Binky

Another Rescued Relic ... a baby-blue Vainqueur 10-speed for your enjoyment.

Nervar crank set, Simplex derailleurs & levers, SAMIR Saminox wheel set....

Made (where else ?) in Portugal !

An actually decent little bike.
I love finding stuff like this hidden away.
This was a garage sale find.
Got 3 bikes for $45 Canadian.

juvela

-----

We need to hear from our payes bas experts.

There are/were badges such as Vainqueur, Plume Vainqueur, Plume, etc produced there.

If one looks closely at the cycle's lugs, crown, seat stay caps & seat stay cap decoration one will see the similarity to the Portugal produced low end Flandria cycles of the boom era.

Wonderful find Binky!

And in showroom condition as well.

​​​​​​​-----

juvela

-----

Forgot to mention -

Rear hub looks to be an Etablissements Perrin product. Expect its barrel to be marked Pelissier. Small flange front hub does not show well enough in photos to discern a maker.

[had to write a second message as am using the mobile format which will not permit me to edit me posts ]

Looking forward to hearing the word from our payes bas experts such as @non-fixie, @LucasHartong, @Munny et al.

-----

Binky

I am still, pleasantly, and constantly surprised at how many nice old bikes keep turning up. Even if not in evidence, I always ask at garage sales if they have a squirrel trap, or a baritone ukulele, or an old bike, and every once in a while I get a hit. I caught a big Norco Monterey SL on Saturday and my wife found this tiny Maruishi on Sunday...

Always room for a few more...

Binky

Binky

Yes: Pelissier on the rear hub and Olympic brakes.

Bink

juvela

-----

Front wheel evidently a replacement with its five-piece solid axle hub and unserrated rim.

Brakeset is Super Olimpic (Spain) for anyone who wishes to do searches.

If one looks at one of the Portugal produced Flandrias it will appear identical in the metal to this Vainqueur, save that both of its bridges are ESGE plate style as opposed to the tubular brake one we have here. Sadly, do not know name of producer. Orbea eventually set up a factory in Portugal, do not know its launch year (not asserting a connection). The Portugal made Flandrias have 70mm BSC shells; will be curious to learn if this cycle the same. Headset worn by cycle is same as the one found on the Lusitanian Flandrias.

IIRC non-fixie has written that the Plume/Plume Vainqueur/Vainqueur marques of Belgium went out during the 1980's following a combination of mergers and bankruptcies. He'll put me right when he comes in! One possibility is that Flandria may have acquired the rights to the Vainqueur name - they did a good deal of private labeling/contract work in any case...

Thank you again for posting Bink!

​​​​​​​PS - Maruishi is a marque we do not see much of here in California, at least in my experience.

-----

juvela

-----

Two spots you can check for a date are the back side of the Juy 637 and the markings on the SAMIR SAMINOX rim. SAMIR sometimes puts a date inside a small diamond symbol similar to what is done on the RIGIDA SUPERCHROMIX jantes.





Am thinking cycle near to 1973.

---

If it will be going into repair stand suggest try not clamping over seat tube transfer. A miracle it is in such perfect shape! Even when not abused these transfers nearly always get messed up by repair stand clamps.

​​​​​​​-----

randyjawa 

Me too! In fact, finding neat old bikes is, probably, the most fun I have with vintage bikes. Sure, I keep only the exotic ones, but the lower lever stuff, once it achieves a status of vintage or antique, are fun to find and build up. Usually, I just give such bikes away, but not always...

This old Torpado, an entry level Italian steed, is still part of my little collection, even though it has a bit of inferiority complex, when compared to the other bikes I had chosen to keep...


And one of my all time favorite finds has to be this very entry level Skyway. Though I had absolutely no interest in keeping and/or riding the bike, I did love to look at it, I donated it once I finished building it up...


And a final, well not really, cool old find had to be this early seventies Peugeot PE41. Again, not something I am interested in riding, but a nice old bike that screams vintage all the way...


And, even though I have enough projects, I am hanging on to this old Freddy Grubb, thinking that, should I ever run out of projects, it just might be worth my time to street restore...

Binky

The printing on the SAMIR is faint but li looks like 1974....

