Another Bike Boom Frenchie - but not a Peugeot! (Pictures aplenty)
10-29-20, 01:30 PM
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Another Bike Boom Frenchie - but not a Peugeot! (Pictures aplenty)
I acquired this Lejeune 15-F a couple of years ago as part of a set of 4 bikes I got from a coworker who was clearing out her family house. I posted at the time, but thanks to the pandemic I finally had time to get around to a clean and lubrication. Wanted to share the results: the bike had seen fairly light use and almost no maintenance for decades, however the original grime served to protect a lot of the parts so they came up pretty well.
I took it out for its inaugural ride today - it rides quite nicely though it’s a bit small for me (its intended as my wife’s cottage bike); unlike a Peugeot it has fairly quick steering; like a Peugeot the ride is pretty plush.
My only remaining issue is that the max cog size of the Svelto according to Velo base is 26T, and the original freewheel has a 28T! If I choose the lighter of the two spring positions for the guide wheels it works but just barely! Front is 52/40 and the Allvit handles it no issue.
on to the pictures
I took it out for its inaugural ride today - it rides quite nicely though it’s a bit small for me (its intended as my wife’s cottage bike); unlike a Peugeot it has fairly quick steering; like a Peugeot the ride is pretty plush.
My only remaining issue is that the max cog size of the Svelto according to Velo base is 26T, and the original freewheel has a 28T! If I choose the lighter of the two spring positions for the guide wheels it works but just barely! Front is 52/40 and the Allvit handles it no issue.
on to the pictures
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10-29-20, 02:16 PM
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Thanks so much for posting.
Great to see!
In photos it appears that drive side crank arm may be bent outward a bit at the peduncle.
This may be solely a photographic effect...or me auld peepers.
---
Shipping news -
our favourite aircraft carrier shall be putting in to port shortly.
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Thanks so much for posting.
Great to see!
In photos it appears that drive side crank arm may be bent outward a bit at the peduncle.
This may be solely a photographic effect...or me auld peepers.
---
Shipping news -
our favourite aircraft carrier shall be putting in to port shortly.
-----
10-29-20, 02:35 PM
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juvela I see what you mean in the picture but I did not notice anything radically untoward on the test ride - will check again next time.
I have been struggling with dating the bike. The only date code is the rims (1972) and the little information on the interwebs I could find indicate this to be a late 1972 or 1973 bike, which corresponds to the timeframe my friend's sister would likely have originally got the bike. And the seat tube decal with the Olympic rings corresponds with a 1972 Olympic tie in. (The only other 5-F - mens - version of this I found on the interwebs looked identical *except* for the seat tube decal). However the bike shop decal is Canadian and also has olympic rings, which for Canada would have been the 1976 event.....Unless the shop decal was added later - I did have to replace the front hub as a no-name steel hub had been laced to the Rigida rim; I bought a more correct Atom off ebay. Perhaps that shop added their sticker.....
I have been struggling with dating the bike. The only date code is the rims (1972) and the little information on the interwebs I could find indicate this to be a late 1972 or 1973 bike, which corresponds to the timeframe my friend's sister would likely have originally got the bike. And the seat tube decal with the Olympic rings corresponds with a 1972 Olympic tie in. (The only other 5-F - mens - version of this I found on the interwebs looked identical *except* for the seat tube decal). However the bike shop decal is Canadian and also has olympic rings, which for Canada would have been the 1976 event.....Unless the shop decal was added later - I did have to replace the front hub as a no-name steel hub had been laced to the Rigida rim; I bought a more correct Atom off ebay. Perhaps that shop added their sticker.....
Last edited by markk900; 10-29-20 at 02:41 PM.
10-29-20, 02:43 PM
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yes,
sounds like bike shop sticker may have been added when machine seviced post sale (possible that if you were to examine beneath it you might discover the transfer from the original seller)
'76 Olympics -
can still recall the image of Dwight Stones going through his meditation/trance process prior to each attempt on the high jump
simple eno' matter to check the Monsieur Duprat with a straightedge no need for a run to the emergency room
your dating sounds spot on from here
i look forward to reading the signal from the aircraft carrier...
