Nicola Barra Classic bike | Cycling Weekly

The phrase ‘Objet de vertu’ perfectly befits this Nicola Barra ‘Barralumin’ bicycle from 1954/55. This evocative term, used to describe an item prized for its artistic merit, fine craftsmanship, and rarity, reflects the relentless drive of Parisian constructeur Barra to push bicycle innovation to the extreme, both structurally and aesthetically.

Active from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s, this aluminium frame builder par excellence coincided with a period when French club riders were obsessed with the art of randonneuring. While their British counterparts enjoyed jolly japes in the West Country on their heavy touring bikes, the French covered serious distances on 650b lightweights. This bike represents the pinnacle of ‘650b-ness’, built to conquer Paris-Brest-Paris, the Diagonales de France, and lengthy trips into the Alps and Pyrenees.

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Owner of Velopages, Richard Hoddinott is one of the UK’s foremost collectors of Classic Bikes. His collection includes early French models from the early 1900s up to bikes raced on the British scene by the likes to Eileen Sheridan and Ray Booty. All bikes are kept in their original condition.

The aluminium frame is truly exquisite. According to most accounts, Barra employed a proprietary gas-welding (oxy-acetylene) technique to achieve his distinctive smooth weld seams. They’re starkly different from the scalloped TIG weld joins we’re so used to seeing on modern aluminium frames. Another hallmark of Barra’s design is his preference for intricate tapered tube shapes, which alter their profile along their length—from vertical oval to round to horizontal oval.

“The frame looks like pewter in the flesh, it’s like a jewel”, says current owner Richard Hoddinott of vintage specialists The Velo Pages. “It’s such an unusual bike – light, beautiful, but so capable. It’s a statement bike, not many people would have been able to afford one back then.”

Hoddinott is quite right. The glorious frame, the ingenious bespoke components – just look at that rod-shift front derailer – and the pared down weight (7.65kg) came at a considerable cost. This was a real glamour bike, as at home among the fashionable Parisian boutiques of Avenue Montaigne as it was on the brutal Col de la Madeleine.