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As - Thor 5-speed. My latest mystery

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I see now I had that Gnutti hub image upside down.
image.jpg
image.jpg


That's better
 
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Most fun Gnutti item is not one of their products but rather their promotional truck...

gnutti_truck_team car, 1950s.jpg


here is a link to a pdf of their product catalogue for 1953 , right close to the time of your bicycle -

http://veterancycleclublibrary.org.uk/ncl/pics/Gnutti catalogue 1953 (V-CC Library).pdf

wrt drive train -

you could try laying a drive chain from another derailleur geared bike on the chainwheel teeth. if the teeth are for 1/8", which it looks like they may be, the chain will not be able to sit down on the teeth. your drive chain is a brand called ACHO which I have not encountered previously.

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Most fun Gnutti item is not one of their products but rather their promotional truck...

View attachment 745183

here is a link to a pdf of their product catalogue for 1953 , right close to the time of your bicycle -

http://veterancycleclublibrary.org.uk/ncl/pics/Gnutti catalogue 1953 (V-CC Library).pdf

wrt drive train -

you could try laying a drive chain from another derailleur geared bike on the chainwheel teeth. if the teeth are for 1/8", which it looks like they may be, the chain will not be able to sit down on the teeth. your drive chain is a brand called ACHO which I have not encountered previously.

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I want that truck! Looks like it'd be fun to drive. I was just on veteran cycle club library yesterday looking for info on this bike. Great place with lots of info. I'll check that chainwheel size and post it soon. Thanks again for all the help
 
It looks like a very comfortable bike, and I really like those bars. Both sweep and hand position pretty much duplicates the Ahearne Map bars I used on my '92 Viner CX frame.
(all it needs are thumb shifters)
View attachment 745189
Once I adjusted the seat and raised the stem up it was better. Could use a nice Brooks saddle like yours on it. Those are so comfy. The metal grips aren't so great in the cold weather. I'm keeping them though, mostly because i don't know how I would take them off. Haha
 
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Good day 3-speeder,

Thank you for this most excellent photo of the crank arm marking.

"HF" crank arm marking .jpg


Have been able to learn from cycling friends in the low countries that the HF digraph belongs to a Belgian maker of cranks, chainwheels and bottom brackets called Hermesse. Do not know their years of operation. One friend suggests that the number 60 may be a date. If this turns out to be correct I will be slightly surprised because of the cycle's bottom bracket shell with the dual pinch bolts. Would have thought use of this design would have been discontinued by that date. My understanding is that the Luxe term here refers to a model or series of products.

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Minor update on the Hermesse chainset -

Have received more communication from my friends in the low countries. Both seem to think the number 60 a date. They state company operated in or around the city of Liege. Their educated guess is that the letter F may stand for Freres (brothers in french). For example, the full/proper name for the firm which makes Huret gears is Freres Huret.

The name Hermesse is difficult to search on as one gets so many hits related to the french fashion house of Hermes.

Would not have guessed cycle to be quite this late...

3-speeder,

Will be interested to read if you discover any markings on the bottom bracket cups and/or the centre section of the bottom bracket spindle.

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thank you bulldog1935,

date of Lark rear mech would seem moot as it is an obvious replacement. cycle's Huret shift lever earlier than Lark by a number of years. note also the presence of the distinctive small diameter textured silver cable casing at the bottom bracket which is unique to Huret. these two bits would seem to tell us that the machine's original gear ensemble was from Freres Huret.

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