cyclophilia 

Notes for Gashouse on his Peugeot PX-10:

Your observations of the roughly machined finish on the headset and bottom bracket cups are consistent with French manufacture of the period. Ditto on the lack of consistency in the number of bearings for the headset and the pedals, though you could blame the headset discrepancy on the factory assembly process. Cables and cable ends are the responsibility of the assembler. In some retail bicycle shops during the 1970s the final assembly checklist included removal and greasing (and trimming if needed) the brake cables and housings, checking the headset/bottom bracket/hub adjustments, greasing the handlebar stem and seatpost, greasing the pedal spindle threads prior to installation, adjusting cable tensions, checking brake pad adjustment, touch-up on the wheel truing if needed, lubricating the freewheel, and some other niceties. In other shops the practice was quick assembly and sell it out the door. I find real joy in encountering a vintage bicycle that was properly set up before sale. Things seem in better condition and easier to disassemble.

The Mafac brake calipers and levers will benefit from a good cleaning and lubrication.

Tip on replacement rear derailleur pulley wheels: the older SunTour pulleys will work as a substitute for the original Simplex if you have trouble finding Simplex at a reasonable price.

prairiepedaler

and @johnnyace

Thanks for the input on the tire sizes. I decided to try this old bike out for fun. Looks to be complete and original. Ok condition. Haven't picked it up yet but it is on hold. If I decide I don't like it I'll try and trade it locally for something else. It's a 1983, or '82 Mirage Sport model I think. The tires on it currently are 28mm x 700 and it appears there is significant room for fatter tires.

repechage

the fall of Gallic bike civilization was at hand...
prices and perceived value of French components were not making it in the market.

STC syndicate was too late.
the product range was decent until Shimano almost killed off everyone with index...

bikemig 

The motobecane catalogs are online and will give you an idea of what came on the bike originally. The Mirage was second from the bottom (the Nomad was on the bottom). French hi tensile steel bikes are very good and typically have clearance for generous tire volume (at least by the standards of the day which means 32c-35c usually). I did a long tour once on a 1980s Super Mirage; that is a fine bike.

prairiepedaler

Here it is, in the condition I found it. I guess this means it's time to update the bike list in the user profile? The Hubs are Maillard from what I can tell. This bike appears to be largely original. Note the seatpost peg in the seat tube. Someone in another thread said that the original seatpost was notched to receive a fastener through that braze-on? I guess that means the post collar isn't an original feature. I don't know too much about this bike or other Motos. I'll investigate further over the next few days.

2flit

Here is a French bicycle that we found in a barn while on a tandem tour from Nantes to Budapest. Shipped the bicycle home and used as one of my daily riders on my commute into the office. Wonderful feeling to ride

robertj298 

Dang. How tall are you?

2flit

I'm six foot five and most of my frames are 67cm-70cm C-C seat tube. This skyscraper was a very lucky find. He didn't build that many frames this size. I wish I could find the touring frame he built for the same fellow that commissioned my frame. The original owners name is etched in the stem cap....

mountaindave 

Wow, that is an amazing barn find!! I’m trying to see the wiring routing from the rear generator to the front light. Is there an internal wire to a head-tube bushing and another wire coming out of the bottom of the steerer into the rolled edge of the fender up to the light? Also, was there ever a rear light?

It also looks like you’ve swapped out the Huret Jubilee RD for a Duopar? And added a “suicide” FD. That’s a bold move.

There must be so much to tell about this unique find - it deserves its own thread!

2flit

[QUOTE=mountaindave;22339167]Wow, that is an amazing barn find!! I’m trying to see the wiring routing from the rear generator to the front light. Is there an internal wire to a head-tube bushing and another wire coming out of the bottom of the steerer into the rolled edge of the fender up to the light? Also, was there ever a rear light?

Here is a picture of the 'Head Tube Bushing' that you may have coined a phrase about... Rene Herse used a set of carbon brushes built into the head tube that act as a positive conductor to the fork where the wires exit the blade and run inside a fender welt to the headlight. The amount of light produced matches the era where three or five speeds were seen as simply magnificent and the ride on this bike takes you back in time to a place where expectations were both very different and seemingly happily met.

ehcoplex 

I wish there were some barns like that around where I live......! What a beauty.

mountaindave 

Wow! Did that come with the bike? So many questions!

bikemig 

I'm at 4 French bikes, two of which are built and two of which need work. One thing I really appreciate about French bikes is that it is easy to set them up for hill climbing by running a stronglight 99 (which can go as low as 28 teeth) or a TA (or a Nervar clone of a TA, or the Stronglight 49)(which can go as low as 26). Most of the parts on French bikes (cranks, hubs, headsets, brakes) tend to be pretty good (there is variation as with anything else). Simplex rear derailleurs are actually pretty good but the front derailleurs and shifters made of delrin may have been acceptable when new but are pretty bad now.


1973 Motobecane Grand Record

1982 Peugeot PXN 10

1970s Mercier 300 project

1970s Peugeot UE 8 project

non-fixie 

While I can get all giddy about the stories connected to a particular bike, mrs non-fixie is much more practical. For her a bike needs to ride well and look good. Period.

Two Frenchies have made their way into her heart by riding well and looking good.

First is a Mercier mixte:



(BTW, I thought one of my personal favorites, the Jacques Anquetil pictured here, was a French bike as well, but I recently learnt that the Belgian Depoorter family also held rights to the Jacques Anquetil brand name, and now I am not so sure.)

The second is her current favorite, a Méral. Designed by the talented Francis Quillon, it combines a low stand-over height with a decent amount of stiffness:

2flit

I found that drawing for the carbon brushes somewhere in the ether that we are communicating in here, but no longer clearly recall it's source... maybe from this fellow who I ran across while trying to locate this 'Gentleman's Bike' bigger brother that was built for Mr. Benoit and had the full range of randonneuring treatments. The fellow that provided the drawing might be Rob van Driel

1989Pre 

I finally found the ride I was looking for all my life. I was shopping a few years back, and all I knew was that I wanted something French (I was thinking Bertin or Mercier but nothing available in my size) and made of an early version of Vitus. I then learnt of Vitus 172, so looked for frames with that tubing. I really didn't know what to expect, but believed in luck. Very quickly, I found a frame "of interest". It was made by a manufacturer that I had not heard of: Manufrance. The model was Hirondelle, the model name being used since the 1880's. It was made of the Vitus 172, and the finish was original. The dropouts were not forged, but that has never been a problem for me on other bikes I've had with stamped drops-out.
The frameset was in a suburb of Lyon, not far from where it was built.
I built it with 95% French components, the headset and bottom bracket having been included with the frame-set.
It now has a Simplex Touriste 303 rear derailleur, and two TA bottle cages, one on the seat-tube and one under the down-tube. I am looking for some touring racks for it.
The bike gives the most amazing ride. I have read that the Vitus 172 is both cold-worked and heat-treated, with specially attention being paid to the grain of the steel. Whatever they did, they did it right. It gives divine feedback.
The story of Manufrance is very interesting, especially the co-operative union they formed, SCOPD.
I couldn't have done better for 79 dollars plus shipping:

mountaindave 

This bike needs its own thread - more info!!

TugaDude

Most of the classic French bikes seem to be described as good riders. Peugeot and Motobecane are the two I have experience with and can attest that all have been solid riders. I wish I still had the P-8 Pug that I sold. But at the time something had to go and it drew short straw.

2flit

If you start it...
I'll follow

mountaindave 

Um… don’t you think the owner should start it? Lots of threads are started showing off unique bikes. It’s not grandstanding, it’s sharing historical info. And lots of juicy photos!

2flit

Mountain Dave,
OK, I'll bite. I have some downtime today from a massive refit project on our Trimaran in New Zealand. Only issue is that the Rene Herse is back on Orcas Island and I'm here, so I only have pictures that are on my Laptop that's with me. Hopefully the ride is still a good one with the old pictures.
Look for something titled "1968 Rene Herse Gentleman's Bicycle"...


As arrived in the USA circa November 2012

ehcoplex 

Thought it was cool that the Stronglight BB spindle I got from France came with this stamp on the package-

Chombi1 

That seatlost clamping method is very similar to what Peugeot had on their bikes in the 84 model year.
Not a great design, but it worked good enough, as long as the owner does not overtighten the grub screw and end up deforming the seat tube too much or stripping the threads on the boss..
Peugeot's version is slightly higher up on the seat tube, right under/behind the seat lug. They what pretty much looks like a waterbottle cage brazed-on threaded boss with a star shaped reinforcing surround.
I have it on my Peugeot PSV and it came with a special microadjust sestpost made by JPR that has a groove machined on to the back of the shaft to receive the pointed end of the grub screw (The JPR sestpost with the groove sometimes come up for sale in eBay). Although it looks slick to me when I first got the bike, I ended up not really liking this method of anchoring the seatpost as it resulted in ugly divots being dug into the groove on the seatpost shaft. I also am always afraid that the seatpost could slip or the grub screw boss could crack from road shock. I would be a bit leery to let anyone really heavy to ride my bike, because of it.
Peugeot abandoned this seatpost anchorage design after just one model year, I suspect, because of some owners having trouble with it.
BTW, that solution of using a modern seat tube seatpost clamp is a good one. The frame seems to be lugless and a vertical slot must have been cut at the back of the seat tube to make it work? Unfortunately it most likely will not work as well on the Peugeots, as the seat cluster lug top section on their does not really present a good place for the clamp to grab on to.
It is a good example though of the very quirky stuff that the French always seemed to come up with.....

repechage

These late Motobecane frames I find interesting as the lack of lugs really deletes the identity, to make up for it they added details they could? The binderless seatpost, the deformation of the top tube to place the cable run. They were trying.
soon enough to become MBK then receivership.

big chainring 

Oui, like buttering bread.