Such "Twin Lateral" reinforcements were fairly common on taller and heavier-duty French touring bikes of the mid-to-late 20th century, and have been featured in Bicycle Quarterly. They're generally found on bikes intended for carrying heavy camping loads (hence "Campeur") rather than, say, a "Randonneur" intended for more moderate loads and more "spirited" riding. It's not unheard of to see lighter-duty bikes with reinforcements, however, especially if they're intended for bigger/stronger bikes. I even recall seeing a racing frameset from an Italian builder of a very large size that featured Bombadil-esque reinforcements.
Here's another example of a French Campeur: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjuLmnvw Hard to say if such bikes were an inspiration for Breezer #1, maybe somebody can ask Joe Breeze next time they're at the Marin Museum. It wouldn't be impossible, given cycling's popularity in the Bay Area, that he might have encountered such a bike before building his own. Grant designed a custom with true twin lateral reinforcements back in 2014, except they were "tentacular" in that one curved up to the seatstay and the other curved down to the chainstay: https://flic.kr/p/mjNfJc It was for a relatively short rider who wouldn't normally have warranted such reinforcement on their frame but I recall it was a specific request from the customer, who was enamored with the "tentacular" diagatube setup on the Proto-Appaloosa/"Mystery Bikes" (which were the genesis of the whole "long chainstay" ethos, but that's another thread). She was a former list member who went by the handle "Riv Chica Warrior," IIRC, and she had won the frame in some kind of raffle that they held back then. Grant didn't feel there was enough room on the headtube to braze in a full diagatube so he went with the smaller diameter twin laterals. -Jeremy Till Sacramento, CA On Monday, March 6, 2023 at 6:38:03 PM UTC-8 J J wrote: > I'm starting a new thread here instead of pushing Eric M's epic > mid-December thread "Bombadil and Hunqapillar origins: The definitive > thread <https://groups.google.com/g/rbw-owners-bunch/c/8k2ulNQVpUk>" > further afield. > > I have assumed that Joe Breeze's Breezer 1 > <https://groups.google.com/g/rbw-owners-bunch/c/8k2ulNQVpUk/m/OEPrZCvxAAAJ> > was > the main inspiration for Bombadill and Hunqapillar designs. But after > stumbling upon this fascinating *Bombapillar-like* French bike on eBay > <https://www.ebay.com/itm/304828227941>, I'm not so sure. The seller says > it's a 1947 650b model, but info about it is scarce.The eBay page has a few > other pics, too. The middle diagonal tube looks super cool to me. > > Is anyone here familiar with this bike? I'd love to hear about it if > you've got info or history to share. I wonder if it was an actual > production model or more of a one-off custom. > > It looks robust, and has wide tires, a lugged stem (I think?), funky brake > and shift levers, clean welds, racks, hammered fenders, generator lighting. > I think it would be familiar in a crowd of Rivs, not a total oddball, > anyway. > > Curious what others think. > > Thanks! > Jim > > (This photo would've been apropos on the cool thread "Celebrating > Triangulation > <https://groups.google.com/g/rbw-owners-bunch/c/kcA27mpMF5k/m/4WWO0rx-BwAJ>" > from Sept. 24.) > > [image: 1947 French Bombapillar s-l1600-2.jpeg] > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/c4e99807-98c4-454a-9a42-ed602344bbe0n%40googlegroups.com.
