verktyg 

Andre Bertin was a French bike maker located in Northwest France close to the Belgian border. Bertin had a cousin in Belgium that also built bikes. Andre Bertin had a fire at their factory in the early 70s and for a while all Bertins were coming from Belgium.

The Belgian bikes had similar decals as the French bikes. Some were marked "Made In Belgium".

During the early 70s a lot of lower end Belgian sporting bikes had silver painted fork ends and rear stays. They used silver paint rather than chrome plating.

Chas. verktyg

Munny

With all the respect, I need to correct "a lot" to "some".
I'm Belgian, focalising my collection on Belgian racing bike and I don't come often accross silver painted fork ends

Nerdy Norm

...and north-west France is nowhere near the Belgian border

dddd

Chas Colerich wrote:
"During the early 70s a lot of lower end Belgian sporting bikes had silver painted fork ends and rear stays. They used silver paint rather than chrome plating."

Well, I can back that up with one of my own bikes, called "THE DURA", from Belgium, 1970's.

It's not a cheap bike though, all Nuovo Record (exc. brakes) and Reynolds DB throughout.

I've never even heard of another one of these, so I'm taking a photo right now:




BTW, the name DURA refers to an export product mined from a region in Belgium.
It's a type of dark-colored marble iir, so perhaps matches this bike's color?

sparrish

Originally a dumpster find...I rode it in my first Sprint Tri last year. A bit too big for me but rides great. I now am riding a Team SC in Domo Lotto livery. Pics of that soon!

djkashuba 

"Fr. Hebbelinck" marked made in Belgium bike seen at a sale.



Fr. Hebbelinck by djk762, on Flickr



Fr. Hebbelinck by djk762, on Flickr

-D

verktyg 

I thought only Americans had no concept of geography! ;-)

Hainaut/Hinnot is still part of Belgium, no?

Cycles Andre Bertin was located in Saint-Laurent-Blangy, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France (North West France).

Saint-Laurent-Blangy is about 50km (31 miles) from Roubaix which is a few Km from the Belgium border!

Chas. verktyg

Nerdy Norm

Nope, a little "aide-memoire" for you

non-fixie 

Very pretty! Thanks for showing it. "Seen at a sale" as in "not bought at a sale"?

djkashuba 

Correct. Much admired but not purchased. Seller was asking 800. Bike was in perfect condition. Love the fades; this bike reminded me of Pilsner in a really nice glass...

-D

Munny

Hi, I have a similar one, much older, of 1962, sold under a famous name : Rik Van Looy.
These are not common.

Verktyg, the West is at the other side of france.

As an example, one of my bikes


Full chrome, not paint.
The real track bike of the person behind, the saddest cycling story ever

R_Know

I have this older Eddy Merckx Alu Team as a donor bike. I'll use the Dura Ace parts for my Pinarello Stelvio and I'll sell the frame. The longer I look at it the uglier it is. Maybe it has to do with the emails to the Eddy Merckx company which were never answered. I don't know.

dddd

R_Know wrote:

"I have this older Eddy Merckx Alu Team as a donor bike. I'll use the Dura Ace parts for my Pinarello Stelvio and I'll sell the frame. The longer I look at it the uglier it is. Maybe it has to do with the emails to the Eddy Merckx company which were never answered. I don't know."


Well, it has a somewhat busy look to it, and it's all about the name, so if the name isn't worthwhile to you, then ugly it is.

I'm guessing that most bike companies have cut back on staff due to the economy.
The person who is there to answer emails probably is doing that and 20 other tasks just to be able to keep their job, so probably they prioritize the few emails that bring economic benefit to the company, assuming there isn't firstly a language barrier for someone to navigate.

If there's a technical problem with your bike, aren't there dealers out there to set things right?
And it's not like this is anything like what they sell currently, certainly many builders would consider an older (aluminum in particular) frame like yours simply past due for replacement by now.

mkeller234

My 1951 Cyrille Van Hauwaert 3 speed, pre-cleanup. It's probably the coolest bike i've laid my hands on so far.

