ozneddy

Anyone got a "Milremo" stem on their bikes ? when I was a kid,they were plenty,and ppl painted the pantographs any color thery liked,usually to match the bike color but I hav,nt seen any real ones in over 40 yrs (gosh am I that old ?) so , anyone got any 60,s racers with them on ? to see some pix wud make this old guy happy cheers !

Picchio Special

Wasn't that a Ron Kitching house brand?

photogravity

This is the stem on my 1967 Carlton Super Race from when I first bought it... Currently, the bicycle is in pieces in my basement for me to convert it to a SRAM i-Motion 9 IGH, at which time it'll get cleaned up.


P1010562 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


P1010563 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


P1010564 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr

gaucho777 

Yes, more specifically a partnership between Andre Bertin of France and Ron Kitching of the UK. Atax/Phillipe made most of the Milremo branded stems.

AZORCH

I want to say that I had one on a Bottecchia Special.

ozneddy

Wow , I,d give a whole bike for that stem !

photogravity

Really? What kind of bike you might be talking about giving for the stem? It is a really nice stem and would be seriously nice with a little polishing atmo.

ozneddy

Wot a pity we are both so far apart, coz I got an Australian "Malvern Star" that needs a home and some lovin ! not too many of them in Maryland USA I,m sure !

pastorbobnlnh 

I'm running this Milremo on my '39 Schwinn New World. It is not an appropriate stem and I do hope to replace it sometime over our northern hemisphere winter. I am certain I could be persuaded to send it to Down Under. I wouldn't even need a whole bike!

photogravity

PB, your stem makes mine look like trash by comparison. BTW, you just stole my idea!! I'm not particularly attached to this stem and thought the same thing, though I don't have a replacement. I really was just kidding about trading a bike for a stem.

pastorbobnlnh 

To my eye our Milremos don't look all that different. I found mine at the dump. I don't remember on what. Heck, maybe Oz can have two Milremo stems sourced from the USA. It would double his options!

Daveyates

This could still be for sale but who knows? The last date on the forum is November.

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/vie...b1e02fbff6e2a8

VonCarlos

Milremo made nice seat-stems too.

ftwelder

Wow, that is a nice looking part.

PDXaero

I had milremo bars and stem on my holds worth path racer along with milremo 32/40 fixed hub set. Tried for months to find a milremo seat post and got nothing.
very cool esoteric parts with good quality from the 60s into the early 70s

guygadois 

Here some history on Milremo and Bertin bikes

https://bertinclassiccycles.wordpress.com/tag/milremo/


The origin of the Milremo product line owes much to two men, cyclist/entrepreneurs*Andre Bertin of France and Ron Kitching of Britain. Both men were accomplished riders, Bertin as a professional and Kitching as a gifted amateur. In each case, the two principals involved made a specific decision to downplay or leave the competitive side of cycling* and involve himself in the business side of wholesale, retail and distribution of cycle parts in the mid to late 1930s.

The Milremo house or generic brand name was registered about 1957.**Milremo was a composite word made from the name of the famous Italian Classic, MILan-sanREMO. The name and trademark were used to identify products developed and made for both companies and, in fact, the trademark remains registered to Shimano Benelux. However, it was Kitching’s desire to source pro level Continental components and Bertin’s knowledge of European producers that seem to have combined with rising post-war affluence*to make the brand a success.*

Bertin and Kitching supported cycling and especially cycle racing personally as managers and as sponsors of teams and events. Bertin acted as a directeur sportif of the Bertin regional amateur/professional teams as Kitching’s sponsorship did similarily in Britain.* Sponsors varied over time but Milremo developed its brand through these types of cycle sport activities. Kitching used his sponsorship and personal influence to develop Continental style road racing in Britain while in France, Andre Bertin similarly used his*contacts to help revive professional racing in northern France and the Benelux countries. (Team photos from Cycling Archives)

