Louis, Don

Tells us that, as a teenager and as my funds improved I had my first track iron brazed up to fit while I stood and watched by Don Louis Cycles which was located just around the corner from Railton Road in Dulwich Road.

Regarding Don Louis frames, and with reference to Robin Haigh’s frame number, John Monger (the builder) used the day, month, and year of completion as his frame number. Thus Robin’s would have been built (or completed anyway) on 7th September 1959.  Mine was 1261. I am assuming that JM was the builder in 1959….. I showed up (as a 14-year old) in 1960, I think. Then started putting my paper-round money in a jar…..

In his piece on Gillott frames, Mark Stevens states: Bill Philbrook had annoyed Harry by making ‘homers’. Harry had also caught Bill with torch in hand at Don Louis’ cycle shop in Herne Hill.

I had a Don Lous built in the early sixties by Johnny Monger, it was light blue with Cinelli fork crown (this was sold to help pay for a scooter). I can remember Johnny cutting down my Brooks saddle and trying to soften it by pressing it with a hammer handle. I used to take various frames to the sprayers (in Streatham I think) to help Don and John out when they were busy. I would ride on my bike with the frame slung over my shoulder, true ‘trackie’ style.

Roger Rivenell from SE Australia, on a sudden whim I did a Google on Don Louis and found your site:

I have a Don Louis road frame I designed on graph paper and had built by Don Louis in mid-1956.  My original plan has alas long since disappeared.  I specified Reynolds 531 double-butted tubing, forks and stays, Nervex Professionnel lugs and all the measurements including fork rake.  They used Campagnolo front fork ends, which created a bit of a problem with the front British Hub Co. Airlite QR hub spindles, which are slightly thicker than Campagnolo’s, but some very gentle work with files fixed that problem.  I still have the original ‘Gem’ tape on the GB alloy Maës handlebars as well as the GB (French brand this time) handlebar ends.  I did have a Cyclo dérailleur, the latest model, Mark 7) in 1956, but finally replaced it with a Japanese one with the now usual parallelogram action.

I replace the front dérailleur too, but kept the original Cyclo levers on the down tube.  Apart from the heritage aspect, there are brazed Cyclo brackets there. I couldn’t afford Campagnolo at the time, or probably wouldn’t have used Cyclo. I’m glad I did now!  My frame was built by John, who reputedly had come from Gillott.  I was pleased about that, as the other frame builder, whose name I’ve totally forgotten, didn’t quite have the technique of blending the spelter which came out of the lugs during brazing into the tubing, thus the excess was visible, a bit like glue which had oozed out of a joint.  I noticed that on a few of his frames.

It’s been repainted a couple of times since and I used to have a set of Don Louis transfers, but they were kept in a typing manual of my mother’s and when she went back to England the manual went with her!  Enough said.  I built a complete bike from it with my favourite components of the time, including GB brakes, which were never sold in Australia as far as I know.  I’ve had a few offers for it here over the years, including one from an English-born bike-shop proprietor, who knew what he was looking at.

I thought that Don Louis wasn’t French but Welsh!  Perhaps someone knows for sure.  I can just vaguely see and hear him in my mind, but a French accent isn’t part of the picture.

I had a Don Louis bicycle with the following spec: 10-speed Campagnola Gran Sport gears (obviously just a double clanger though triple clangers where around), Mafac centre pull brakes (all the rage for a short peroid) Campagnola chain set (not cotterless) Campagnola quick release hubs (small not large centres) Cinelli handlebar extension, chrome fork bottoms (again all the rage in that era). The bike was made by Don in 1958 and was about as good as you could get; it cost £50-00 and I purchased it a year later for £25-00, I do have one photo of it-what would it be worth now? At that time certain parts of my old bike where very much of that era; cotterless chain sets came out first in 1958-59, centre pull brakes were used I think for about 3-4 years then side-pull where improved and they went out of popularity. I lived and still do, about one mile from Herne Hill and well remember his shop; my few dealings with Don remind me that he could be very bad tempered, I can’t rember him being French though he did wear a beret and perhaps liked to leave the impression he was so!!

