Updated: June 2/2020

Purchased this Follis in the first half of 2015 from Scott Davis (Minneapolis (MN) (sexyracebicycles.blogspot.com/2015/02/follis-championnat-...). It sports its original paint and most of its original equipment (exception are the wheelset and saddle). This ca 1955 Follis was originally sold by the Cycle and Sport Shop, that was located on 4th and Broadway in Santa Monica (CA). This is what someone on the web had to say: "The other nearby store was the Cycle & Sport Shop on the corner of 4th & Broadway. It was founded in 1937 and later bought by Pete Zamora and his family. Mr Zamora was nick-named Mr Pete by the members of the Santa Monica Cycling Club who used the store as their hangout & club meeting place. Mr Pete was a tool & die maker at the local Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica (it occupied the entire length of the S.M. Airport along Ocean Park Blvd and employed thousands of people in the community). His son, Ernie, eventually took over the store and managed it until a spinal arthritis condition forced him to sell it in the 1970's. Mr. Pete often encountered bikes brought into the store for repair which needed special mechanical tools. He manufactured the tools himself. If you ever visited the repair area of the store you would have discovered drawers under the repair bench (another home-made item) which were loaded with these tools. Ernie was a fabulous mechanic (by the way he also played the violin) who "repaired" - not just remove & replace a component - bikes. In those days bike manufacturers (and their distributors) just supplied bikes and some accessories and very few spare parts. It was more profitable to sell a bike than to sell a derailleur pulley! So, dealers such as Ernie Zamora had to tweek, bend, reshape, shave (yes, shave) metal to salvage a bike from becoming a huge expense to its owner. Ernie built the best spoked wheels in the business, and several Olympic Team members wrote letters back to him expressing their appreciation for his wheels on their bikes. Today I think the shop is a Van's Shoe Store". THE BIKE Frame: Reynolds 531 (3 main tubes according to the Reynolds decal). Special Follis headlugs introduced ca 1952 - 53. Nervex fork crown. Brakeset: Beborex calipers and levers. According to a U.K. ad this brakeset was made famous by Stan Ockers in the Tour de France and by Ken Russell during the Tour of Britain (www.classiclightweights.co.uk/components/beborex.html). Handlebars: AVA Charles Pélissier engraved bars. Stem: AVA Headset: Stronglight p.3 Competition (www.classiclightweights.co.uk/components/stronglight-grif...) Shifters: Simplex Front Derailleur: Simplex Juy 55 Rear Derailleur: Simplex Juy 543 Crankset: Stronglight 49D with original dust caps (www.classiclightweights.co.uk/designs/hs-stronglight.html). Bottom Bracket: Stronglight Pedals: Lyotard 45 with Christophe Special toe clips. Wheelset: Campagnolo 3-piece Gran Sport hubs laced to Super Champion rims. Chain : Yellowrex Freewheel: 5 speed Atom (1970s) Seatpost: Steel Saddle: Duralumin (alloy rails) TB Ideale mod. 60 type Record.