DSC05871 by mkeller234, on Flickr

jimmuller 

As soon as I get a round tuit I'll post a picture of one I have been assembling slowly. Interesting frame, sort of. Orange with silver painted ends. Lugs pinstriped white, but either not finished or partially worn off under the BB. A foil Bertin headbadge, but individual white letters spelling BERTIN on the ST. Has "Made In Belgium" sticker. Campy rear DOs, not sure of the front. English BB, low to the ground. Medium heavy. Should be comfortable, stable, probably not fast.

I was given this frame. I don't need another bike but it is intriguing enough for me to make it rideable. Not sure what to do with it after that.

gomango

Disagree.

I think it looks great and I know they ride incredibly well.

Stiff as all get out.

I'm always on the lookout for an Alu Cross.

norskagent

Here are my two, an '85 professional and an '89 7/11 corsa extra. Both ride great!

jimmuller 

As promised (and thanks to verktyg for explaining it). For testing I've thrown some Japanese stuff on it (Suntour freewheel, derailleurs, and levers, Sugino Maxy crank, Sanshin hubs, Araya rims), and some French stuff (Mafac brakes and Lyotard pedals). Seein' as how Bertin became the Shimano importer for France I may just keep everything if the bike works! Except that big chainring has to go.

Munny

Hi,

This is a pretty cool bicycle but I think that it is much older than you think and I have a doubt on the Van Hauwaert identity.

Why do I think this ?
If I'm not wrong, the item which makes you believes that it is dated of 51 is the Sturmey hub.
But this could have been changed.
Everything else looks much older on this bike.
Also I see a Dutch (that's not in Belgium) name on the frame.
Of course the crankset is a Van Hauwert, as mine.
But wooden wheels, rod operated brakes ... this looks prewar to me.

As a comparison, some pictures of my Cyrille Van Hauwaert

I date it as 1936, as stamped on components.



The paint is in 2 tones of metalic colours, mainly grey with metal black overspray on tube junctions

Here a picture of the Van Hauwaert logo on the head tube


And another one of one of the decals on the frame saying Original Van Hauwaert Bruxelles


Mavic INAC aluminium mud guards rather than wood
Mine is in 650C Semi-ballon tyres, but what about yours ?
The wheels are not the original ones


My British rooster likes it !


Pre 1938 style of gear selector (I believe yours must have been replaced by a more recent one)


Van Hauwaert marked steering


The chainguard is also reading Van Hauwaert, same crankset as you, racing style pedals


And a very special lock (I still need to find out what is the code before trying to close it...)



Voilą...
I find yours is extremelly atractive with the rod operated brakes and the wooden things.
I can be wrong but I think you have a early 30 Dutch bike

The wheel hub exchange might be explained. I'm about to do the same for another similar Belgian bike I own. This because the rear wheel is missing and a correct KB6 hub is simply impossible to find.
That one is a Bekaert (also Brussels based) but will require a long restauration

pullup

What a supergreat bike Munny and another great v Hauwaert. ( i hope you have seen the thread mkeller started, it has a lot more info on his bike)
That lock is a museum piece by itself

Munny

Well, I bought it for the wheels ... and decided that I couldn't take it appart.

I wanted to restored a family bike, also of 1936
This one


with a very special front light ...


Now reading the thread of mkeller, I'm starting to wonder if I was wrong. There is still another hypothesis: a old Van Hauwaert frame, re-used and put together by the Dutch bike dealer.
However the rear lamp looks so old, even for the fifties.

I know what I'll do this evening : check if I have a stamp number

afilado

I picked this up awhile back because I like fillet brazed frames. I was told it is from 1965, based on the Campy NR group harvested by seller. Campagnolo dropouts front and rear. Serial number on
BB shell is 14..........no other marks or numbers anywhere. Seller speculated that it is a contract made frame constructed of Reynolds 531, because of it's light weight. He said at that time (1965) there
was gas pipe and there was 531, little else being available. Threading is BSA.

Would appreciate any insight into the story of the marque and who the builder might be.

Cheers,

Julian

jrecoi

What threading/tubing standards did Belgian bikes use? French? BSA? Belgian?

Italuminium

Verschueren was a Belgian racer, who won two world titles on the track, who runs a cycling shop till this day. So you probably got a rebadge of a big frameshop in your hands... Jonckheere? Kessels? I'm no expert.

https://www.verschuerensport.be/
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Verschueren

Munny

BSA mainly. Sometimes Italian