John Monger was one of the frame builders who worked for Don Louis along with Bill Philbrook plus some times, Harry Healey (moonlighting) and Jim Collier…JM was a great builder and I still have one of his frames built in 1960. At that time JM was a member of the OLD KENT CC…At one time there were 21 Don Louis’ in the club plus some track frames. JM who started racing later in life started out as a 3rd category rider and from memory got to be a 2nd cat licensed rider…I rode many times with him and so did Mick Cooper. However the shop was a big hangout on Saturday mornings if you did not have to work that day, but the big problem was watching your bike outside as many got stolen also stuff got stolen from the shop itself.

JM also started a Tuesday and Thursday night training run from the store leaving at exactly 6.45 pm…If you were not on time, too bad we were gone and it was like a race over the same route every night. It became really famous and lots of new riders learnt an awful lot from us. Even some Independants rode with us like Bart Weston of Helyett Cycles, a very young Reg Barnett who I taught to sprint and Dave Burwood was a club member. At the end of the race/ride (joke) there was a mass bunch sprint for the Croydon Sign which the council eventually took down to get rid of us.

However with new shops opening and other problems Johnny told me he was having trouble making ends meet and his wife Phil was getting on to him about money. So that is when he quit working for Louis and got a job with the GPO, which was the postal delivery system. He still rode with us and worked part time at Louis’ shop but again the problem was money I think…John and his wife lived in an apartment above a store on Lordship Lane, East Dulwich and I used to call on them to say Hello, and really that is where I last saw him and had any contact with him. John was a very straight guy but could be funny as hell with some of his stories and at a later date passed away. He was survived by a daughter but I cannot remember her name.

I lived in Herne Hill as a teenager, knew Don Louis and was a frequent visitor to his shop. This would have been around 1952. In fact at the age of 15, I pestered and pestered my mother to buy me a gorgeous bike that was on show in Don’s shop window. The frame was not Don Louis but built by a visiting frame builder named T J Quick I believe and was badged TJQ.

Anyway, it was definately made on Don’s premises and was a real eyecatcher. Don never made frames but did build wheels. Saturday afternoons spent in Don’s shop (and right after the Herne Hill track meets) was absolute mecca for me – it was chock full of us lads checking out the latest gear and drinking Don’s coffee. You could walk out of Don’s shop with the latest ‘Double Clanger’ and he would insist you personally pencilled in the item, amount and your proposed weekly payment into his sales ledger book.Talk about trust!  I don’t think he made much money!  I suspect that a lot was stolen as Don allowed ‘customers’ to go behind the counter – there were more of us lads behind the counter than on the actual shop floor! He really was a friendly bloke but would also use foul language when the need arose.

As I remember, Don usually rode a flashy,wholly chromium-plated track bike and would accompany some ten or so of us lads on Sunday morning circuits around Dulwich Park, shouting obscenities if we overtook him! Tearing around and emulating our particular hero eg Coppi, Reg Harris or, in my case, Dave Bedwell (I am also quite short!) – we were not popular with the local pedestrians or park wardens! As far as I remember, Don was Welsh and always wore a beret and lived quite near to the shop.I have since heard it said that he (er um!) liked young boys but I and my mates never encountered this.  I often wonder what happened to him, as we moved away from Herne Hill in about 1953 and I lost contact.

Now living in France, I did recently acquire a Don Louis bike which I have temporarily converted to a hybrid for use on our local canal towpath and off road rides. My Don Louis is used daily for a trip to the Boulangerie – I call it ‘My Baguette Bike” and I actually enjoy riding it in preference to my 1970’s Raleigh Record Ace and my very modern road machine! When daily I walk into my garage and see my Don Louis – I am taken right back to the early 50’s when I used to cycle down to Don’s shop every evening and peer at that lovely display of gleaming enamel and chrome! Happy memories of Don Louis and thanks to my very generous late Mum who often omitted to pay the milkman in favour of the weekly payment to Don Louis Cycles!

If you know more about Don Louis or if you have any images of a Don Louis frame, or of a Louis bike being raced, please contact the webmaster.  Email address is on the home page.