About to buy a vintage Flandria

[frank8265]

When my Surly was at the lbs for a week earlier this year, I decided that I had to have at least one "spare" bicycle. And as I love retro and vintage but can't afford a classic car (not the money, not the space, not the know-how) I set out to buy a vintage bicycle. Combining two loves so to speak.

I placed a bid on a Flandria randonneur kind of bike that's been left in a shed for over 20 years ( ):

Although it looks crappy at the moment, I think it will be a fun restoration project.
I don't have the bike yet, gonna be picking it up in a week or 2 (work interferes with pleasure ) and the current owner doesn't know where to look for the framenumber or can't find it.

So I would like to post 2 questions here:
1> Anyone any idea about the time period of this bike?
2> Where can I buy new decals when the restoration is almost finished?

Two more pics:

Grtz,

Frank

 

[Cycleops]

Nice bike and looks liks it may be quite well preserved beneath all the crap. As for date I would say late sixties/ early seventies at a guess. Best way to date it may be from the hubs or may be the derailleurs, do you know the make? Looks to be all original too. Shouldn't need too much work to get it back on the road. As for decals I believe there is a company called Lloyd who can sort that that out for you, although I think you will need to take some photos of them first. If I were you I wouldn't respray it but just clean and polish.

Somebody will be along soon who is more familiar with the make and can advise you of date.

 

[frank8265]

I does look all original yes and hope it is!
Don't know the make of the derrailleurs, but will find out when I pick it up.
Looking at the headlight, my first guess was early 70's too.

 

[Cycleops]

I would also say that it has been owned by a very meticulous individual. Look at the screw heads that are holding the rear carrier, both placed in the same orientation!

 

[biggs682]

very nice project , just clean the dust off and some fresh grease , cables and brake block etc etc and away you go

 

[frank8265]

@Cycleops: Indeed, I think 20 odd years ago someone was very proud of this bicycle!

@biggs682:
Looks like an quick do up seems possible, I'll know in 2 weeks. But knowing me, I'll probably strip and clean every single piece! B-)

 

[smokeysmoo]

H.Lloyd Cycles for decals

http://www.hlloydcycles.com

 

[biggs682]

@Cycleops: Indeed, I think 20 odd years ago someone was very proud of this bicycle!

@biggs682:
Looks like an quick do up seems possible, I'll know in 2 weeks. But knowing me, I'll probably strip and clean every single piece! B-)

i sometimes think repaint etc etc takes all the originality from a vintage bike

 

[frank8265]

@smokeysmoo:
thanks for the tip!

@biggs682:
just spoke to the owner, other side has some big scratches from a fal. we'll see.

sorry for the late reply, had an early night yesterday. :$

 

[biggs682]

@smokeysmoo:
thanks for the tip!

@biggs682:
just spoke to the owner, other side has some big scratches from a fal. we'll see.

sorry for the late reply, had an early night yesterday. :$

time will tell

 

[frank8265]

Found out a bit more:
Seems to be a model from about 1975, the F11-10.

Will be picking this bike up the 10th of may.

 

[frank8265]

Found out a bit more:
Seems to be a model from about 1975, the F11-10.

Will be picking this bike up the 10th of may.

 

[frank8265]

oops, double post.
sorry!

 

[Cycleops]

Re: Information on older Flandria road bicycle
"Stephen Greenwood" <stephen.greenwood@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1153604375.630513.38590@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> I'm considering buying an older Flandria road frame, but the seller
> doesn't seem to have too much information on it, and I can't find much
> via Google. I know that the Flandria company resurfaced in England a
> few years back, but their website is no help for this task. I have not
> personally inspected the bicycle, as I Iive some distance away, but
> here is what I do know:
>
> 1. Lugged steel frame with horizontal dropouts, made in Belgium.
> 2. Simplex shifters and derailleurs.
> 3. Mafac brakes.
> 4. Normandy hubs, high flanged.
> 5. Crank arms look thin, probably steel.
>
> I'm considering getting the frame for conversion to a fixed-gear
> machine. Perhaps someone here can point me to a good resource for
> learning more about the older Flandria bicycles, or offer some
informed
> commentary about them. Thank you in advance.
>

Flandria bikes were among the multitude of brands that hit the US market
during the bike boom of the early 1970's. French made bikes were the
most numerous followed by Italian and British brands. Flandria was a
Belgian make but I saw a few of their mid range bikes that were made in
Portugal.

Most of the Flandrias that I saw or worked on were low end models on a
par equipment and quality wise with the low end (read cheapest) French
bikes. They had carbon steel frames with steel cranks and 27" steel
clincher rims.

Demand for "10 Speeds" was so high that many European companies foisted
anything with 2 wheels onto the naive US market. In addition, there were
chronic component shortages in Europe and you could find the same model
bike from the same shipment with several different component
configurations. For example, Simplex or Hueret derailurers, Mafac or
Wienman Brakes, different brands of cheap steel cranks and so on. This
was before the Japanese component industry developed.

Flandria had a mid range model that was equivalent to Peugeot's PR10
model with 3 main tubes Reynolds 531 and moderate level French alloy
components.

Most of the Western European bike manufacturers had one or two high end
models in their catalogs. These came with either French pro equipment or
the top models had Campy components.

I saw pictures of Campy equipped Flandrias and they looked pretty nice.
I think that some of the Belgian pros were riding Flandrias - or Italian
bikes with Flandria stickers.

Unless it was one of the better models, I wouldn't pay more than $25-50
USD. Most European bikes of that era with all steel components were
pretty clunky and weighed about 27 lbs.

There are steel plants in Asia looking for these critters!

Chas.

Found this on another forum from someone who was asking for info on older Flandrias. Thought you might find it interesting.

 

[frank8265]

Thanks for the info, sure is interesting.

I once had a Peugeot PH10 in the 70's, not a top end bike, not even midrange, but sure did like it.

I'll see what quality the bike is once I get it home.
Low, mid or top range: it's the fun and the activities that matter.