There have been many inquiries regarding the topic of decals. Specifically, Bertin owners of older, classic bikes want to know where and how to get period-correct decals to restore their framesets. In most cases, the bicycles they own are anywhere from 15 to 50 years old and usually in poor cosmetic condition. Paint is chipped, decals are missing, tubing decals are rubbed partially away but the bikes themselves remain as viable and desireable as when they were made. The need to mechanically and cosmetically renew the bike becomes obvious but it is the “how” of restoration which is the problem.
Sources for Painting
The owners who will have already made the decision to begin that restoration (see this Richard Sachs source on restoration) often have located persons or companies able to do the sandblasting, repairs and repainting. For example, Argos and Bob Jackson in the U.K., Velocolour in Canada, Joe Bell and Cyclart in the U.S., all do superb restoration work as do many local or regional framebuilders.
Sources for Decals
The difficulty arises in trying to find frame art for less well known companies such as Bertin. Cyclomondo and H. Lloyd are two valuable sources for transfers but even they do not have a universal availability of decals or what they stock may not be period correct. As well as these two, there are others suggested in the Restoration section to the right of the main posts on this page.
Some restoration shops will custom make decals from originals on your frameset. That was not the process that was done for the restoration of my personal Bertin – the decals had been stripped away in a previous refinishing. Replacing/locating decals is time consuming and can be expensive. The art work for my frameset took six months for the graphics to be finished. That was after I had located and downloaded the images to be used as the basis of reproduction by the graphic artist involved.
Due to the wide range of Bertin graphics and decals, and the widening range of reader interest in other than just the 1960s and 1970s Bertins, I have decided to expand and revise this section. The availability of these on line categories may allow decals to be more readily and speedily produced.
The new format will follow that of the Road Bike Galleries. Each decade will have a discrete section and the graphics will be illustrated with the best examples available to me. There will be one or more bicycle photos showing a profile shot of the representative graphics. A head tube badge/decal/graphic will be included as will details such as seat stay caps, if available. Road and track bikes did not differ significantly during the years Cycles Bertin was in production so, where applicable, they will be used interchangably for illustrations.
Decals and Graphics by Decade
Decals and Graphics 1950 – 1959
Immediate post WW II graphics on Bertin’s early production were simple and clear. Headtube badges were made from painted, pressed metal and were screwed o
r rivetted into place. Decals were simple sans serif letters on the downtube. Information on the late 1940s production is not available at this time but I assume it is similar to the early 1950s design
A.BERTIN

The bicycle above is an early 1950s Bertin C 10. Note the contrasting head and seat tube panels. The frame is extentsively pinstriped in the seat tube colour and the white panel is trimmed by French national coloured bands above and below.
The seat tube panel to the right is representative of the general style.
Partially missing is the A.B. diamond shaped decal common to Bertins up until the 1980s. Check the sample to the left.
Later graphic styles varied as can be seen from the mid-50s example which follows below. The dropout on this frameset indicates that it is a 1956 production bicycle. It retains the stamped/riveted head badge which time has robbed of its colour and the seat tube banding/A.B. diamond but the downtube logo has changed to a much more ornate form. The Arrow/Script version shown on this frameset was used until the 1960s on track, road and touring models alike.

This logo or similar variations would last forward into the mid-1960s. The
orange frameset which follows is a well preserved example of a 1958 Bertin sport bike complete with all its graphics comparitively undamaged.

The head tube is now decorated by the familiar foil Bertin badge, extensive pinstriping is seen on the frame tubes
and the head tube tri-coloured band has appeared to match the two on the seat tube. Seat stay caps have aquired tri-colour decals and the Durifort forks have gained white pinstriping on the crown.
Many early framesets were built with Vitus Durifort tubing in all of the frame and forks. Identifying decals appeared on the seat tube and both fork blades. The orange and white example above has the 3 main tubes in Durifort as well as the fork. The two photos below show the Vitus stickers which are two of the oldest I have record of.

3 Tubes Durifort

Durifort Forks
Soon to come — the 1960’s.

such as this one from Lorenzo (under the 80s). Plus, I will be organizing and preparing a major post on Bertin graphics and decals arranged by era just like the Gallery reorganization.

























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![bertin_54x56cm_blue_03[1] bertin_54x56cm_blue_03[1]](http://bertinclassiccycles.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/bertin_54x56cm_blue_031.jpg?w=460&h=268)
![Bertin_CT_60x57cm_white_p2[1] Bertin_CT_60x57cm_white_p2[1]](http://bertinclassiccycles.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/bertin_ct_60x57cm_white_p21.jpg?w=460&h=290)
![Bertin_gold_CT[1] Bertin_gold_CT[1]](http://bertinclassiccycles.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/bertin_gold_ct1.jpg?w=459&h=290)
















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to previous users but other images are new. I hope you will use either the active links or the tabs at the top of the page to check out the new format.
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