-28-20 at 10:41 AM.
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Old 03-28-20, 10:47 AM
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Old 03-28-20, 10:55 AM
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Sporty ratio Helicomatic freewheel.




Last edited by crank_addict; 03-28-20 at 11:03 AM.
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Old 03-28-20, 10:59 AM
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Originally Posted by crank_addict
Sporty ratio Helicomatic freewheel.

That dork disc will make the bike more aero for sure. Nice touch
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Old 03-28-20, 11:08 AM
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Originally Posted by bikemig
That dork disc will make the bike more aero for sure. Nice touch
Indeed. Will need all the help I can get....


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Old 03-28-20, 03:53 PM
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I love those brake calipers. You didn't waste your time shining them up.
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Old 03-28-20, 04:02 PM
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^^^^^Agreed, no time wasted ever bringing Mafac's back into service and making them look good while doing so.
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Old 03-28-20, 04:05 PM
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Originally Posted by crank_addict

I would shore up/stabilize that with clear silicone, get it in and underneath, wipe off excess on the outside and carry on.
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Old 03-28-20, 07:18 PM
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Originally Posted by merziac
I would shore up/stabilize that with clear silicone, get it in and underneath, wipe off excess on the outside and carry on.
+1
Is there a specific formula in clear silicone you would recommend?

On a Viscount project, I saved the same style half hoods that looked far worse. Viscount / Lambert had their own but now curious if the MAFAC type interchange. Looked like fungus growth plus splitting. Cleaned them in bleach and then made a slurry of shoe glue clear and some sort of thinner. I don't exactly recall and was just experimenting. Probably let them sit for 6 months before installing. They turned out pretty good and so far are lasting.

Viscount bars and preserved brake 1/2 type hoods

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