Gilles Bertrand customs
Pete
I need to have a road bike custom built because of a short torso and long
femurs for my height. There is a local builder: Gilles Bertrand. Uses
Columbus tubing and Campy components. I could not find much on him through
Deja News. Any opinions out there on the quality of his bikes.
--
Pete
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Ron Schwartz
Pete wrote:
>
> I need to have a road bike custom built because of a short torso and long
> femurs for my height. There is a local builder: Gilles Bertrand. Uses
> Columbus tubing and Campy components. I could not find much on him through
> Deja News. Any opinions out there on the quality of his bikes.
I've dealt with Gilles on and off for almost 20 years and I find him
quite trustworthy. You should ask him but I believe that most (or all)
of his custom frames these days are being outsourced to Marinoni in
Montreal. Marinoni does good work.
I saw one road frame he did this year and it's well put together and
nicely finished.
Gilles does have his own opinions on bike fit which may disagree with
your particular needs so be opinionated while you're being fitted to
make sure you get a bike you're happy with.
Pete
Ron, you may be right about the bikes being outsourced to Marinoni, as he
sells Marinoni, and the Bertrand bikes in the shop look a lot like the
Marinonis, except for an extended head tube (for higher handlebars, OK with
me as I'm middle aged and I like them seat level). Even the paint schemes
looked very similar.
Pete
Ron Schwartz wrote in message <353640...@magma.ca>...
>I've dealt with Gilles on and off for almost 20 years and I find him
>quite trustworthy. You should ask him but I believe that most (or all)
>of his custom frames these days are being outsourced to Marinoni in
>Montreal. Marinoni does good work.
>
>(...)
John Forrest Tomlinson
>I've dealt with Gilles on and off for almost 20 years and I find him
>quite trustworthy. You should ask him but I believe that most (or
all)
>of his custom frames these days are being outsourced to Marinoni in
>Montreal. Marinoni does good work.
That's ironic in that the US importer of Bertrand frames in the 1980s
criticized Marinoni's as often misaligned built bikes. (BTW, I think
Marinonis are great and Bertrands probably are too).
JT
Ron Schwartz
Years ago I sent a frame I built to Marinoni for painting (via Gilles).
Unfortunately I did not have a jig to properly align the main triangle
so there was a slight skew angle between the head tube and seat tube. I
didn't mention that when I handed the frame over to Gilles. When it
came back from Marinoni there was a note indicating that they found this
misalignment on their own, placed it in their frame jig and aligned it
real nice. No extra charge.
This of course doesn't mean that there were no quality problems ever,
but my own limited experience with Marinoni is good.
However ... in the 80s/early-90s Bertrand frames were not built by
Marinoni. I don't know details but there was one builder they used who
produced inconsistent work and they eventually dropped him. And there
were one or two others they outsourced to during those years, but I have
no specific information about them. So at that time, the importer may
have been correct in his view.
Ron Schwartz
> John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
> >
> > That's ironic in that the US importer of Bertrand frames in the 1980s
> > criticized Marinoni's as often misaligned built bikes. (BTW, I think
> > Marinonis are great and Bertrands probably are too).
Oops --- just to clarify that I misread part of your note and responded
somewhat incorrectly. I thought the misalignment issue was with
Bertrand, where you said Marinoni.
Sorry for any confusion.
John Forrest Tomlinson
In <353755...@magma.ca> Ron Schwartz <v...@magma.ca> writes:
>
>John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
>>
>> In <353640...@magma.ca> Ron Schwartz <v...@magma.ca> writes:
>>
>> >I've dealt with Gilles on and off for almost 20 years and I find
him
>> >quite trustworthy. You should ask him but I believe that most (or
>> all)
>> >of his custom frames these days are being outsourced to Marinoni in
>> >Montreal. Marinoni does good work.
>>
1980s
>> criticized Marinoni's as often misaligned built bikes. (BTW, I
think
>> Marinonis are great and Bertrands probably are too).
