Notices
Classic and Vintage Bicycles: Whats it Worth? Appraisals. Use this subforum for all requests as to "How much is this vintage bike worth?"Do NOT try to sell it in here, use the Marketplaces.

1958 Follis

Old 12-09-22, 12:22 PM
  #1  
capnjonny 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
capnjonny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Saratoga calif.
Posts: 1,047

Bikes: Miyata 610(66cm), GT Vantara Hybrid (64cm), Nishiki International (64cm), Peugeot rat rod (62 cm), Trek 800 Burning Man helicopter bike, Bob Jackson frame (to be restored?) plus a never ending stream of neglected waifs from the Bike exchange.

Mentioned: 28 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 339 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 623 Times in 225 Posts
1958 Follis

Happy Holidays Cats and Kiddies.
After watching it sit in the back room at the Bike Exchange for months I finally got pemission to do "my thing" with this frame and fork.
I have been busy decaling the Pinarello Montello and the 58 Lenton and probably don't need yet another major project but I find it hard to resist a rare vintage frame.

Below please see pictures of what I have. I did download a catalogue scan for 1958 and I think it might be the Champion de France model.
It looks like it has been repainted ( did they do metalic paint back then?) .
I have lots of old french parts in the shop and would like to keep it somewhat period correct. Any help on original equipment would be helpful .
I read through the french language catalogue and have some idea of what was used but not certain.

I have a cottered Stronglight crank, Ava stem, and a couple Hurret derailleurs as well as some old Campi bits . I have a nice set of Rigida Cromolux wheels with Campi high flange hubs but was going to use them on the Lenton. Wondering if super champion aluminum rims would be acceptable.

One unusual detail, note the seat stays with shaped ends as they wrap around the seat tube. Have not seen that before. looks like they are filed to that shape.

Did they use 700 c rims back then or 27" Aluminum or steel? what color frames, Decals?

I would love it if anyone can post some pictures of a Follis contemporary to this one.

Lastly (for now) any Idea on value if restored to semi original condition?






Last edited by capnjonny; 12-09-22 at 12:27 PM.
capnjonny is offline  
Old 12-09-22, 12:43 PM
  #2  
non-fixie 
Shifting is fun!
 
non-fixie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: South Holland, NL
Posts: 11,003

Bikes: Yes, please.

Mentioned: 277 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2182 Post(s)
Liked 4,526 Times in 1,743 Posts
Nice find! The paint and decals are definitely not original, so the first thing I'd do is carefully strip the paint and see what's underneath, especially in the seat cluster area.

Congrats on an interesting project!
__________________
Are we having fun, or what ...



non-fixie is offline  
Old 12-09-22, 12:49 PM
  #3  
noobinsf 
Senior Member
 
noobinsf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 3,291

Bikes: '82 Univega Competizione, '72 Motobecane Grand Record, '83 Mercian KOM Touring, '85 Univega Alpina Uno, '76 Eisentraut Limited

Mentioned: 57 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1088 Post(s)
Liked 1,204 Times in 700 Posts
Wow, what an interesting frame! The head tube is outrageous.
noobinsf is offline  
Old 12-09-22, 12:53 PM
  #4  
cb400bill
Forum Moderator
 
cb400bill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Kalamazoo MI
Posts: 21,324

Bikes: Fuji SL2.1 Carbon Di2 Cannondale Synapse Alloy 4 Trek Checkpoint ALR-5 Viscount Aerospace Pro Colnago Classic Rabobank Schwinn Waterford PMount Raleigh C50 Cromoly Hybrid Legnano Tipo Roma Pista

Mentioned: 58 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3059 Post(s)
Liked 6,379 Times in 3,692 Posts
Originally Posted by capnjonny
Lastly (for now) any Idea on value if restored to semi original condition?
Thread moved from C&V to C&V Appraisals.
__________________












cb400bill is offline  
Old 12-09-22, 01:07 PM
  #5  
cb400bill
Forum Moderator
 
cb400bill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Kalamazoo MI
Posts: 21,324

Bikes: Fuji SL2.1 Carbon Di2 Cannondale Synapse Alloy 4 Trek Checkpoint ALR-5 Viscount Aerospace Pro Colnago Classic Rabobank Schwinn Waterford PMount Raleigh C50 Cromoly Hybrid Legnano Tipo Roma Pista

Mentioned: 58 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3059 Post(s)
Liked 6,379 Times in 3,692 Posts
https://anciensveloslyonnais.weebly....el-follis.html






__________________












cb400bill is offline  
Old 12-09-22, 03:30 PM
  #6  
juvela
Senior Member
 
juvela's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Alta California
Posts: 14,325
Mentioned: 414 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3783 Post(s)
Liked 3,288 Times in 2,148 Posts
-----


arrestors would likely have been Bebo roller sidepulls



-----
juvela is offline  
Old 12-09-22, 04:02 PM
  #7  
3alarmer 
Friendship is Magic
 
3alarmer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 22,932

Bikes: old ones

Mentioned: 304 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26250 Post(s)
Liked 10,232 Times in 7,101 Posts








....while this came to me as a rusty sort of complete bike, I don't know how much of the components were original. Not sure if they did much in the way of metallic paint on bikes then, but they definitely did flamboyant colors, which is sort of how I repainted this one. All the chrome on mine was pretty bad, so I de-rusted, primed, and painted over it. It took quite a while as a project. I finally ended up putting white fenders on it.

