Information on older Flandria road bicycle

Stephen Greenwood said:

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.

Quoted message said:

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.

That description would fit perfectly to the Flandria I bought new for
$80 in 1972 and sold a few years later for $50 after using it primarily
for commuting. But Flandria made quite a few different models so
without more information it's hard to say much about the materials and
quality of the frame. The one I had didn't have any particularly
special quality other than being considerably lighter than the Schwinn
Varsity I had before.

Personally I'd look for a frame that's available locally so you can see
it yourself and verify that the frame geometry is one that you'll find
comfortable to ride.

peter said:

The [Flandria] I had didn't have any particularly
special quality other than being considerably lighter than the Schwinn
Varsity I had before.

I've seen postal bikes that didn't weigh much more than an old Schwinn
Varsity. Happily, the reincarnation of that model is on an aluminum
frame; no need for a pickup truck and a forklift to load it up for the
trip home.

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Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

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.

Thanks, Chas. Looks like the one I came across was one of the more
common low-end models.