MiloFrance

... and it was a freebie. Right place, right time, I was the first to say "I'll give it a good home", and the owner was delighted that it was going to a collector of sorts.
I thought the leather saddle might be a nice Ideale or french equivalent to a mid level Brooks. I was wrong.
Any Lejeune experts have an idea of what the frame might be? No tubing or other decals...


After I'd taken the seatpost out... It slid out like it had been fitted yesterday



Big rivets



A package tied under the seat?



Package contents!

TenGrainBread 

Nice find. Quintessential 70s velo course. I don't know much about Lejeune models.

Is the crank a swaged SR Silstar? I'm assuming MAFAC Racers for the brakes.

MiloFrance

Correct on both! I also found this on an old thread about the saddle: "The Professional Select was a saddle that Brooks made specifically for the French sales market, although a handful were sent out into the UK market (if my memory serves me well). It was not originally intended to be a limited edition at all - even though, in reality, only 600 or so were ever made. This was a case of Brooks trying to respond to market demand and the feedback that we got from the French market researchers is that this was a specification that France wanted in preference to our regular offerings - in particular, the black frame was a definite must for France at that time.
Brooks has not been the best at retaining its historical records and so we're relying here on my memory more than any printed evidence; I would estimate that the model was in production from circa 1978 to 1982 - for certain, no later than 1986 ."

non-fixie 

Great color. Looks to be in excellent condition as well. A bit small for you, isn't it? Anyway, a very nice find!

CV-6 

Nice. Frame seems to have some nice touches. Hard to see, but the stay ends and fork ends appear to not be domed, which takes a bit more work. No clue as to frame material. I would be inclined to say the frame is better than the components.

MiloFrance

Thank you. That was generally the way if you were buying new, so makes sense to me. Top frame and seat, mid range bits?

juvela

-----

lug pattern BOCAMA Super Professional with cutout Nr. R1

date appears close to nineteen and seventy-eight

you may be able to view a date marking on the backside of the Juy rear mech...




headset appears Lightrace brand by Gourgaud et Cie

toeclips AFA so straps likely Lapize

the Sakae Ringyo Silstar chainset should have an open date marked on the inner face of the right crankarm

https://www.vintage-trek.com/component_dates.htm#SR

-----

bikemig 

Nice find. I have a hard time turning down upper end French bikes when I find them and upper end MTBs. Both--in very different ways--are "classic" bikes as far as I'm concerned.

I worked in two different shops in the 80s that sold French bikes and I always liked their oddities. Finding parts sometimes involves a treasure hunt at least in the States. And--unlike Italian bikes--you can get great gear ratios since French bicycle manufacturers understood the importance of compact cranks long before they became a "thing."

Narhay

If those are the plastic downtube shifters with a little metal sheath around them I would replace them. Very flexible and annoying to use from my experience with the set I had.

verktyg 

I had a NOS/NIB Brooks Professional Select saddle. The box was marked Sturmey Archer. As mentioned, the rails were black enamel and it was date stamped 1979. It had some kind of dull oiled leather treatment.

I sold it a few years ago because after riding Brooks Pros on most of my bikes since 1975, I developed some male problems and had to switch to modern saddles with relieved center sections.










The cheap plastic Simplex Prestige shift levers had a tendency to break even back in the 70's plus they never stayed adjusted. Get rid of them!

The aluminum Criterium levers were much better.



Nice find BTW. What size is the seatpost? That can give you an idea of the tubing. A 26.4mm seatpost would be indicative of better quality tubes. Butted Durifort and Vitus 172 would have used a 26.2mm seatpost in the mid 70's. Could be Durifort/Vitus 888 straight gauge main tubes too.

Pastali was THE BEST rim cement back then. A few years ago I pulled some dead tires of of some old wheels that I'd last glued on in 1979. The Pastali was still tacky enough to safely ride! The new Pastali cement is not the same.



verktyg

MiloFrance

Thank you for all that, the hive mind never ceases to amaze me...
The saddle is stamped B79, the hubs are Normandy 35s with a 78 stamp and the Silstar NDS crank has indeed got a 78 on it... No date stamp on the JUY but I think if Sherlock Holmes were on the case, he'd say 1979...
Seatpost is indeed 26.2mm.


Not flashy but careful?



That's a lot of info

juvela

-----

spokes are Union Frondenberg - "BERG"

dropout adjusters made by ALGI but probably sold as Juy

-----

cheffyjay

i have a similar LeJeune and the ride is unique and quite sweet. not sure what it is, but it is always compelling me to choose it. congrats on the find!