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yes,
sounds like bike shop sticker may have been added when machine seviced post sale (possible that if you were to examine beneath it you might discover the transfer from the original seller)
'76 Olympics -
can still recall the image of Dwight Stones going through his meditation/trance process prior to each attempt on the high jump
simple eno' matter to check the Monsieur Duprat with a straightedge
no need for a run to the emergency roomyour dating sounds spot on from here
i look forward to reading the signal from the aircraft carrier...
-----
Last edited by juvela; 10-29-20 at 03:12 PM. Reason: addition
10-29-20, 02:56 PM
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Oh: just a little side thought: I have 3 bikes from the bike boom era (a 1970 AO-8 Peugeot, a 1973 Motobecane Nomade/Supercycle, and this 1973 Lejeune). Incredibly, all three (different manufacturers) have significant gaps in the brazing: the Peugeot and Motobecane are missing brazing on the headtube lugs, and the Lejeune there's a gap at the fork cap to one of the tubes..... makes you wonder as the bike boom started a little later than my Peugeot but was in full swing for the other two.....QC was a little lax!.
10-29-20, 03:44 PM
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regarding A. -
note how close is the clearance between the medial spurs on Monsieur Lyotard Nr. 36 and the outer face of Monsieur Duprat
it may be that Monsieur Lyotard is the one in need of a visitation to the chiropractor...
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regarding A. -
note how close is the clearance between the medial spurs on Monsieur Lyotard Nr. 36 and the outer face of Monsieur Duprat
it may be that Monsieur Lyotard is the one in need of a visitation to the chiropractor...
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10-30-20, 03:09 PM
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If you are still following along, I checked both the crank and the pedal, and with the pedal off the arm and on, with a carpenter's square and all is fine. It appears that I reached the limits of modern cell phone technology! As well, I spent some time looking for more clues to this bike: among other things I found a NOS frame (mixte in Matra Blue) on ebay (sold for several hundred $!). What has been interesting is the variety of decals used on what appear to be bikes of the same year (or within 1-2 years): especially the font on the down tube decal and the shape/size of the olympic decal on the seat tube. I also located a european version of this bike that came with 700C still on Rigida rims.
Sure, its bike boom but it in interesting the variations for something I would have assumed was built to meet demand so changing details mid run seems counter intuitive.
Sure, its bike boom but it in interesting the variations for something I would have assumed was built to meet demand so changing details mid run seems counter intuitive.
10-30-20, 06:32 PM
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Bonjour Encore Une Fois Maitre Marc DXD,
it was image nr. 5 which made me think there might be something off with the crank arm or pedal
off base como per normale
your eyes and hands are the ones on the scene...and likely much younger as well!
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gear ensemble -
the symptom you mention could have several causes
it is good to remember that one can "fine tune" chain length by moving the rear hub front-to-back in the dropout
you mention "Allvit" back in post nr. 1.
strictly speaking there is no Allvit on the cycle since rear mech is Svelto and front mech is model Luxe 700. this latter launched in 1966 and differs from the Allvit in that it has two travel adjustment screws instead of one. mfr catalogue page of 1966:
you mentioned that VB gives a largest cog limit for the Svelto of 26T
in their materials manufacturer Freres Huret gives a capacity of 24T for the short arm edition of the Svelto
mfr catalogue page of 1966:
years ago I took in a used machine with a short arm Svelto. was surprised by the large size of the gear block it wore. when I checked it turned out to be a 30T large cog. thought to meself "this will never work." put the machine in the stand to check it. shifted easily and without protest onto and off of the 30T cog.
the bicycle's shift lever set could be referred to as an Allvit since the same set was used for Allvit and Svelto. here is the mfr's catalogue page of 1966 -
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find it odd that bike sports a riser pattern upright bar paired with a narrow saddle intended for use with a drop bar. makes me wonder if machine may have come with a drop bar and someone changed it out to the present arrangement. if mine, would check the bar centre to see if it may be 25.4mm. would not be good or safe if someone forced a 25.4mm bar into a stem with a 25.0mm clamp. since your wife will be operating the machine it might be wise to measure this for safety sake.
if mrs. markk990 would prefer an upright bar make sure to find one compatible with stem.
this gal appears very close to your example and came with a drop bar -
---
frame bits -
head lugs are BOCAMA pattern nr. 110/I
seat lug is BOCAMA pattern T
bottom bracket shell is Gargatte
dropouts are NERVEX Ref. 1037
laterals bridges are NERVEX, a huge array of these curved bridges were offered, plain ends, flanged ends, undrilled, drilled vertically, drilled horizontally & assorted lengths
pump pegs are NERVEX item Ref. 845
---
transfers -
here are better views of the bicycle's seat tube and down tube transfers from another Lejeune -
our aircraft carrier has mentioned on more than one occasion that there is not a clear relationship between the year of the bicycle and the transfer set employed. often two or even three transfer patterns can appear in a single year.
this can be a plus for restorers giving them a choice of what transfers to employ on a given project.
