In France, Paris and especially the Lyon/St Etienne region were the centers of early bicycle production. This Fageot comes from Lyon, like many others.
And it looks like many other bicycles, so we are very lucky to have a quite 'standard' diamond frame safety here that still has its original transfer. This could help others to identify their bicycles?
For this website this is a late safety, bearing in mind my definition that the real safety bicycle production ends when the top tube went horizontal. This Fageot must have been built in the years 1895-1897. Why?
- It has pneumatic tires of the Westwood type, although its possible these rims have been added in later years. To me they look original.
- It has the open fork crown, a typical construction of the late 1890's.
- It has cranks with non-adjustable pedals. Almost all bicycles on this website have the adjustable crank length.
These are details of the late 1890's.
Other typical details (also used in earlier years) are the lugs in the rear stays, although also seen at other makers bikes.
I do not know anything else about Fageot as a maker. Don't know if it was a real factory, or just a shop that puts its own transfer on anonimous bicycles, built by the big firms like Gladiator.
Click the picture to see more on my Flickr site.