The vintage bike thing - Its a sickness.
I had one of those Skyway bikes as well, with the drop cruiser bars and disk brakes.
In my wife's opinion, nobody needs more than 66 bicycles.... but then she finds another relic and drags it home.

juvela

-----

Collection shown -

is "Henry" a 24" wheel machine or are me eyes going wonky?

rampant lion mixte can only be MCMLXX - first year for those shift levers and last year for the model 537 stern mech. love the little pennant. one came on the U08 i purchased new in '65. "she looks like she just exited the shipping carton!"

all good fun!

one can only wonder as to just what the premises of Palazzo Di Binky look like!

​​​​​​​-----

Binky

They do look clunky, don't they? But not 24 inch, but some weird size..... rim stamping says WEINMANN 650-B.

The little UE-18 mixte with the pennant was purchased by a fellow here in my home town for a daughter who never picked it up: she went off to school in the prairies and was only ever seen at Christmas, and could not take it back with her so it hung on the wall of the garage until I noticed it because he had the garage door open.

​​​​​​​

Binky

​​​​​​​Better now that I stopped collecting Italian motorcycles...

juvela

-----

All me best to William Powell!

And to Myrna too of course.

​​​​​​​-----

non-fixie 

That Vainqueur is really pretty! Baby blue is such a nice color for bikes of that era. Congrats on the find!

WRT the Vainqueur name: I'm not sure it was "owned" by anyone. I don't think one can actually claim ownership of common words like that. Alongside "Record", "Sport" and "Sprint" it was used by many manufacturers as a brand or model name to give a product a whiff of credibility.

If anyone could own the phrase it would probably be Julius Ceasar.

Your bike was actually produced for a Luxembourg brand in Portugal. There was a thread on one of these a while back. I'll see if I can dig that up somehow.

non-fixie 

Yup, here you go.

juvela

-----

Thanks so much for the usual outstanding information non-fixie!

See, we were all just fumbling in the dark without you.

​​​​​​​-----

Binky

My workshop down below is fairly neat but HERS up on the ground floor is a MESS with stuff in progress all over the floor and hanging from the ceiling...

​​​​​​​

juvela

-----

Thanks Bink!

Can hear gugie now..."...so where are the bikes Bink?"

All looking most tidy!

Am sure Myrna is pleased.

​​​​​​​-----

non-fixie 

^ I see that the Vainqueur has found some friends.

And while we're on the subject of Vainqueurs: here's one I wouldn't mind trying out. When Wim van de Kaaij, RIH Sport's last frame builder, had bought the Amsterdam shop from the the Bustraan brothers he found out later that the deal hadn't included the rights to the RIH name. After some legal back-and-forthing was granted the right to build a maximum of 250 RIH racing bikes per year. As some of those were championship-winning bikes, he had no problem selling those, but it did make him start a brand of his own towards the end of his career: Vainqueur. I don't believe he made many. This is one of the very few pictures I've seen of them:

Binky

To give credit where it is due, the absolute and serious truth is that we would not be enjoying this mess if it weren't for a guy named Randy who lives in Thunder Bay. Randy - and a kid named Pat Fox who convinced me to buy my first Ducati V-twin motorcycle - have been very influential.

Bink

juvela

-----

Returning to the "winner gaulique" -

suspect chainset iberian and only chainguard Peyrard. what are bottom bracket fittings like? would be funny if they are the Flandria Portugal ones. have you checked shell to see if it is 70mm BSC?

what is fitting seen under brake bridge? looks like the beginnng of a mudguard mount or remains of an industrial strength tyre saver...

odd there is no provision for brake QR.

how do markings on pedal reflectors read?

​​​​​​​-----

Binky

If you are asking about the Vainqueur, the bottom bracket assembly is English, marked "T.D.C."
Crank assembly is marked "Nervar".
The reflectors on the pedals are marked "TTP13"
The bracketry under the brake bridge appears to be a fender support.

There were two sets of wheels with the bike and I have now put the front wheel with the large flange that matches the rear wheel onto the bike.

​​​​​​​Bink.

Geneva Ferguson

Greetings, I was looking online for a Vainqueur for a gift for someone. I have joined to forum to simply ask : May I kindly know if you would like to sell your Vainqueur?

francophile 

Paging Binky on a 3yo resurrect. Geneva Ferguson is optimistic any of us would actually keep a low-mid range bike for more than 1-2 years.

Geneva Ferguson

Good Day francophile ! Thank you for paging Binky . Hope springs eternal! And I am motivated to find a Vainqueur!