The Milremo brand was intended to create a value line of quality components and accessories which had the racing or sporting cachet of the big name brands without the higher prices. Almost all the main post-War manufacturers built for Milremo. Maillard did hubs and freewheels, Zefal and Silca and REG did pumps*and minor accessories like strap buttons. TA made chainrings and* water bottles screened with various logos including both the Bertin and Milremo brands.* Belleri and Atax/Philippe were the suppliers of* handlebars and stems which were Milremo branded. Toe clips and straps came from Christophe, bar end plugs from REG, tubular tires from suppliers in Italy, rims from prominent European manufactures all of them*recieved the Milremo branding. Arius made Milremo branded Unicantor knock-offs. Lugs, crowns, frame fixings, forged ends all the things needed to make a frameset,*everything could be obtained from Milremo. If you wore it or your bike did, you could get it from Milremo for a reasonable price. If you absolutely had to have name brand kit, Bertin and Kitching could*sell you*that instead.*

Both companies offered framesets and bicycles as well. Bertin built his own frames and bicycles but also constructed the RonKit line for Kitching to distribute. (I owned*one of these and it was a lovely bicycle with excellent workmanship and handling – little did I realize then that*my ride was*a Bertin.) As well, Kitching*imported and sold the Bertin line*in Britain.*Kitching also partnered in MKM, a custom high end builder. Milremo was often the equipment of choice when these bicycles and framesets went out the retailer’s door.

The Milremo line lasted from*its late 1950s inception*through its*gradual decline and disappearance in the late 1980s. By that time there was a different generation of cyclists on the bike who didn’t worship at the altar of bicycle road racing and for whom the line had less appeal. Integrated shifting with its dedicated gruppos and the surging popularity of mountain bikes and hybrids also eroded the Milremo enthusiast market. Finally, both Andre Bertin and Ron Kitching were aging and gradually winding down and/or selling their companies. The Continental businesses they had worked with post-War to establish Milremo were under pressure from non-European competitors who were gradually merging with them or driving these established partners out of business. And so, over time, Milremo faded from the marketplace, replaced by its successors.*

Daniel Rebour line drawings from the 1984 Encyclopedie Andre Bertin.

*

pastorbobnlnh 

So Photogravity and I are working on a joint effort to send our Milremo stems to ozneddy in Australia. PhotoG deserves the credit for coming up with the idea to package both in one box to save on the shipping cost.

So the question is; what from Down Under should we twist Oz's arm to send us?

rhm

Milremo crank:

photogravity

Are you offering to put that in the box, too?

Bicyclz

I know it's an old thread, but I just found a Milremo stem badge: )
No enamel though??
And no evidence of paint.

Came off a Cinelli chromed stem.
Ideas anyone??

rustystrings61 

No photo, but my c.1962 Dawes Realmrider came to me with a Milremo low-flange nutted front hub ...

Hudson308 

Yes thread is six years old, but my '62-ish Falcon has a Milremo stem.
I wonder what @ozneddy ended up with?

obuckler

merziac

That is awesome.

verktyg 

ZOMBIE thread...


As someone mentioned back in 2012, the classic cast aluminum stems discussed here were made by the French company Philippe/Atrax. They sold the same stems with the Phillipe brand cast in them.

These Milremo stems sold by Ron Kitching in the UK had inch dimensions: 22.2 mm quills and took 25.4mm bars while the ones in France had 22.0mm quills and took 25.0mm bars.

Don't try to fit a 25.4mm bar in a Milremo/Philippe 25.0mm French stem. Old cast aluminum doesn't bend well:



Here's a Milremo stem that I cleaned up and repainted the red highlights. It's on my late 60's Bertin C37. I took a British stem and turned down the 22.2mm quill to 22.0mm so that I could mount a modern 25.4mm bar. Note in the last picture I drilled a hole in the top of the expander split to reduce the chance of a crack forming.





This is a 115mm version of a Milremo/Philippe stem. They came with a through hole for the front brake cable.



Until 1976, most of the Bertin bikes that we imported came with those cast Milremo stems, even some of the better models. From 1976 though the early 80's the lower priced through mid range Bertins came with these "pressure cast" (Japanese "melt forged") Atax stems with recessed expander bolts. They used 7mm hex keys!




My 1980 and 1984 Bertin C37 bikes have these pantographed Milremo stems. Not sure who made them.



There were many other styles of stems with the Milremo name on them. Of the old style cast aluminum stems, the ones made by Philippe were generally better quality than Pivo and AVA stems.

verktyg