I went with 27" rims and tires. But I don't think it matters which you choose. The French bikes were all over the place back then, with 650b and such.

This one came to me from some guy who pulled it out of a house (shed ?), where he had "done some work" for someone. He transferred it to me near San Rafael, but I got the impression he'd found it in that old house somewhere farther south. The rear derailleur I used is not period correct, but it was close enough for my purposes.

This one yielded those colors with self etching primer / white primer / silver metallic / semi-transparent red (blue) the same way you do candy colors painting a car. Then decals and clear 2K over all of that. The scheme is more or less what seemed to be left on the original. This decal lettering was my own design, but Greg Softly has the correct decals for this at Cyclo Mundo, if you decide you want to invest that much in your cosmetic restoration.
__________________
3alarmer is offline  
Likes For 3alarmer:
Old 12-09-22, 04:04 PM
  #8  
3alarmer 
Friendship is Magic
 
3alarmer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 22,932

Bikes: old ones

Mentioned: 304 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26250 Post(s)
Liked 10,232 Times in 7,101 Posts
.
...no idea on value for something like this. Probably less than the costs to restore.
__________________
3alarmer is offline  
Old 12-09-22, 04:11 PM
  #9  
3alarmer 
Friendship is Magic
 
3alarmer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 22,932

Bikes: old ones

Mentioned: 304 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26250 Post(s)
Liked 10,232 Times in 7,101 Posts
This is what the original paint and decals looked like on mine.






__________________
3alarmer is offline  
Old 05-16-23, 11:49 AM
  #10  
capnjonny 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
capnjonny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Saratoga calif.
Posts: 1,047

Bikes: Miyata 610(66cm), GT Vantara Hybrid (64cm), Nishiki International (64cm), Peugeot rat rod (62 cm), Trek 800 Burning Man helicopter bike, Bob Jackson frame (to be restored?) plus a never ending stream of neglected waifs from the Bike exchange.

Mentioned: 28 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 339 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 623 Times in 225 Posts
19578 Follis finished

Well, the 1958 Follis Champione de France model 309 is finished.

I decided to keep the blue paint and just touched up the dings and clear coated it.

Received as a frame and fork, I didn't try to find the original unobtaniun hardware, choosing instead to outfit it with somewhat period correct bits from my personal stash with the goal of making it a nice rider rather than a museum wall hanger.
Parts included:
AVA bars, GB stem, Mafac levers and brakes, Stronglight cranks, Lyotard pedals, 5 speed Hyperglide copy 14-28 freewheel, Suntour front derailleur and down tube ratchet shifters, Alvit rear derailleur, Super Champion rims on Campi hubs, and a Brooks style vintage leather saddle which could be a Wright or something French, I can't really tell.




capnjonny is offline  
Likes For capnjonny:
Old 05-16-23, 11:52 AM
  #11  
capnjonny 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
capnjonny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Saratoga calif.
Posts: 1,047

Bikes: Miyata 610(66cm), GT Vantara Hybrid (64cm), Nishiki International (64cm), Peugeot rat rod (62 cm), Trek 800 Burning Man helicopter bike, Bob Jackson frame (to be restored?) plus a never ending stream of neglected waifs from the Bike exchange.

Mentioned: 28 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 339 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 623 Times in 225 Posts
capnjonny is offline  
Old 05-16-23, 11:52 AM
  #12  
bikemig 
Senior Member
 
bikemig's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Middle Earth (aka IA)
Posts: 20,505

Bikes: A bunch of old bikes and a few new ones

Mentioned: 178 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5877 Post(s)
Liked 3,445 Times in 2,066 Posts
Very nice job. Too bad it lacks the headbadge.
bikemig is offline  
Old 06-01-23, 01:44 PM
  #13  
Wildwood 
Veteran, Pacifist
 
Wildwood's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Seattle area
Posts: 13,305

Bikes: Bikes??? Thought this was social media?!?

Mentioned: 284 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3876 Post(s)
Liked 4,781 Times in 2,206 Posts
Hey @capnjonny - most excellent follow-up and refurbishment. That's the way I do it, parts bin as close to era as possible, maybe a component to purchase. Bought a '59 German bike and assembled with era Campa GS drivetrain, Universal brakes. After a few rides I modified gears & brakes to more practical for a rider in hills. Riders over lookers, when lookers cost bonkers. YMMV

mods - put this thread back in main C&V, please.
__________________
Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
Wildwood is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.