Amanda Reckonwith
Look Ma, No Hands!
...I just got my next project, this late 50's Follis. Here are some pictures as received, before disassembly begins.
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Late 50's Follis
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Amanda Reckonwith
Look Ma, No Hands!
...from the sunshine front hub branding, it's obvious the wheels are replacements, as is the rear derailleur. I'm uncertain about that bar/stem combination. You see it on bike boom French bikes, but I'm not sure it goes back to the late 50's
It was obviously a nice frame, because you can see the proprietary Follis head tube reinforcements, and a lot of the remaining chrome on the rear stays and fork socks. I'll probably paint it, because while the paint isn't that bad for something this old, the chrome is pretty bad and appears to be unsalvageable without rechroming, which is both difficult and expensive to make happen here in California.
It was obviously a nice frame, because you can see the proprietary Follis head tube reinforcements, and a lot of the remaining chrome on the rear stays and fork socks. I'll probably paint it, because while the paint isn't that bad for something this old, the chrome is pretty bad and appears to be unsalvageable without rechroming, which is both difficult and expensive to make happen here in California.
Amanda Reckonwith
Look Ma, No Hands!
...I could use some of the Juvela magic on this. I'm thinking the rear derailleur was one of those Simplex pull chain/flat wound coil spring ones. But I have no idea on hubs, and the pedals may or may not be originals. I would be grateful when and if you have the time to weigh in on this one.
Anyone else is more than welcome to speculate. It's a 24" frame (c-t), so exactly my preferred size. It will definitely be a rider.
Anyone else is more than welcome to speculate. It's a 24" frame (c-t), so exactly my preferred size. It will definitely be a rider.
Amanda Reckonwith
Look Ma, No Hands!
...disassembly proceeds. The stem was frozen in the steerer, but otherwise with little drama.
Amanda Reckonwith
Look Ma, No Hands!
...here are the frame dropouts. They are not the standard ones that were used for so many years with the old Simplex Juy derailleurs, so I am still confused as to what rear derailleur this had as original. Any help would, of course, be much appreciated. I looked at many of the 1950's Simplex rears on Velobase, and I'm damned if I can find one that I think will work. This must be a later frame, from the transition period to more modern attachment ?
Amanda Reckonwith
Look Ma, No Hands!
...so anyway, the rest of the bicycle came apart without much drama. I used the MAPP gas torch alternating with the Freeze Off a couple of cycles on the cotters, the pedals, and anything else that I thought might have been together for a long time, like the crank cups. A couple more pictures showing setups for various specialty tools.
As a bare frame, you can see the elegance of what it was originally, back sometime in the late 1950's. Found an appropriate stem an inch longer, which I will need for fitting, in the stems crate. Will be searching for a slightly better alloy seat post later on. I have some wheels with Super Champion 27" rims and Campy hubs that will look not too out of place and ride reasonably well. I have temporarily given up on the idea of a period correct push rod rear derailleur, after I found something perfect on ebay for 2150 euro. It will work better, and look OK for a while with something out of my Simplex rear derailleur collection.
I'm going back and forth on painting it as original, in this flamboyant red with blue accents on the head and seat tubes, and just going with the bluish metallic silver you see on a lot of Follis bikes in old race photos. It was synonymous with the brand.
^^^crank is paired at 50/47, which is reasonable for what I will do with this bike^^^
^^^that bar is steel, and it weighs a ton. So that's going along with the stem. ^^^
As a bare frame, you can see the elegance of what it was originally, back sometime in the late 1950's. Found an appropriate stem an inch longer, which I will need for fitting, in the stems crate. Will be searching for a slightly better alloy seat post later on. I have some wheels with Super Champion 27" rims and Campy hubs that will look not too out of place and ride reasonably well. I have temporarily given up on the idea of a period correct push rod rear derailleur, after I found something perfect on ebay for 2150 euro. It will work better, and look OK for a while with something out of my Simplex rear derailleur collection.
I'm going back and forth on painting it as original, in this flamboyant red with blue accents on the head and seat tubes, and just going with the bluish metallic silver you see on a lot of Follis bikes in old race photos. It was synonymous with the brand.
^^^crank is paired at 50/47, which is reasonable for what I will do with this bike^^^
^^^that bar is steel, and it weighs a ton. So that's going along with the stem. ^^^
Amanda Reckonwith
Look Ma, No Hands!
...waiting on a smaller adjustable reamer, and it's too hot to do much outside today. So I set up the frame and fork to realign and spread them to accept the new wheelset, at 100mm OLD front and 120mm OLD rear. It's an interesting process, simple to do on an older frame like this that was probably built with seamed Durifort tubing (or similar).
The photos should be self explanatory. I use the depth gauge on a Vernier caliper to measure the side to side differences, string to seat tube. Same caliper measures the distance between the fork ends and dropouts. These rear dropouts have been widened by someone at one time, but I'm not willing to try squeezing them closed a little bit for fear of breaking one. Whatever reward gained is not worth the risk in this case.
First pull ended up at 123 mm, and roughly equidistant, so it's just a process of gently pulling both sides inward until you get 120 mm (or pretty close.)
Anytime you do this, you need to check/adjust for parallel surfaces.
The photos should be self explanatory. I use the depth gauge on a Vernier caliper to measure the side to side differences, string to seat tube. Same caliper measures the distance between the fork ends and dropouts. These rear dropouts have been widened by someone at one time, but I'm not willing to try squeezing them closed a little bit for fear of breaking one. Whatever reward gained is not worth the risk in this case.
First pull ended up at 123 mm, and roughly equidistant, so it's just a process of gently pulling both sides inward until you get 120 mm (or pretty close.)
Anytime you do this, you need to check/adjust for parallel surfaces.
Amanda Reckonwith
Look Ma, No Hands!
...for fork alignment, it's a lot easier if you have an alignment jig. This one is an old VAR.
This fork was spaced at 96 mm, which is not uncommon for older French forks/hubs. Needs to be 100 mm and parallel fork ends at that spacing.
The fork ends rarely end up parallel when you change the spacing, so they need to be gently but firmly set to parallel.
This fork was spaced at 96 mm, which is not uncommon for older French forks/hubs. Needs to be 100 mm and parallel fork ends at that spacing.
The fork ends rarely end up parallel when you change the spacing, so they need to be gently but firmly set to parallel.
Amanda Reckonwith
Look Ma, No Hands!
...oxalic acid bath day.
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