Gloria "Special" calipers (Alloy; ALUVAC brand)

[Jesper]

I am wondering if anyone has any dating information for these Gloria calipers? They are the French made ALUVAC brand which I know was Parisian based; but I do not know when they started producing brake calipers for Gloria and other bike/component marques. Alloy arms and cap nuts with brass adjusters. I would like to use them on either a 30s Gerbi or swap them out with the Universal brakes on my 40s Gloria Garabaldina. My mid 30s French bike has Gloria "Tour de France" steel calipers so no reference help regarding years of the alloy models.

Edit: no mention on Tontonvelo forum, only ALUVAC pedals.

 

[juvela]

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earlier forum thread where ALUVAC products discussed -

Brampton track crank arms with Aluvac 46t chain ring sprocket | Vintage Lightweight Bicycles

Looking for info on this crankset. What years or era, rare or desirable? Any other info? Thanks!

thecabe.com

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[Jesper]

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earlier forum thread where ALUVAC products discussed -

Brampton track crank arms with Aluvac 46t chain ring sprocket | Vintage Lightweight Bicycles

Looking for info on this crankset. What years or era, rare or desirable? Any other info? Thanks!

thecabe.com

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Unfortunately, not much help in that thread. The company was around (founded 1918) for a decade or more producing automotive parts, and making die-cast(?) toys circa 1930 apparently before they started making bike parts. I am trying to keep a restoration somewhat period correct so I need to know if Gloria/Aluvac had made alloy calipers pre or post WW2.

 

[Jesper]

Looking at the referenced thread regarding chainwheel the ALUVAC number is "3729". If they used numbers in the order of producing certain items it might indicate that the calipers (#'s 3779 & 3780) were made later than the chainwheel; but it is unknown how much later that production occurred (same year, or years later?). There is an example online of an ALUVAC pedal from circa 1947, and @juvela 's example of them being on a 1930s Rexa bike (original pedals?). Some other references to chainwheels (46T) from 1944 and 1950; but no part number is given, or whether or not the part is original to the year of the bike. It seems safe to assume that they were making bike parts post WW2, but thus far I have seen no verified data that they made bike parts prior to the war; if they did I would assume it was well before the war due to plants being utilized for production of war related items in the late 30s through the end of the war. It would make sense that they made bike parts in the early to mid 30s given the range of production (toys, automotive, aviation) that they already did. I have an old pair of aluminum pedals, but I never thought to look to see if there was a mark on them to indicate a manufacturer, and I have no idea what they came off of.

 

[Jesper]

I spotted another pair of Gloria/ALUVAC calipers. Although they appear to be identical (except missing adjuster hardware) with similar or same reach, and the same mounting style for the rear caliper; they are labelled as "C. Special". I had seen these before in Velobase when researching, but there was no adequate photo of the "C." backside to compare markings. These have the same "ALUVAC" logo and the same part number ("3779") on the arm leading me to believe that the "Special" and "C. Special" models are indeed the same model, but having only the different arm stamp. Now I am curious as to which was the earlier stamp. I am assuming, quite possibly wrongly, that the stamp without the "C." was the earlier of the two; or possibly it was merely a marketing gimick assuming that the "C." stands for "corsa" giving it more of a racing cachet.

(Photo credits: ebay seller kypdurrone)

 

[Jesper]

From what I have gathered, ALUVAC is/was a brand name of products made from a proprietary aluminum alloy used in casting. I have no knowledge as to whether the name relaates directly to the alloy, the process of creating the alloy, the process of making the casted items, or a combination thereof. The Founderie de Précision (est. 1918 near Paris) was the company using this alloy, and it seems used a special injection molding process also, so I tend to think that "ALUVAC" name cast on items would generally indicate both the alloy and casting process. The "ALUVAC" branding on items made in that manner started being used on items circa 1930, but still no idea as to when certain types of items were first introduced, specifically bicycle components.