Medium Size Dog

New member here who is restoring a mystery 10 speed I've had since the 70's. Interweb search led me to a Velo Collective post with photos showing distinctive identical St. Etienne lug shapes on frame and fork. Other giveaways were the Simplex, Mafac Racer and cottered cranks. Never a great bike, I proceeded to 'upgrade' it with SR cranks, Sun Tour derailleurs, Maillard freewheel, Weinmann rims and Hi-E hubs (I was in Nashville at the time, Harlan Meyer was a local hero). I put thousands of road trip and college town miles on it. Only ID on the bike was a foil sticker on the stem tube with CDI for Curry Distributing which agrees with the history of many branded similar bikes. I am on a sentimental journey. I've gotten lots of great brain picking info here already and will be on the road and post photos when I can. Thanks! Medium Size Dog

3speedslow

Welcome to BF! Good luck on your quest.

obrentharris 

Welcome!
I'm eager to see pictures of a seventies French bike with Hi-E hubs!
Brent

verktyg 

I've seen a few St. Etienne bikes. They had knock off decals that looked like Gitane's bike boom foil stickers.

They were all generic bikes with gas pipe frames. Most likely produced by one of the large French bike manufacturers like Starnord and ManuFrance that made a ton of private labeled bikes back then. Functional but not particularly note worthy.







I'm looking for an entry level Gitane Gran Sport like the one I had at the beginning of the bike boom for sentimental reasons too.



verktyg

nlerner

I’ve had two St. Etienne, both with the French Reynolds 531 main triangle decal, both fairly lightweight with decent lug work and forged dropouts. I’d describe them as middle level. The one that fits is still in my stable, set up as a single-speed porteur.

repechage

I found my sentimental rebound bike - been riding it. In retrospect I am fortunate I was willing to save until I found a decent bike as a price that would work, a Bertin C-37.

if I had parents who would have driven me around, I would have gone to John’s in Pasadena... they sold Masi. I would have had to save another year...

many of these basic French bikes did have decent geometry. They rode reasonably well.

Medium Size Dog

Thanks for the welcome, interest and info! As for the Hi-E hubs, Brent, Sadly the rear hub, a high-low flange is cracked and now is replaced with a rebuilt 70's Campagnolo. The bike is a classic lipstick on a pig with the parts it has. I had a friend who worked at the shop, Cumberland Transit, who put me in touch with Meyer. Until a few weeks ago they were the wheels Meyer built when they were new. The drive side spokes were two different lengths. The other side spokes were radial. I rebuilt the matching front hub with the original 1 cross pattern. After 45 years and thousands of miles the front hub is so friction free that a 1"x6 screw taped to the rim is enough weight to off-set the balance, roll to the bottom and stop.

Medium Size Dog

Some before and after on the rebuild. I'd still like to find some 70's alloy handlebars with the same profile if anyone knows. MSD

juvela

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welcome to the forum and thanks for posting!

your frame is constructed with BOCAMA lug pattern Nr. 30/I

forum member Ottomotion has a St. Etienne from ~1972-73 which is likely two notches up the range from your example.
it is a bike I did mechanical work on back in the early 1980's. it is now blue; original finish was orange with black trim and gold lining.

you two might wish to communicate.

the Curry/CDI branded bicycles were made by more than one producer. there were also some Italian ones around this time as well. these were reportedly manufactured by Gino Liotto. we had a forum thread on one of these cycles several years back. it is located here:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...age-value.html

best wishes with your Curry/St. Etienne.

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Medium Size Dog

Thanks verktyg and juvela! I find it amazing that minutes after my last post a member jumps in with deep obscure knowledge about this bike. I got it new in 73 or 4, my first 10 speed and got the French CDI because my friend at the bike shop who could get me a good deal told me the Italian CDI had a stiffer ride. It fit my budget and kept me from drooling over bikes that cost hundreds more. With the hours and hours of work and money the bike will never be worth what I'm spending to get it running and pretty again but I don't care. A few weeks ago I knew nothing about the brand, its' history or this great forum for that matter. A combination of the lockdown, time on my hands and a friend who wanted to empty a shared storage unit gave me the kick to get started. Thanks for the information and good words. MSD

juvela

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Hello again MSD,

forgot to include in me post the link to the discussion thread on the example owned by member Ottomotion :

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...tery-bike.html

look forward to the updates as you advance work on the Curry...

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Medium Size Dog

Have made some progress on the bike I've had since the 70's. It was never a great bike but it's the one I put thousands of road trip and college town miles on at all hours and various states of mind. The Hi-e hub suffered some kind of trauma in the 20 plus years in a shared storage unit or else it would be rolling happily today. Before:

Medium Size Dog

What the bike looks like now. Things that are original to the bike when new are:
Frame, brakes, handlebar stem and seat post
'Upgrades' i did in the 70's:
Lyotard pedals, Weinmann rims, Hi-e hubs,(wheels were built up by Harlan Meyer), Suntour Gears, Maillard 14-24 freewheel, SR 52-44 crankset, San Marco leather seat.
Things new to recent resto:
Gitane handlebars, thanks Flying G!, Lyotard dust caps, thanks Crandress!, tires, Kool Stop pads, all cables and housings, paint job, spokes, brake handle hoods, wheel rebuilds, rear hub, handlebar tape,and white lithium grease in bearings

juvela

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Medium Size Dog

While re-assembling the bike I came up with this solution to this situation. The derailleur hanger bolt takes up space in the dropout slot and the frame is too cheap to have the adjustable screws so I took some 3mm aluminum and shaped this piece. The oval is parallel to the angle of the dropout and gives some tweakability. Butt the quick release lever up to it and it's easier to align the wheel. The gearing on the bike was fine for my younger legs and fewer steep hills but now I'm looking to replace the Maillard 14-24 with a 14-28 and the smaller SR Royal LA5 44 tooth crank with a 38 or 40 if I can find one. Any help out there? Will post in ISO. Thanks to everyone for help and info from many posts while doing this rebuild!

