verktyg 

For Sale: 1973 Lejeune Champion Du Monde Frame, 58cm C to T, built by B. Carre. Low mileage... Original paint and decals. VG condition. $395 Plus Shipping

FREE local pickup or delivery in the SF Bay Area. PayPal Friends & Family unless other arrangements are made in advance.

Comes with French threaded Campagnolo Record headset and bottom bracket, both in VG condition.

Reynolds 531 throughout. Frame takes a 26.6mm seatpost rather than the standard 26.4mm. This indicates it's most likely made of lighter gauge .9mm x .6mm butted main tubes rather than the standard 1.0mm x .7mm wall thickness tubing used on most 531 frames from that era.

I just had the alignment checked by Ed Litton. It's dead on. The Rear triangle was ~124mm, it's now 126mm. I cleaned, chamfered and honed the seat tube and steerer for smooth insertion and removal.

Fork crown, head tube and BB have been refaced.

Seat Tube 58cm Center to Top
Top Tube 56cm Center to Center
Head Tube 73°
Seat Tube 74°
Chain Stays 43cm
Fork Rake ~40mm
Frame takes 700c x 32mm tires without any problem
Serial Number 213

It takes a "22.0mm" stem, but... except for Cinelli and 3TTT stems which were 22.0mm, most metric stems are 21.9mm and most steerers are slightly over 22.0mm... You can't put a 22.0mm stem in a 22.0mm hole.

Easy solution: most Nitto 22.2mm stems measure 22.1mm and fit most French steerers especially if they have been cleaned and honed. See last photo of a Nitto stem easily inserted up to the MAX mark in this "22.0mm" Lejuene steerer.

I also have some period correct 3TTT metric stems that I can sell you.

I first saw a Lejeune CdM in 1974. Lejeune frames with the block letter decals are uncommon. One of these had been on my bucket list for years.

I bought this frame in 2010. It was listed as a 57cm. It sat around for a while before I dug it out to build. That's when I discovered that the frame was 57cm Center to Center - 58cm Center to Top. Well my legs never got any longer so it's time to go to someone who can ride it.

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING TIME: there are quite a few well done and rubbed out touch-ups plus a minuscule .25mm ding in the top tube. There are also some small chips in the decals. It's in great shape for a 49 year old frame, ready to build and ride.

The frame more than passes the 10 foot test and with all the Campy bling, the 5 foot test. CR member Greg Softly at Cyclomondo in OZ makes replacement decals. https://www.cyclomondo.net/

What it looked like all Campy before the seller parted it out.



Frame with 700c x 28 tires












Nitto 22.2mm (marked) stem in a 22.0mm French steerer. Smooth fit.



Thanks for looking...

verktyg

jdawginsc 

I know, right? Thankfully too large!

jdawginsc 

Perfect match for you!

bikemig 

Beautiful bike. What is that piece that is brazed on the seatstay just above the drop out eyelet?

Great ad by the way giving all the details anyone would want who is thinking of buying this bike.

verktyg 

SOLD... Thanks everybody for looking.

BigMig The braze-on on the dropout is an RD cable guide. One of the features of B.Carre frames.



verktyg

repechage

Cable housing management.

beech333

Nice. I also saw this when I woke up this morning. I felt a mix of sad and glad that this was a bit small for me. If it were 60cm, I probably would have pulled the trigger, because I have always wanted to try a Lejeune and/or Carre frame.

tiger1964 

"If you rode a LeJeune between 1955 and 1988, you may be entitled to substantial compensation. Please contact--" Oops, wrong topic.

Seriously, lovely bike; hopefully new owner will show pics once built up. My brother has a LeJeune in that color and roughly that year, but I presume next model down (or two?) with Huret Jubilee, T/A cranks, etc. and IIRC, tubulars.

jdawginsc 

One of my favorite little brazeons that I wish all builders would use...

oneclick 

I disagree.

The thing about Bowden cables is that any runs of flexible housing should be simple curves; if they are not, the resulting movement is less precise.
For rear mechs that have a moving cable housing stop (as most do), adding an intermediate fixed point to the flexible run will force a compound curve at all but one position.
The implications for clicky-shifters are obvious, but even for friction shifting you can feel the difference - you need to move the lever more to start the mech moving, and overshift more to make sure it stays where you want it when you let go.

I say this despite having myself a quite nice mystery frame with both those caps and the dropout guide - AND two chainstay stops, one top, one bottom.
I don't know if they are original, but the whole back end was chromed - I just painted over - and it must have been done after the stops went on.

(Apologies for the fuzzyness of the first pic, it's a crop from the full-size version of the second.)






Fork is panto-ed Mercier, the frame had been painted with Mercier decals but showed Le Jeune decal remnants when I stripped it, so it is, as they say in the jewellry trade, a "marriage".

kroozer 

I would guess that frame is a Lejeune, going by the seat stay RD cable guide and the faded decals. Also, Lejeune used those Prugnat 62 lugs on many of their bikes. The seat stay caps look the the raised leaf style that was also a Lejeune characteristic. Also the fish mouth rear stay ends.