Austj42

I am far from an expert on French bikes so any help on valuation of either is much appreciated! I have been able to find some information on the Liberia but nothing to help identify a specific model and use that to help me out. The frame set is only branded “Andre Leduco” and I have not been able to find any info on the bike itself outside of it being linked back to the tour de’ France winner from the 1930’s. Any additional information and or valuation on either is much appreciated!!

bikemig 

Some pictures of the drive side showing the crank, derailleurs, and brakes (mafacs) would be very helpful. Also some of the pics have the bike with brakes and some without. Have you taken apart the bike?

Two things come to mind about the bike. This looks to be a low end bike (stamped steel drop out plus a cottered crank with a chain guard). That puts this on the level of a Peugeot UO 8 and similar bikes. Those bikes are a dime a dozen. You can find them for around $100 (sometimes less) but with Covid folks are starting to ask more money for them.

But this bike is pretty cool in terms of the graphics and stickers. Does this bike have a tubing sticker on the seattube?

This bike is worth around $150-$200 to the right buyer mainly because of the "coolness" factor. That's big money IMO for a hi tensile steel French bike with decent but lower end parts.

Local sales are the easiest but it may be hard finding the right buyer for this bike locally.

elcraft

Looks like a Manufrance made frame- the orange paint and chrome/Mylar transfers look like exactly like a Paris-Sprint; Manufrance cycle I once had.

WGB 

It doesn't look like the same bike. Stickers look different on 2nd bike and 2nd bike looks better quality frame. Perhaps error posting photos?

rustystrings61 

Your Liberia appears to be a variant of the Grand Deluxe like mine. If you go here and read through this thread you'll find my research, as well as numerous links to French vintage bicycle groups with more information. The Liberia is arguably nicer than average French gaspipe. Mine takes a 25.8 mm seat post and has really nice frame angles and a zippy ride. It handles more like an entry level racer, what the French used to call a "demi-course" than the basic French campus 10-speed. I suspect yours has replacements wheels - mine came to me with steel-rimmed 27-in wheels with R.F.G. (Roulement Francaise Garanti) high flange alloy hubs with q/r levers. The spacing isn't right, and getting a 27-in wheel with an inflated tire back into the rear dropouts is challenging because the bike was designed for 700C. It doesn't really match up with the catalogs for those years.

There isn't much information about Liberia bikes in the U.S. because they never really focused on importing them here. Liberia was a local operation based in Grenoble and they sold bikes quite nicely in their region, and did well enough to sponsor teams, including one that features Henri Anglade (Champion of France in '59, 2 days in yellow in the '60 TdF) and Wim Van Est (first Dutchman to wear yellow, famous for his horrifying TdF 70-meter fall in '51). They built a full range of bikes, but the overwhelming majority seen in the U.S. came in during the Great Bike Boom when the usual manufacturers were struggling to meet orders. Buyers scoured Europe finding local and regional makers and brought their bikes in for a year or two. When the bottom dropped out of the boom, the folks who had been bringing them in folded up. Italian equivalents like A. Camera and Ghisallo also appeared, then disappeared.

From what I have learned, there were exactly TWO bike shops in South Carolina that sold them, Joe Azar's place in Columbia (adjacent to the University of South Carolina main campus) and a shop on King Street in Charleston (not too far from the College of Charleston).

Your Liberia looks like the forks have been bent outward from someone jumping it. That can be repaired.

Your Andre LeDucq looks a lot like a Mercier 200 to me. They used similar graphics for a while, and a drive-side photo might help - it would show any rear brake cable guides, etc. One of the challenges in identifying French gaspipe is how many of them used the same fittings. Both bikes you show used Bocama lugs, for instance. The Liberia has Nervex dropouts and a curved rear brake bridge, right? Probably Nervex cable stops as well.

rustystrings61 

OH! On the Liberia, is that saddle by Henri Gauthier? Those were, I believe, the stock saddles on those bikes. Mine didn't have that when I acquired it.

Does the LeDucq have Simplex ends without a derailleur hanger, or the same stamped Nervex ends as the Liberia? Usually a chromed rear triangle got nicer ends and sometimes indicates somewhat nicer tubing. Sometimes.

Austj42

Updated work additional drive side pic of both bikes!

bikemig 

My mistake. I didn't realize there were 2 bikes. I like the Liberia. It is a lower end French boom bike that needs a fair amount of work. Maybe it's worth $100. The Andre Leduco appears to be a little nicer bike with the chrome socks but it's missing major parts (wheels, brakes, derailleurs). It's not worth much.