wjmarks

Having problems identifying this bike does anyone know of this Shrapnell Manufacturer - any help and info would be greatly appreciated.

I have include a couple of pics - the second one shows a stamp on the from - LEDE P3013 C

I have found a reference to Shrapnell-Giacomelli but not Shrapnell by itself!

Just added a shot from the front.

The frame seems good quality and is lugged (i think that is the correct term)

Chombi

Very unusual name for a bike, but I guess it must be a surname. I was first thinking it might be an owner that found a use for a set of letter decals, but I suspect that the head badge also has the same name on it.....
Don 't be surprised if you never find out what the bike is all about, as there were literally thousands of lesser known or unknown companies selling bikes in the 70's and 80's, and many of them came and went, some for very short durations.

wjmarks

I was thinking that and was also thinking that the Shrapnell-Giacomelli may have been like a Mercedes-Benz type of partnership where Shrapnell and Giacomelli were manufacturers in their own right and joined together at some stage!

Kevindale

Post some close up photos of the seat tube and head tube lugs, the rear dropouts/RD, any stickers on it, and so on. How much does it weigh? What size seatpost?

Those look like cottered cranks, though the photo is so small it's hard for me to be sure. I'm going to guess it's a lower level bike boom bicycle, more of interest for the cool green paint and unusual decals than the quality of the bike.

Kevindale

I think it might be a Belgian bike company. Here's a Dutch article.

Here's a bit of google translate:
"Chances are the name Giacomelli not ring a bell.
However, cyclists are very pleased with the last time on - customized - material from the bicycle manufacturer from Geraardsbergen. Giacomelli was acquired last year. Until then it was a family company with a tradition of 110 years.
Shrapnell called it then, but that's for the history books, which Poeske Scherens wrote a beautiful chapter. He rode a Shrapnellfiets.
In the nineties designed the then owners, the family of Yperzeele, a new
line: Giacomelli. Failing to follow the family did business of hand last year."

juvela

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Interesting bike, thanks for sharing.

Appears she wears Huret Svelto gear ensemble, Titan stem/bar set, Gnutti hubs, Atom 440 pedals, Weinmann sidepull brakes.

Component mix fits right in with Kevindale's Dutch identification.

No doubt, @non-fixie will be able to enlighten us significantly.


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wjmarks

I have added a few more pics for the pondering - do you think its a fixer or a scrapper?

Lascauxcaveman 

I would just clean it up, replacing consumables as needed. Do the oxalic acid bath to get rid of as much rust as possible. Then depending on how nice it turns out, ride it for awhile, and sell it if I'm not really using it. It's pretty low-end, judging by the componentry, but since I don't have any other bikes like that, I might keep it.

non-fixie 

Kevin got it. Shrapnell was an old Belgian brand (1898), that was renamed to Giacomelli somewhere along the line, after adding it to the old name in 1983. Had a shop in Geraardsbergen until 2009 when it went belly-up. Sad story. The financial crisis hit the company just after it had been bought by new owners in 2007.

As far as I know it was a small bike builder that always made the bikes to order.

Best-known Shrapnell rider was Jef "Poeske" Scherens, a formidable track champion from the thirties:

non-fixie 

Not a scrapper. I expect it to be a hand-made frame, given the story of the shop.

Kevindale

What an awesome photo! I'm surprised at how filthy the bike is, though.

juvela

Thanks for this awesome ( just like always ) information non-fixie!

wjmarks,

are you able to make out the marking on the end of the bottom bracket spindle? appears it may be a first quality hollow one such as Stronglight Competition.

are there any markings on the headset? looks as if it might be WF brand. non-fixie can probably tell...

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non-fixie 

I noticed the what looks to be a hollow spindle. One of the reasons to advise against scrapping the bike.
@wjmarks, is there any serial number to be found on the frame? Bottom of the BB shell and rear drop-outs are obvious places.

If there's no serial number, the frame may have been provided by another, larger builder, like Flandria. This was a not uncommon practice BITD.

Poguemahone

I think this is the likely explanation. It looks like an entry level 60/70s european mass produced frame to my eyes, interesting largely for the odd branding.

It is not a scrapper, though. Fix it up with decent parts and it'll be a nice rider/beater bike. This type of ride can be a lot of fun to build, as you're really fairly unrestricted on them IME.

As others have mentioned, get the measurement for the seatpost diameter. This can help clue us in as to quality of frame materials.