Picked up this French 'Aquilon' frame for parts, can't find anything about them online.

[its_all_calypso]

Hi all,

I bought this frame from eBay with the aim to use the headset and bb for a project I'm working on, but could find next to nothing about the Aquilon brand online. Does anyone know anything about the company?

Cheers!

 

[AndyRM]

I know nothing about the "Aquilon" brand/company, mais en Englais ca dit "north-east wind", so possibly inspired by Paris-Roubaix?

 

[FrankCrank]

Is the intended project also a French frame? Reason I ask, I believe French BB threads are different to the standard English threaded ones. The same may be true for the headset. Old Italian bikes also have this trait, and old Raleigh's have their own proprietary threads.

 

[its_all_calypso]

Is the intended project also a French frame? Reason I ask, I believe French BB threads are different to the standard English threaded ones. The same may be true for the headset. Old Italian bikes also have this trait, and old Raleigh's have their own proprietary threads.

It is indeed!

 

[netman]

If you try searching for Aquilon velo, they are discussed on quite a few French forums... seems like they were sold via supermarkets and were fairly basic bikes. Nice looking though!
E.g
"Aquilon in 1960 is part of three registered trademarks: La France, Messina and therefore Aquilon. These 3 brands belonged to Ets Jeanne et Philippe (SARL with capital of 26,000 NF in 1960) located at 198, Boulevard Voltaire Paris XIème. The offices and stores were located at 10.12 Rue St Maur Paris XIème. They had a branch: Les Ets Messina at 1, rue des Bons-Enfants in Metz (Moselle)."
https://forum-tontonvelo-com.transl...l=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

 

[its_all_calypso]

If you try searching for Aquilon velo, they are discussed on quite a few French forums... seems like they were sold via supermarkets and were fairly basic bikes. Nice looking though!
E.g
"Aquilon in 1960 is part of three registered trademarks: La France, Messina and therefore Aquilon. These 3 brands belonged to Ets Jeanne et Philippe (SARL with capital of 26,000 NF in 1960) located at 198, Boulevard Voltaire Paris XIème. The offices and stores were located at 10.12 Rue St Maur Paris XIème. They had a branch: Les Ets Messina at 1, rue des Bons-Enfants in Metz (Moselle)."
https://forum-tontonvelo-com.transl...l=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

Ahh amazing, thanks for sharing that! I'll see what I can find. I did notice from a google image search that some models were made using Reynolds tubing but I guess that could still be an entry level bike. The frame is a little small for me otherwise I probably would have kept it for myself!