-----
Bonjour Encore Une Fois Maitre Marc DXD,
it was image nr. 5 which made me think there might be something off with the crank arm or pedal
off base como per normale
your eyes and hands are the ones on the scene...and likely much younger as well!
---
gear ensemble -
the symptom you mention could have several causes
it is good to remember that one can "fine tune" chain length by moving the rear hub front-to-back in the dropout
you mention "Allvit" back in post nr. 1.
strictly speaking there is no Allvit on the cycle since rear mech is Svelto and front mech is model Luxe 700. this latter launched in 1966 and differs from the Allvit in that it has two travel adjustment screws instead of one. mfr catalogue page of 1966:
you mentioned that VB gives a largest cog limit for the Svelto of 26T
in their materials manufacturer Freres Huret gives a capacity of 24T for the short arm edition of the Svelto
mfr catalogue page of 1966:
years ago I took in a used machine with a short arm Svelto. was surprised by the large size of the gear block it wore. when I checked it turned out to be a 30T large cog. thought to meself "this will never work." put the machine in the stand to check it. shifted easily and without protest onto and off of the 30T cog.
the bicycle's shift lever set could be referred to as an Allvit since the same set was used for Allvit and Svelto. here is the mfr's catalogue page of 1966 -
-----
find it odd that bike sports a riser pattern upright bar paired with a narrow saddle intended for use with a drop bar. makes me wonder if machine may have come with a drop bar and someone changed it out to the present arrangement. if mine, would check the bar centre to see if it may be 25.4mm. would not be good or safe if someone forced a 25.4mm bar into a stem with a 25.0mm clamp. since your wife will be operating the machine it might be wise to measure this for safety sake.
if mrs. markk990 would prefer an upright bar make sure to find one compatible with stem.
this gal appears very close to your example and came with a drop bar -
---
frame bits -
head lugs are BOCAMA pattern nr. 110/I
seat lug is BOCAMA pattern T
bottom bracket shell is Gargatte
dropouts are NERVEX Ref. 1037
laterals bridges are NERVEX, a huge array of these curved bridges were offered, plain ends, flanged ends, undrilled, drilled vertically, drilled horizontally & assorted lengths
pump pegs are NERVEX item Ref. 845
---
transfers -
here are better views of the bicycle's seat tube and down tube transfers from another Lejeune -
our aircraft carrier has mentioned on more than one occasion that there is not a clear relationship between the year of the bicycle and the transfer set employed. often two or even three transfer patterns can appear in a single year.
this can be a plus for restorers giving them a choice of what transfers to employ on a given project.
-----
Last edited by juvela; 10-30-20 at 09:00 PM. Reason: addition
10-31-20, 06:02 AM
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juvela : huge thanks for the incredible detail you are able to supply!
i should have noted originally that the bars and levers (not the stem) were replaced by the original owner (more specifically by her father) so indeed those are not original. I confirmed the replacement bars were 25mm at the stem as well with calipers.
I also believe the saddle to be a replacement but not sure on that - I think it came with a plastic Sportex since I got a couple of those with the bikes.
those photos are the eBay frame I referred to - I must say it looked fine when new!
you are correct about my imprecision on the front derailleur. But here’s an interesting oddity: the shift levers while clearly Huret (lever shape and trim plate) and matching the parts listing have the band labelled Simplex. Otherwise identical.
as far as the rear derailleur goes: it is the year of the svelto with 2 spring positions (Disraeli Gears shows versions with more); if I use the most tense position it goes into the 28t cleanly but refuses to come off as the upper guide wheel gets locked into the sprocket; lighter tension allows it to relax a bit and shifting is better though not perfect. I haven’t a lot of fore and aft movement left in the dropouts but will see if that can help. Can’t imagine it handling a 30t with the stock hanger.
thanks again for your research!
i should have noted originally that the bars and levers (not the stem) were replaced by the original owner (more specifically by her father) so indeed those are not original. I confirmed the replacement bars were 25mm at the stem as well with calipers.