T-Mar

St. Etienne was a full range brand dating back to 1925, when it was created by the Sibilia family. Circa 1960, the brand and factory was sold to the mid-sized Cycles France-Loire concern run by Roger Loeuillet. The factory was retained for the higher, hand crafted models. In the very early 1980s they provided bicycles to the SEM pro team under their France-Loire brand, though they were typically re-branded Vitus aluminum frames as preferred by their star rider, Sean Kelly. He had several notable wins for the team including Paris-Nice, Tour de Suisse, Tour de France points classification, Giro di Lombardi and the Super Pernod Trophy.

Like nlerner, I myself owned a mid-range, circa 1977-1978 St. Etinne model with Reynolds 531DB tretubi. While their profile may not have been as high as Gitane, they were certainly a well respected, full range brand owned by a mid-sized manufacturer with a pro peloton presence and not just one of the legion of entry level oriented, marketing brands.

Medium Size Dog

Thanks for the history lesson T-Mar. Working on this bike has been an education and re-education and I greatly appreciate the help and info from people who spend their time dealing with much more fancy and elite bikes. I've recently learned more about BCD and freewheel threads than I ever knew I wanted to know. Found this going through some old stuff

juvela

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Thanks so much T-Mar!

Had never known anything anent the background of this marque and had always wondered.

Forty-five years of wondering now sorted.

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T-Mar

Found some ~2 decade old pics of the tretubi Reynolds 531DB model that I used to own...

Medium Size Dog

After a few recent additions the bike is mostly dialed in and with 200 plus miles on it since, it's solid, smooth and sturdy and better than it ever was for being over 45 years old. The noisiest thing on the bike is my clicking ankle. It's also nice that it's not too precious and I don't have to baby it. The knowledge, wisdom and parts from forum members has been a great help. I triplized (thanks Red Clover!) and am now with 14-28 Maillard freewheel and 52-42-30 in front. Rode 25 miles with lots of hills Wednesday and it made all the difference. Found a very healthy Suntour XC like what was widely used on mid 80's Stumpjumpers and a Cyclone rear. During deep cleaning found out that the low adjustment screw was fused into it's last adjustment position with something like JB Weld because the threads were stripped. Re-tapped it and shaved a nut to back the screw and it's working happily. Oops, posted the wrong crank picture, please see next post.

Medium Size Dog

Oops, posted the wrong picture, this is the front now

markk900

Is one of the issues of Bicycling! in your photo the one with the tests of the St Etienne? If not let me know and I will see if I can find the issue and scan the article for you.

sykerocker 

The joy of the sentimental restoration. In my case, it was Roger Riviere, a French line we carried at the bicycle shop because we couldn't get enough Schwinns and Raleighs in during the Bike Boom. Never owned one when I worked there (being an employee managed to keep me in Raleighs), but set it as a goal when I got back into cycling in 2004.

Finally found one in Maine, which the owner was willing to give to me because of my interest in bringing it back to factory original, which meant a 200 mile round trip from my in-laws in Bangor to pick it up during my annual visit to see them in the summer. Brought it home and did a laborious restoration (I think the bike sat in a hailstorm somewhere with all the paint nicks - but the paint job was infamously cheap) and finally finished the bike and took it out for its first ride.

What a disappointment! At the time, I owned a really nice Peugeot UO-8, which had given me the impression that this is what a bottom line French bicycle was like. Not even close. The frame was incredibly dead compared to that Peugeot, and the handling was "meh". Found out that Riviere's were actually built by Gitane at the time, to a spec a step lower than then bottom of the line Gitane (think Raleigh Record vs. Grand Prix). Ended up selling the bike to another collector a few months later. It didn't help that the bike was slightly small for me.

I've had a couple of St. Etiennes pass thru my shop over the years. While the foil graphics initially got me thinking "Gitane clone" the (can't really say better) less bad paint job compared to that Riviere gives me the feeling it was built somewhere else. Would like to find another one, hopefully in a 23" frame. Everything I've had come thru the shop has been 19" or 21".

Medium Size Dog

Thanks markk900. I haven't found and would like to see the Bicycling! article. It would be nice to add to what could be a general collection zone for St. Etienne stuff. And skyerocker, in praise of cheap to mid-level old steel, while a 'nice' bike is a joy to ride on a smooth predictable road, some feel springy and fragile to me and I think too much about the bumps and possible hazards to enjoy the ride more. Maybe I lucked out or haven't compared enough bikes but I like this ride just fine. Lack of butt, back and shoulder pain after a long ride is a good indicator. I've been with riders on nicer bikes who said no way to a rough road I had no problem bouncing down, at times with loaded panniers. And with it's rehabbed newness and my older guy sensibilities I'm impressed that with what it's been through it still just feels strong. It has a (gasp) kickstand plate welded to the frame, I never put a kickstand on it. I figure it's got to be doing something positive to strengthen and relieve stress on the whole bottom bracket tube junction and adding to long life in general. Enough, Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I'm gonna go ride some to get hungry for later stuffing.

markk900

After wrestling with the stupid scanner for an hour (I'm an IT guy and I hate consumer technology!) here you go: