Show us your Belgian bikes!
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#603
Polymultiplié
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: South Holland, NL
Posts: 11,238
Bikes: Yes, please.
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I just realized I have omitted posting my latest Belgian acquisitions in this thread.
In March this year I found a frame which is doing its best trying to look like a Groene Leeuw. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I have yet to find out.
This is how it came to me:
Because it had seen a lot of use, I decided to build it up with parts at hand and see how it rode, before committing to a restoration project. This is how I rode it and how it now sits in my study, waiting for a decision.
I haven't yet been able to identify the builder. If no new information comes to light my plan is to recommission it as a Groene Leeuw.
EDIT: more info on this machine is here: What have we here? A Groene Leeuw?
In March this year I found a frame which is doing its best trying to look like a Groene Leeuw. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I have yet to find out.
This is how it came to me:
Because it had seen a lot of use, I decided to build it up with parts at hand and see how it rode, before committing to a restoration project. This is how I rode it and how it now sits in my study, waiting for a decision.
I haven't yet been able to identify the builder. If no new information comes to light my plan is to recommission it as a Groene Leeuw.
EDIT: more info on this machine is here: What have we here? A Groene Leeuw?
Last edited by non-fixie; 12-04-22 at 09:55 AM.
#604
Polymultiplié
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: South Holland, NL
Posts: 11,238
Bikes: Yes, please.
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This years's other Belgian find is this Téval frame. Made by Plume Sport in ~1967:
A separate thread on the subject is here: And also ... a Teval.
A separate thread on the subject is here: And also ... a Teval.
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#605
Have bike, will travel
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Lake Geneva, WI
Posts: 12,284
Bikes: Ridley Helium SLX, Canyon Endurance SL, De Rosa Professional, Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra, Schwinn Paramount (1 painted, 1 chrome), Peugeot PX10, Serotta Nova X, Simoncini Cyclocross Special, Raleigh Roker, Pedal Force CG2 and CX2
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A 1984-ish Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra and a 2017 Ridley Helium SLX
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When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
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Likes For HerrOtto:
#607
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Utah
Posts: 9,015
Bikes: Paletti,Pinarello Monviso,Duell Vienna,Giordana XL Super,Lemond Maillot Juane.& custom,PDG Paramount,Fuji Opus III,Davidson Impulse,Pashley Guv'nor,Evans,Fishlips,Y-Foil,Softride, Tetra Pro, CAAD8 Optimo,
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Since it's been revived.
Merckx Corsa 01:
Merckx Corsa 01:
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Steel is real...and comfy.
Steel is real...and comfy.
#608
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Port Dover Ontario Canada
Posts: 1,550
Bikes: 1965 Dilecta Le Blanc, 1956 Royal Nord, 1972 Raleigh Sports, 1972 CCM Turismo,1976 SuperCycle Excalibur, 2014 Salsa Vaya, 2017 Felt DD70, 2019 Giant Lafree and others
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A more recent picture of the 1956 Royal Nord President. I installed my older apple green Brooks B17.
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We are what we reflect. We are the changes that we bring to this world. Ride often. -Geo.-
We are what we reflect. We are the changes that we bring to this world. Ride often. -Geo.-
Likes For browngw:
#609
Junior Member
It's been posted in the vintage tt thread already, but it is Belgian!
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#610
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: PDX
Posts: 13,520
Bikes: Merz x 5 + Specialized Merz Allez x 2, Strawberry/Newlands/DiNucci/Ti x3, Gordon, Fuso/Moulton x2, Bornstein, Paisley,1958-74 Paramounts x3, 3rensho, 74 Moto TC, 73-78 Raleigh Pro's x5, Marinoni x2, 1960 Cinelli SC, 1980 Bianchi SC, PX-10 X 2
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2 EM's that need to be built and finished.
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#612
Senior Member
This is the bike from my avatar, my only Belgian bike, and my most confusing bike as well. The brand is "Spect JM" and the headbadge mentions Braine le Chateau, a quick search for which yielded little information other than the obvious - that it's a small town in Belgium with a population of about 10,000. The workmanship is skilled but unrefined - nice even brazing of near-perfect quality but there are no embellishments and certain areas such as the stay caps could have been sanded/filed a bit more. Overall the effect is a bit plain, which isn't enhanced by the medium/short-point Bocama lugs. The basic dimensions are 56.5cm seat tube and 57.5cm top tube, both c-c, and it appears to have been built for 700c wheels. I have no accurate way to measure geometry at the moment but I'll whip up a protractor/plumb bob combination eventually. Based on the above I'd call it a custom build by a small builder who did mainly repairs (skilled but lacking artistry) and identified either as his own brand or that of a bike shop through which the work was contracted. Either way, enough of this brand were built to justify having decals printed, but not enough that another one has made its presence known on the internet during the ten years that I've owned mine.
Where it gets confusing is in the less obvious aspects of the frame. The dropouts and fork ends are eyeletted Campagnolo and the wheelbase is long, with the rear tire gap being quite a bit larger than I usually like. Okay, that suggests touring bike. But the thing that really gets me is the tubing. It's metric (28.35mm seat tube including paint) and completely unidentified through decals or even a mark on the steer tube (other than a stamped "58") but takes a 27.2mm seatpost (measures 27.15 and rattles very slightly in the hole). Perhaps one of the more experienced tubing gurus here can explain that, but I'm at a loss. In fact, my initial measurement of the seat tube struck me as so impossible that I grabbed a better set of calipers (Etalon) and when that said the same I grabbed a known-accurate micrometer with the same result. So for now I accept it as being accurate. That would indicate a wall thickness of 0.4mm and while I seem to remember that some types of crazy hot-rod tubesets had tubes with that dimension it seems suicidal (not to mention completely pointless) to build what appears to be a touring frame out of 130lb-weight-limit time-trial tubing. And then not make it as beautiful as humanly possible.
So it confuses me, and has done so for a decade, but the ride is quite nice and more sprightly than one would expect so it sees a fair number of miles. Because of the weird nature of the frame I decided to hang all of my weird parts on it - some Shimano 600ax and Dura-Ace ax, Dyna-Drive pedals, helicomatic hubset, and the like. I enjoy the mystery to a certain degree, but since I hate a mystery which can't be solved I search for information every year or two with no results. Maybe as a result of finally typing up its story I'll finally try to contact the local government of a certain small town in Belgium and see if they know anyone who might be able to tell me more.
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