I also believe the saddle to be a replacement but not sure on that - I think it came with a plastic Sportex since I got a couple of those with the bikes.
those photos are the eBay frame I referred to - I must say it looked fine when new!
you are correct about my imprecision on the front derailleur. But here’s an interesting oddity: the shift levers while clearly Huret (lever shape and trim plate) and matching the parts listing have the band labelled Simplex. Otherwise identical.
as far as the rear derailleur goes: it is the year of the svelto with 2 spring positions (Disraeli Gears shows versions with more); if I use the most tense position it goes into the 28t cleanly but refuses to come off as the upper guide wheel gets locked into the sprocket; lighter tension allows it to relax a bit and shifting is better though not perfect. I haven’t a lot of fore and aft movement left in the dropouts but will see if that can help. Can’t imagine it handling a 30t with the stock hanger.
thanks again for your research!
Last edited by markk900; 10-31-20 at 07:12 AM.
10-31-20, 07:55 AM
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wrt the Simplex marked shift lever band -
note that the shift levers were offered in either a solid band version or with an opening in the band to accommodate a braze-on
one possibility might be that when assembling the cycle at the factory they had the shift levers but not a set with the correct band for the frame so they substituted a Juy
have you checked the bike to see it there is a boss there on the right side?
---
yet another example of that wonderful french rationalism
if a single shift lever braze-on boss is mounted to the right side the frame can serve as both a single plateau and a multi-plateau drive train model
the boss performs a double duty as it also serves as a no-slide pibb
---
-----
wrt the Simplex marked shift lever band -
note that the shift levers were offered in either a solid band version or with an opening in the band to accommodate a braze-on
one possibility might be that when assembling the cycle at the factory they had the shift levers but not a set with the correct band for the frame so they substituted a Juy
have you checked the bike to see it there is a boss there on the right side?
---
yet another example of that wonderful french rationalism
if a single shift lever braze-on boss is mounted to the right side the frame can serve as both a single plateau and a multi-plateau drive train model
the boss performs a double duty as it also serves as a no-slide pibb
---
-----
10-31-20, 07:58 AM
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10-31-20, 08:35 AM
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WGB Beautiful work.....I am sure the person you passed it on to is enjoying it....and I note you replaced the Svelto with an Allvit and it clearly can handle the 28T rear! I doubt I could get the large/large combo to work on mine without completely abandoning mechanical sympathy....
10-31-20, 08:41 AM
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wrt the Simplex marked shift lever band -
note that the shift levers were offered in either a solid band version or with an opening in the band to accommodate a braze-on
one possibility might be that when assembling the cycle at the factory they had the shift levers but not a set with the correct band for the frame so they substituted a Juy
have you checked the bike to see it there is a boss there on the right side?
---
yet another example of that wonderful french rationalism
if a single shift lever braze-on boss is mounted to the right side the frame can serve as both a single plateau and a multi-plateau drive train model
the boss performs a double duty as it also serves as a no-slide pibb
---
-----
wrt the Simplex marked shift lever band -
note that the shift levers were offered in either a solid band version or with an opening in the band to accommodate a braze-on
one possibility might be that when assembling the cycle at the factory they had the shift levers but not a set with the correct band for the frame so they substituted a Juy
have you checked the bike to see it there is a boss there on the right side?
---
yet another example of that wonderful french rationalism
if a single shift lever braze-on boss is mounted to the right side the frame can serve as both a single plateau and a multi-plateau drive train model
the boss performs a double duty as it also serves as a no-slide pibb
---
-----
I agree with the comment on "use what is in the bin" - I have been a vintage Italian motorcycle guy for 30+ years and am intimately familiar with the concept.....I think the factory folks did it intentionally to mess up restorers in the future......Anybody saying "matching numbers" on a Ducati that is more than 20 years old is either naive or conning you!
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10-31-20, 08:44 AM
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"replaced the Svelto with an Allvit"
Completely forgot that. I think I used the one that came with a Schwinn Varsity (not 100% sure on that) as I wanted to build up a complete group set of '60's/'70's parts to save for a "special" higher end frame.
Completely forgot that. I think I used the one that came with a Schwinn Varsity (not 100% sure on that) as I wanted to build up a complete group set of '60's/'70's parts to save for a "special" higher end frame.
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