albrt 

This bike was donated to the co-op with non-matching wheels and miscellaneous components. It seems unlikely to be a Gios as the headbadge sticker proclaims, but on further examination I thought some of the core components might be original, and it might be of interest to somebody.







Frame features
Touring geometry and fender lugs
Pump hooks on the downtube
Simplex rear dropouts
Number A519 stamped in non-drive dropout

Components that might be original
Chrome fork with unmarked dropouts
49D Stronglight crank
Stronglight headset
Gran Compe center pull brake calipers
Gran Compe brake levers
Simplex front derailleur

Components that are less likely to be original
SR stem stamped “New Alloy”
Sakae drop bars
Suntour power shifters
Suntour V-GT rear derailleur
Kyokuto Top Run pedals
Blackburn rear rack
Clamp-on Blackburn bottle cage (rough shape)

Stickers
Made in France seat tube sticker
Tubes Legers Durifort seat tube sticker
Gios Torino headtube sticker
DuraAce (x2)

unworthy1

as you probably have realized: NOT a Gios, and not anything Italian.
French it is, and I bet SOME of the stickers are accurate, like the Durifort and Made in France, probably also the dealer in Tempe, not so sure about it being DA equipped, but if so that's a good clue...as is the crimped stay tops and for that matter also the "Made in..." sticker, just slips my memory which marque used those...
you'll have a better guess from the FR experts soon enough!

1989Pre 

Definitely French, judging from the top-eyes. I've seen them before, but I can't place them.

rustystrings61 

I see Bocama 18 lugs and I KNOW I've seen that particular swaged seat stay end before and it kills me I can't pull up the manufacturer's name! I will frankly be shocked if it's not French - the Simplex dropouts are almost certainly gonna be matched with a French-threaded bottom bracket. and the cable stops on the top tube and right chainstay are standard bits I've had on a Liberia, a Mercier and a Motobecane GT that I can think of - I want to say they're produced by Nervex, but hopefully Juvela will come along and set me straight . It's the sort of middle-grade 10-speed I gravitate to for Clunker Challenges, and it even looks like it's around my size ... oddly enough, built up with a decent fork it might look like hell but have that classical French glide quality to the ride.

I am so gonna kick myself when someone links that seat stay treatment to a brand name.

albrt 

The bike has absolutely nothing DuraAce on it, which was my first indication that the prior owner was a bit of a sticker enthusiast. I agree with everybody that the frame has a generally French look about it, so those stickers might be original.

Soody

that bike is really cool

obrentharris 

I believe that Gitane used that style of crimped stay treatment at one time.

edit: I have also seen Gitane serial numbers in that location on the non drive side dropout.
Brent

unworthy1

"Gitane" popped into mind for me too, but then popped out, because I can't make the other clues match up.
Assuming the Durifort sticker is legit (and why would somebody brag about that tubing?) the forged Simplex DOs, the cable guides, what might be some OEM French components like Simplex FD and Stronglight crankset just don't align with typical USA Gitane models I have seen...however if there's one guy who'd know it's Chas verktyg

seypat

Maybe it's a Le Gios?

dddd

I was thinking Motobecane myself, but no particular model that I am familiar with.

MauriceMoss

RE: the seat stay caps - there were several French manufacturers who used similar style of stay caps, with varying degrees of... swaginess (industry term).
So, that feature helps in narrowing things down but doesn't necessarily point to any single manufacturer.

The mystery bike looks like a lower end Follis with a replacement fork. Even though it doesn't exactly match either 072/072GL or 172, most frame features point to the 172 model. Simplex dropouts, Bocama lugs, cable guides, seat stay caps, serial number on the non-drive side dropout with an "A" prefix and pump pegs are all consistent with Follis 172s.

A couple of things that seem to be different are the Durifort sticker and the fact that the stays aren't chromed. Most 172s I've seen had the 3-tube Reynolds 531 stickers and chromed stays, so whether the Durifort sticker is after market or this was some sort of early 172 or a transitional model, I'm not sure.

Here are some examples -







Some serial numbers:




Seat stay caps and that "Made in France" decal:

albrt 

Thanks! The pictures are pretty persuasive.

unworthy1

mauricemoss has persuaded me!

juvela

-----

minor dating aid -

if one takes the machine's Verot chainset to be original she could not be earlier than 1973 for that was the first year the 49D received the allen key chainwheel bolts

DCI @MauriceMoss knocks another clean out the park he does!


-----

RCMoeur 

Bicycle Harbor was a good shop with high-end products - and a subsidiary of the Bud & Yvonne Morrison Tempe Bicycle empire. I remember riding all the way out to Bicycle Harbor in 1981 to get a product they alone stocked at a reasonable price (might have been a Regina Oro chain).

Thanks to everyone who helped albrt ID the frame.

unworthy1

Just to put a capper on this thread: do you happen to remember if that shop sold Follis bicycles BITD?

juvela

-----

There was an importer/distributor for the Follis line during the boom era located in Los Angeles, California by the name of Linder Euro-Imports.

It is likely their territory for the marque would have included the states of Arizona, Nevada & Oregon so it is quite possible the machine is one brought in by them...

Catalogue sheet of 1974 -

​​​​​​

-----

RCMoeur 

I didn't visit Bicycle Harbor enough to be able to answer that. I grew up in central Phoenix, hanging around the flagship Landis store (still there), Bicycle Warehouse, and Sun Cyclery when they were on 16th St. But one hallmark of the Morrisons was they would source inventory from a very remarkable range of suppliers.

albrt 

You can't see it in the pictures, but there are actually two shop stickers on the seat post. The other one is for "Ridgewood Cycle Shop," with no town or area code shown. As I said, it appears the previous owner liked stickers.

Edit: a quick google indicates the Ridgewood shop is in New Jersey, phone number confirmed.