>
Gilles).
>Unfortunately I did not have a jig to properly align the main triangle
>so there was a slight skew angle between the head tube and seat tube.
I
>didn't mention that when I handed the frame over to Gilles. When it
>came back from Marinoni there was a note indicating that they found
this
>misalignment on their own, placed it in their frame jig and aligned it
>real nice. No extra charge.
>
>This of course doesn't mean that there were no quality problems ever,
>but my own limited experience with Marinoni is good.
>
>However ... in the 80s/early-90s Bertrand frames were not built by
>Marinoni. I don't know details but there was one builder they used
who
>produced inconsistent work and they eventually dropped him. And there
>were one or two others they outsourced to during those years, but I
have
>no specific information about them. So at that time, the importer may
>have been correct in his view.
my opinion) that Marinonis were not good.
JT
Guy et Caro
Gilles Bertrand, if i remember right is in the Hull/Ottawa region. He make
bike since a lot of year. He is supposed to be the king for fitting someone
on a bike and custom building road bike frame.
I hope the information help.
Guy
Pete <nos...@nospam.ca> a écrit dans l'article
<HxqZ.31$sN3....@news21.bellglobal.com>...
Francis Lambert
Bertrand was renowned as the best framebuilder in the area some years ago,
better than Marinoni, but I have heard (I can't confirm), that the frames
were built by the son but he died and the father continued the business but
with less success.
There is a new framebuilder in Montreal; Guru, they run for about three
years now and seem very good. Their frames are TIG welded (Unlike Marinoni),
and they use Columbus steel tubing and aluminum. The weld quality is
excellent. The price is similar to what you will pay for a Marinoni who as
very good prices. I just bought a Guru built with a Columbus Nemo tubeset
and Campy Veloce, should receive it in about two weeks; I can't wait to try
it.
Their adress and phone number:
Guru Bicycles Manufature Inc 11735 4 Av.
Montréal, Quebec (514) 643-1444
Francis Lambert
David Rees
Marinoni does TIG weld.
Pete
Gilles Bertrand bikes are now custom designed for individual clients by
Gilles Bertrand and built to his specs by Marinoni, using Columbus steel and
lugged construction. I saw some in the shop and they look great. One
particular feature I like is that he uses an extended head tube, to allow
for a higher handlebar position (a la Rivendrell). They look like works of
art, just like the Marinonis do, compared to stock production bikes. I
bought one and can't wait to get delivery in a few weeks.
Pierre
David Rees wrote in message <01bd6bcb$350bf0b0$aff7eccd@hal>...
>Marinoni does TIG weld.
>
David Rees
What i meant is that Marinoni TIG welds in addition to lugged construction.
The previous poster said that Marinoni didn't TIG weld.
Avery Burdett
"Francis Lambert" (f...@videotron.ca) writes:
> Bertrand was renowned as the best framebuilder in the area some years ago,
> better than Marinoni, but I have heard (I can't confirm), that the frames
> were built by the son but he died and the father continued the business but
> with less success.
Gilles Bertrand is alive and well. He was in partnership with his father
but split a few years back. His bikes use custom Marinoni frames and Campy
gear. Don't know about his Dad. Gilles gets most of the custom bike
business around here. I'll be seeing him Wednesday so I'll check.
> There is a new framebuilder in Montreal; Guru, they run for about three
> years now and seem very good. Their frames are TIG welded (Unlike Marinoni),
> and they use Columbus steel tubing and aluminum. The weld quality is
> excellent. The price is similar to what you will pay for a Marinoni who as
> very good prices. I just bought a Guru built with a Columbus Nemo tubeset
> and Campy Veloce, should receive it in about two weeks; I can't wait to try
> it.
>
> Their adress and phone number:
> Guru Bicycles Manufature Inc 11735 4 Av.
> Montréal, Quebec (514) 643-1444
>
> Francis Lambert
>
>
--
Avery Burdett
Ottawa, Ontario