Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Tour de France Project Bike


I'm starting to slowly undertake my first French bicycle build to celebrate the 100th edition of the Tour de France. The vintage frame is by Parisian framebuilder Henri Depierre who made the frameset (labeled a Motobecane) used by Luis Ocana in his 1973 Tour de France victory:




My frameset is a "Tour de France Special" made later to commemorate that victory with the outline of France hand-cut into the sides of the headtube lugs and ovals into the tops (whereas Depierre used ovals on the side of the lugs as above).All of Depierre's frame were custom made.

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1 comment:

  1. This is an interesting frame, if only for the cut-outs of the outline of France! What parts will you be using for the build-up? I would imagine Ocana had a Campagnolo drivetrain and brakes on his bike but I am curious what a French builder would have used for the rest.

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