Les Bille Paks, formule nouvelle pour la protection et la manipulation des billes — L’Officiel du cycle, 30 March 1957

A note in L’Officiel du cycle, 30 March 1957, page 17, “Les Bille Paks”: sachets of steel balls in the four common sizes for bicycle bearings, made by the British Manufactured Bearing Company and sold by the Consortium de Précision Mécanique, with a photograph. The heading and coupon line are transcribed as printed; the text is summarized in Ebykr’s words.

— Page 1 —
LES BILLE PAKS, FORMULE NOUVELLE POUR LA PROTECTION ET LA MANIPULATION DES BILLES

C 331 Pour recevoir une documentation sur cette production, remplir le bon page 17.

[Ebykr summary; the article’s text is not reproduced. A short product note on the “Bille Pak”. Handling loose bearing balls is a headache for the bicycle repairer and the dealer: balls get lost, sizes get mixed up and time is wasted. For these trades the CONSORTIUM DE PRÉCISION MÉCANIQUE now offers the “Bille Pak”, a packet holding complete sets of steel balls made by the British Manufactured bearing Company, described as the largest maker of “miniature” steel balls in Grande-Bretagne (Great Britain). The transparent plastic packet protects the balls from corrosion, and they are sold in sets of twenty. The four ball sizes offered are those most commonly used: 6,35 mm, 3,96 mm, 4,76 mm and 3,17 mm. Each packet holds more than enough balls to rebuild a headset (jeux de direction), a bottom bracket (pédalier), hubs (moyeux) or pedals (pédales). The note says the new packaging keeps the balls clean, protected and of assured quality, and expects the “Bille Paks” to be valued for easy handling and storage. The boxed coupon line refers readers to the reply form on page 17 under code C 331.]

[One halftone photograph of a clear plastic packet with a scatter of loose steel balls spilling around its lower edge. Printed on the packet: a size at the upper right, “5/32” with an inch mark (the 3,96 mm ball), the words “SIGNE DE QUALITÉ” across the top, and an emblem of an animal, apparently a bulldog, standing on a round badge lettered “BRITISH” over a second word too blurred to read, with “BILLE PAKS” around the foot of the badge. No signature or monogram.]

[The rest of page 17 carries the other items of the “Équipements et Outillage” column (Turino cycling shoes, cyclomoteur saddles, the Pistora twist grip and the Dary battery and charger) and the reply form, not part of this record.]