Classic & Vintage - Liberia Road Bike

Hi Everyone,

I've been on the search for a vintage road bike that I can use for commuting, and low and behold, I found one in my garage just the other day, as I've been home on break!

It's fom a manufacturer called Liberia- I have tried some google searches on the manufacturer, but I can't really find too much, other than it's a French made road bike. The bike is over 30 years old- it must have been my uncle's- it has old college registration stickers from 1973, and I'm assuming the last time this bike was ridden was about 1990. The paint job is sort of a reddish-brown, and there's some surface rust at various points. I actually rode it around for a couple of miles (probably foolishly) after I put some air into the tires, and everything seems to be in working order. Does anyone have any advice or more information on such a bike? I'm intrigued to know a little bit about where it came from/ when/if it was popular, and so forth.

Thanks a bunch. I'll try to put some pictures up later if I can.

Libertas?

Liberia was another French UO-8 grade campus bike. I don't know who imported them but as an undergraduate I remember seeing enough of them around. Did you lose your virginity on one or something like that? Aside from the paint, these bikes were pretty interchangeable. On the hand, a French bike in the right shade of blue, with Simplex Prestige shifters, Mafac Racer brakes, Pletscher rack, and a gear chart written with a Sharpie on a 3x5 laminated card that hangs from the handlebar might elicit a sigh.

Libertas was another French brand of that period, with a somewhat wider range of products. One of my neighbors' winter bikes is a 531 double-butted Libertas that he built up from dumpster parts. Crazy thing has hardly no fork rake, but it's still a pretty decent ride.

There is a new member to BF who comes from Grenoble France. Zappimax says they used to make them there.

Libertas was another French brand of that period, with a somewhat wider range of products.
Actually: Belgian...and some of the high-end models were quite nice if a bit roughly finished.

yea gurry, you're spot on with that. I just noticed a decal on the front saying it was from that town. I wonder if they are still making bicycles.

I'm going to fix it up. It needs some new paint for sure, probably new tyres, screws, etc. I'll try to get some pictures up too.