orcas island 

I seem to have been high bidder on this bike offered by Goodwill. I’ll be picking it up early next week, and it looks like I’ll have my hands full with this one! Time to buy stock in the Oxalic Acid company.
I think my goal is to get it looking more respectable, greased up and back on the road in some serviceable manner. Any thoughts or input about what exactly this is, and how best to proceed would be very appreciated!

WGB 

I agree that you will surely be busy.

I can't help but smile when I see the photos. I laughed when I saw this one on Goodwill and it was funny posting it on the CL thread among the deals on high end bikes. I have a Raleigh Super GP to work on in my garage but I bet the Follis will be more fun to rebuild/save and I'll bet the frame will have better brazing! I was going to PM you as you'd said you had bid and I'd only seen it had one bidder when it sold. Glad you started a thread.

Good luck!

WGB

orcas island 

Thanks! I know that this will not be a quick one, but it should be fun. I think I enjoy discovering something about the bikes place in history as much as I enjoy the work on the bike or riding it when it’s finished.
I owned a Follis 572 a few years ago and thought the build quality was very good.

I can’t seem to find this model in any of the searches I’ve done. I’m guessing 1950’s? Seems like the type of bike that might have started out as an upright bar model?

francophile 

My guess was 50s. Based on what you managed with your Lazaretti, I expect to see this looking like a gem in no time. Good luck! Great bike!

Hudson308 

What an interesting bike! From the fanciful head lugs to the ancient Simplex derailleurs, with criterium-style bars to boot! Wish this one could tell us its history!

Salamandrine 

That is fantastic (fantastique?). The unique decorative head lugs really make this bike extra special. Congratulations! I'm thinking early 50s or thereabouts.

It will be interesting to see how this one looks after a little cleaning and de-rusting.

I think, after a while, I'd probably splurge for a full re-chrome on this one, including all the parts, and a repaint. Head badge will come off, and seat tube graphics look reproducible.

What's going on with those rims? Are they rusty steel, wood, or dirty aluminum? Tire size?

orcas island 

I’m not sure about those rims. If rusty metal, it sure looks like a uniform coat of it! I’ll know more when the bike is in my hands.

davester

That project looks like it has good bones. Also, that'll buff right out!

orcas island 

orcas island 

I’m finding pretty much “zero” on the web about this style/age Follis bike. Does anyone have a lead for me about where to find some pertinent info? Thanks!

3speedslow

Glad this bike landed here on BF!

francophile 

Pretty sure those fancy head tube lugs were reserved for the higher-end models.

But anyway, enjoy the rabbit hole and if you can't read French, use a browser like Chrome that natively supports full-page translation: https://anciensveloslyonnais.weebly....el-follis.html

Meanwhile if you wanted to peek at some others, here's a couple examples albeit, in the ballpark of your year:

Here's a '53 mixte, quite different: https://restoringvintagebicycles.com...3-follis-650b/

Similar model, non-mixte: https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2017...just-one-bike/

orcas island 

Francophile- thanks for those links. I had seen the one to the ‘53 Mixte; I’m guessing that that bike is perhaps an earlier model due to that very cool center pull brakeset. I hadn’t seen that second link previously.
I’ll check into those French websites; I’m sure there are some beautiful examples there!

Cyclist753

'Girl' racer bike! No slight intended, either. That is a cool ride!

francophile 

It's one of a few French-language pages and books I have bookmarked and has a very robust history of Follis from the 30s/40s forward with lots of pics of various bikes, races, etc.

I wouldn't be surprised to find @juvela has a few probably to share also, there have been a few I've actually bookmarked from previous conversations. .

aceves 

Cool project orcas island! Quite an undertaking. Looking forward to the "after" pics.

aceves

orcas island 

More will be revealed once I actually take possession of the bike. I’m thinking that seeing some brand names on components will help me narrow down the year of origin on this one.

Does anyone know when those type of front “suicide” type of shifter levers were in common use, and when they might have been phased out as a stock item on bikes that were sold?
This bike doesn’t look like it was too heavily modified after sale (aside from the addition of all of that rust)!

gaucho777 

Congrats! What a neat project! Looking forward to seeing your progress. I hope everything come apart without too much resistance.

bulgie 

I think you'll find the brakes are Beborex. I know the brake levers are but I can't see the brake calipers clearly enough to be sure. I think the calipers are the steel version. They also made an alloy version aimed at racing bikes. My late-50s (maybe 1960?) Follis road racer came with them.

