non-fixie 

Found another Bontekoe. Oldest I've seen so far, I think. In nice and complete condition. Some parts have been updated over time, but not recently.



I love the pencil-shaped seat stays. There is also what looks like a tubing decal of sorts. Anyone recognize it?



The "G. Bontekoe" downtube decal is new to me. I'm assuming it predates the "Cycles Bontekoe" style.



Another nice detail is the headbadge. The fill-in would have been red, white and blue:



I don't know how old it is. Best guess is late fourties, early fifties. One clue I'll be looking into is the style of these Weinmann levers. Never seen this slanted logo before:



They also seem to be slightly more elegant than the others I've seen:



And then there's the question of who actually built the frame ...

3speedslow

Great find! Look at the reach on those handle bars.

qcpmsame 

Very interesting find indeed, should be a great build if you are intending to do so. Even a simple cleaning and tune up would be fun to ride.

Bill

3speedslow

Oldest set I have are from the 50's.

3speedslow

Now that I see it, it's hard to see. It has Weinmann horizontal through the circle with Patent written underneath .

pullup

Oooh nice find have not seen a Bontekoe this old so a special one indeed and should clean up nicely

Wildwood 

What I like about @non-fixie 's threads are the casualness with which he introduces many of these bikes. Clearly he has a unique eye for the out-of-th-way classic&vintage. Gives me pause to wonder , given his western Euro location ...... is he an active collector? -- or (as the tone implies), they just happen to become available? This Bontekoe looks a tad small, so for Ms N-F? (54cm, square?)


Given the explanations and backstories, I vote active collector but so understated.
'Chapeau!' on the new one. I like the fork crown and hope it polishes up beautifully.

non-fixie 

Thanks, yes, I have a pair of those and thought those 'patent' levers were the earliest. Did a bit of online research last year and found quite a few different versions of the 'circled logo'. Some differences are very subtle, like the size of the circle.

non-fixie 

It is in good shape indeed. Riding it, however, will require a least a foot worth of seatpost, and I don't think I could stand that. Not on this bike. Maybe I can get mrs non-fixie to try it ...

3speedslow

Wil the badge get its colour back?

non-fixie 

Thanks. These early ones seem to be pretty rare, and even though I'd decided to not buy anymore bikes that the mrs or I can't ride I could not resist this one.

non-fixie 

Thanks. Close: 55 x 55. Mrs n-f might just be able to ride it, should she be so inclined, but it'll be a very French fit.

And no, I'm not a collector. It appeared in the classifieds over six weeks ago, and just wouldn't go away. So I felt morally obligated to adopt it.

non-fixie 

No. I think it looks perfect the way it is.

JaccoW

I think I had this exact same bike saved on Marktplaats! Glad to see someone around here picked it up. At least they make better pictures.

DIMcyclist

I absolutely understand that! The one time I ignored the sentiment was when I tortured myself over- then passed up- a Katakura Silk SC-15w, and I've been kicking myself for the last two years!

qcpmsame 

Yep, we have a C&V moral code, its why we do this.

Bill

non-fixie 

The seller, who (unlike me ) is an avid collector of bikes, has been so kind to send me a scan of an original Bontekoe catalogue that I want to put up here for posterity as these are really rare.

Some things worth noting:

• I believe it's prewar, but must have been made after 1933, as it references Georges Speicher's 1933 win of the TdF and World Championship title
• The picture shows Gerrit Bontekoe, former track racer and shop owner, but also Piet "Black Pete" van Kempen. Apparently because he was a friend of Gerrit's and he had some bars named after him. Piet van Kempen was a very successful six-day racer. Won the Six Days of New York in 1921 riding with Oscar Egg. (Came in second in 1924 with Reggie McNamara.)
• contrary to other sources, which mention 1925 as the year Gerrit started his shop, this (he) says 1922.
• I'd have thought silk track shirts would have been more expensive than wool road jerseys. They weren't. Not by a long way.
• Gerrit sr didn't build his own "fraems", AFIK (his son, Gerrit jr did, and was pretty good at it) but imported them from France and Belgium. The latter apparently came from De Waele's shop. That would have been Maurice, who won the TdF in 1929.

Enjoy!

Cyclissimo

Wonderful bike! This type of Simplex derailleur and lever is from about 1956-59. So I asume the bike is a bit newer then you would think.
Does it has a framenumber? Mine (a Reynolds 531 Bontekoe Super Sport from about 1960, which I'll show a bit later on, when the retauration will be finished) has a framenumber in the bottom bracket: 414.

non-fixie 

I have seen evidence of a Bontekoe with serial number 495 having been delivered to its first owner in April 1965, so that would kind of fit.

There is a serial number on the above bike. Four digits, which are hard to read, but could be "9507". I am also inclined to think that the frame came from the Locomotief shop. The pencil point stays and brick red color seem to be fairly typical for Locomotief in that era.

seypat

Very nice find! That's a beefy RD hanger. Decal looks like a Reynolds. Is that a sleeve within the seat tube that the seatpost goes into?