André Bertin was a successful French pro cyclist of the 1930s who established a bicycle factory in the Nord Pas de Calais after WWll and ran the professional ‘Cycles Bertin’ team until the mid-60s. In 1970, Bertin became the French distributor for Shimano and was an early adopter of Japanese components for his own products.

Which brings us neatly to this lovely original 56cm early-80s Bertin which combines French flair and Japanese precision in equal measure. The red and black frame is a comfortable and forgiving Vitus 999 CroMo touring set, equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace front and rear derailleurs, Shimano Golden Arrow shifters, and a Shimano 600 crankset with unusual 50/40T chainrings. The superb Shimano 600 Aero DD dyna pedals have chrome toeclips and fetching red leather Milremo straps. Brake levers and calipers are CLB and the Atax bars are finished with fresh red perforated bar tape. The wheelset is most definitely French; hubs are Maillard, rims Mavic MA2 with Wolber Rallye tubular tyres fitted. The 6-speed French Atom 77 freewheel has very useable 14-24 ratios, the chain is almost unworn (<0.5%).

The Bertin performed impeccably on a recent 50km Chilterns road test with 400m of climbing, it’s ready to go for an Eroica-type historic event or just enjoy its classic Gallic nature!