Pretty sure Beborex was a brand owned and manufactured by Follis, but other makers could and did spec them as well. You certainly do see a lot of Follises with Beborex brakes, but I know that doesn't prove anything.

The unique roller design made for a non-linear response with a rising rate of mechanical advantage. I like this in theory but I think in practice it doesn't do much on this brake -- the MA only increases a little. At the cost of more complication, more friction, more places that can loosen or develop play... Still, a very interesting piece with a high funk-factor.

I have a Follis catalog that I think is from 1958, and it shows a "berceau" frame like yours. Note, that's not a Mixte -- mixte tubes are straight. The frame with tubes that curve down for a lower step-through height than a mixte is called berceau or "cradle". Several models, in the description text, say a berceau model is available on request. Be sure to zoom in, in the PDF of the catalog, much more detail is available.

The text file in the same folder is my transcription of the text with a (probably bad) Google machine translation. I don't speak French so take all that with a grain of salt. Corrections welcome.

Note the "suicide" lever-operated front derailleurs on some of the models. So, whenever that catalog came out, those shifters were still a thing.

Check out this Flickr album (not mine), lots of pretty pictures of a racing model similar to mine. Mine has Campy dropouts and I think it's a few years later than this one. His paint and decals are in vastly better shape than mine though, mine are hacked, and most of the original parts have been replaced.

Here are some pics of mine, still a work in progress. I was just working on a decaleur for it today, maybe ridable by this weekend.

Mark Bulgier
Irony Cycles
Seattle

juvela

-----

Congratulations on this wonderful new arrival & and thanks for posting it!

[had wished to post at thread launch but me Turing thingus insisted on staging an industrial action. suspect it has been listening to too many speeches by Jeremy Corbin.]

---

frame -

love these berceaus where the laterals express a double curve - so graceful!

NERVEX fork crown Nr. 7 "Tourist"

NERVEX dropouts Nr. 1025

NERVEX laterals bridge Nr. 490/491

NERVEX pump peg Nr. 848

shell appears a BOCAMA pattern

Juy chainstay stop Nr. 794

Juy BB cable guide Nr. 721

Juy shift lever boss Nr. 599

there appears to be a possible repair at front of drive side dropout...or it may be just a lump of corrosion...

---

fittings -

the double chainwheel set is Juy pattern "TOURIST"
catalogue page of 1953:




bottom bracket fittings appear they may be Verot

1953 catalogue page showing the Juy shift lever assembly:




headset is "LIGHTRACE" brand by Etablissements Gourgaud

stem is Philippe model Nr. 35

curious to learn maker of hubs - two possibilities: Simplex & Prior, you should be able to read a barrel mark when machine to hand

brake discussion -

you wondered if perhaps original build was with an upright bar

leaning toward thinking stem/bar/brake levers original

calipers are a mismatch for these Bebo levers and appear below quality level of cycle as well as of levers
when you have cycle to hand you will be able to examine if they exhibit a maker's mark - doubt it shall be Bebo

suspect they are replacements

note how pads on front are at the top of the adjustment range while those on the rear are near the bottom of the range

if calipers were OEM we would expect to see the pads near the centre of the adjustment range on both front and rear

suspect original calipers would have been the Bebo roller-cam alloy sidepulls discussed by Mark above

-----

orcas island 

Juvela and Bulgie - thanks so much for the last two postings! That is just the sort of information I’m trying to dig up on this bike before I get started on it. Much appreciated!

So, given the graceful (yet tank like) style of the frame would I be correct in thinking this design was intended more as a leisurely touring type bike, rather than any sort of “go fast” design?

orcas island 

Juvela and Bulgie - thanks so much for the last two postings! That is just the sort of information I’m trying to dig up on this bike before I get started on it. Much appreciated!

juvela

------



definitely not a "go fast" application; them thar "Tourist" chainwheels is on thar pour raison

may well have come with mudguards ex-works

shall be interested to learn if gear block 4V or 5V; cannot quite make it out

4V is quite plausible for this time

suspect block may be a Moyne

please lettuce know whenst ye have 'er to hand...

-----

orcas island 

Will do

USAZorro

About the time I joined BF, I had just found a 70's Follis at the curb, and went to the internet to try to find out more about it. Talk about slim pickings...

The only pertinent reference I could find was a bit of some promotion on the Classic Rendezvous site. What I had found was apparently a too-large-for-me 072 model. Despite being on the low end, it was rather well made. There was some additional info about their tandems, and a bit more in French, but this marque definitely has a low-profile when it comes to English-language history.

I'm eager to see where this one goes.