DISRAELI DOCUMENTS
see also French Patent # 767,154 - Super-Rapid 1934
see also French Patent # 767,154 - Super-Rapid 1934
see also French Patent # 807,506 - Super-Rapid 1935
see also French Patent # 807,506 - Super-Rapid 1935
see also L'Auto 03/10/1935 - Le Stand L. Valat
see also L'Auto 03/10/1935 - Le Stand L. Valat
see also French Patent # 848,964 - Super-Rapid 1938
see also French Patent # 848,964 - Super-Rapid 1938
see also L'Officiel A.C.M. 26/03/1939 - Super-Rapid ad
see also L'Officiel A.C.M. 26/03/1939 - Super-Rapid ad
see also L'Officiel A.C.M. 04/06/1939 - Super-Rapid ad
see also L'Officiel A.C.M. 04/06/1939 - Super-Rapid ad
see also New Cycling 05/1981 - '81 Derailleur Collection
see also New Cycling 05/1981 - '81 Derailleur Collection
Établissement Super-Rapid was based in Le Coteau, about 50 miles north of Saint-Étienne, in France. The only products that it manufactured, that I am aware of, are derailleurs. You do see brakes branded 'Super Rapid' but these are made in Milano, Italy by a completely different and unrelated company.
Super-Rapid is something of a mystery. On the one hand, if you hang around ebay.fr or french flea markets, you will see a surprisingly large number of Super-Rapid derailleurs, spread across half a dozen different models, some in clearly branded boxes. On the other hand there is startlingly little information about the company or its products. The most that I can manage are two adverts, dating from 1939, in L'Officiel A.C.M..
The picture is further clouded by what I believe to be an (extremely rare) error in Frank Berto's seminal work The Dancing Chain. The Super-Rapid Record is pictured but the caption refers to it as an Idéal model. This is an understandable mistake as Idéal did produce a derailleur with a very interesting sloping sliding action. The Super-Rapid Record also has a sloping sliding action - but is a quite different design from the Idéal.
A number of patents associated with Super-Rapid designs were taken out by an individual called Onofre Forton. It is possible that he is the owner of the company. Needless to say, I have been unable to find any formal records of the company anywhere - so I cannot confirm this.