# Cycle Brillant Paris, circa 1910, with New Departure Model A hub, French model



## LeSarthois (Jul 6, 2011)

Hello!

Wanna know more about me? follow the link (it goes to my introduction on this forum, no external link!) :
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?16404-Bonjour!-Another-newcomer-here!


Here is the last bike I found, which is also the oldest bike I have, and strangely the most "as new" I found.




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/m3u69tgtpy8ribxjaa-dsc00265.jpg

(it seems that either my picture hosting service doesn't work with the viewing system of this forum, or I did something wrong. Or my pictures are too large?
So I put the direct link to the pictures into the messages.)

It's a "Cycle Brillant" (Brilliant/Shiny Bicycle) circa 1910. It's a typical French bike of the time.

Why do I say it's "as new? For me, only the saddle and the rear brake are not original.
Yeah, the tires on this bike are the original ones. They are of course impossible to use now on road (but I could use them for shows!!, they are stilll quite good looking). Plus, the original inner tubes, made of natural rubber, are reduced into dust (very surprising to see, believe me!).

Now I let you admire it. I know only a few technical words in English so I can't say much. Plus, US bike are certainly different from this one. You can comment about this too, I'm really curious to know more about those difference, or maybe about the lack of differences!




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/gkioz8ip1xqely2qxf-dsc00269.jpg




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/ih712aku5r1xm6tscx-dsc00277.jpg




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/ly73xih39jztkfef16-dsc00004.jpg




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/ilw95wksfmlemq5i0v-dsc00013.jpg

Yeah, they really put a diamond-shaped glass on their logo plate. Silly.




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/ktgem3m3rqkdm7i6bv-dsc00016.jpg

Serious cat watch me a I take pictures.



http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/l6fb2hn9qc4vj2y3p0-dsc00287.jpg

Having your brand on every part possible of the bike = very fashion. 




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/l5v5egi6qwdhmiufft-dsc00275.jpg




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/lme0raluxv29j37jq1-dsc00009.jpg




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/icnushjoc4q8ihkg5b-dsc00289.jpg

OK, 10 pics limit reached, next part of the message coming soon!


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## LeSarthois (Jul 6, 2011)

I found the same model in a "book" from 1907 from Brillant to advertize their bicycles, and there is mine inside.




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/ir0ze5mhdnetgoaxx7-page_4.jpg




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/ks2zbihbyncnm2mo6d-page_4_2.jpg

It doesn't mean that mine was made in 1907. Many bikes were produced unchanged for years; especially with the First War, factories had no money to change their productions schemes a lot.
Then, the skip link chain was abandonned in France during the war, so this bike can't be made after 1918.

And if you look on the other models :



http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/ju9h8gm1a32qk3jx9q-e2531b280fb8c0ff51ccb2a11e1470e9.jpg

Hehe, even before the First War, it was fashion to be labelled "American" 




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/lw9wlrmvjyl8i9h17b-dsc00018.jpg

"Bergougnan" is a brand, also a typical family name found around Clermont-Ferrand.
And Clermont-Ferrand is a town famous for... being the home of Michelin family and Michelin tire factory.




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/mkcv9iiomiqxli11gg-dsc00019.jpg
Quite old measures heh? I should be able to find new replacement, but tires sized exactly like this... I don't think so.





http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/klengukkv217im0nad-dsc00298.jpg
Poor inner tubes... You're all dust now!

And here is the reason I'm here :




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/k53jgpiozbo8me3toq-dsc00008.jpg

Yeah. A "New Departure" coaster hub.

Someone linked me this scan from another Brillant ad :



http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/jio974ippj0okjl2is-moyeux_01.jpg
Having such options was expensive. Sadly, I didn't find yet references about New Departure hubs in Brillant ads.
And I can't find when the Model A was produced.

Third part coming, still have pictures for you to see


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## LeSarthois (Jul 6, 2011)

And now the interesting part :

Let's look closer at this hub!



http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/hsqg7pk151g0jyn2s8-dsc00302.jpg
It looks normal...




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/h94qotkqn1v2jvv632-dsc00303.jpg
Heh, now I see something different!

BTo' S. G. du G. is "Breveté sans garantie du Gouvernement". It's an early form of French copyright. It roughly says "Patented with no guarantee from the Governement".
(guarantee of novelty or quality. It's like a copyright, it's juut to say "it's my design")
It was compulsory on every French product coming from private factories. In fact the only product I newer saw carrying this advertisement were telephones; which were carrying a "Governement approval".




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/m39lp1ihcrs7mmfjgr-dsc00305.jpg
I don't know enough about skip linked chains to say if there was a difference between US models and French models. But I'm sure US models aren't labelled "37 mm"




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/n8fop9n8e7a0lae7n6-dsc00315.jpg
I may be wrong, but aren't all New Departure hubs supposed to have "Made in USA" written under the brand and model?
Maybe, if this hub mix US and French made parts, maybe writing "Made in France" or "Made in USA" was impossible? I have no idea.




http://www.izipik.com/images/201107/06/h8bcjbk6wsmoj1mhx5-dsc00313.jpg
Is something missing? I tried, and this coaster brake no longer works, it act like a normal freewheel, which explain the non original rear brake on the bike.


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## Andrew Gorman (Jul 6, 2011)

Model A's do wear out on the tiny friction surface inside the drum- spring steel hoops were available to plump the "brake drum" back up. Is the brass spring cracked?   From a little poking around on the web I've found New Departure Model A's first advertised in 1906 and were probably in production until replaced by the Model C in 1928.  Here is a thread with a link to an exploded view of the hub:
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?10074-New-Departure-Model-A-Exploded-View
The French markings are interesting!


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## LeSarthois (Jul 9, 2011)

So I checked it and all parts seems fine. In fact I got all parts pack after someone told me on another forum that it can fail if it was a little loose, and it was.
SO I got it back and actually it works back!
But there is a little delay, like 2 seconds of retropedaling before it block the wheel. Well, I suppose I can't expect a 100 years old coaster brake to work like the 30 years old coaster brake I tried once (and damn, it was powerful!
And it's even better for the frame if it brake smoothly.


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