1968 Marcel Kint bicycle
 

My son bought this bicycle from the original owner, who was in the Air Force, stationed in Belgium. He felt he needed a bicycle, so he went down to the local bike shop, Jacky Sport in Ronse, which is apparently still there, and purchased this bicycle. The o/o told us you needed, by law, a lock, a light, and registration, all of which came with the bike; he even threw in two original Jacky Sport caps that he never wore.

I can't find much information on Marcel Kint bikes, so I'm posting this here in case somebody comes along looking for info.

• The bike came with Hamme rims, Normandy hubs, and M.M. Atom skewers, but the o/o purchased an extra set of Shimano ST hubs with Milremo rims from Jacky Sport when he got the bike; fitted with Hutchinson Sport tubs.
• Super Coureur saddle
• Weinmann Vainqueuer 999 brakes
• Hermesse 48/46 cranks
• Huret Allvit derailleurs
• Chromed lugs with gold accent
• Original, matching frame pump
• Christophe toe clips

The o/o brought it back to the U.S. courtesy of the U.S. Air Force, so, as they say, "rare, but not necessarily valuable." Still, given the details on the frame, the handlebar badging, and the Marcel Kint pedigree, all-in-all a very nice bike.

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Like it! - It just looks fantastic, and the condition's great. As it is apparently still completely original, have a look at the downside of the bar. There the last two digits of the year it was produced should be stamped in (I think it's on the right side).

In 1994, I was a young American racing in Belgium. I broke my frame, and was directed to a grungy bike shop in the nearby city. There was a quiet old man and his wife running the place, and they set me up on a nice red SL Colnago for about $150. That old man was Mr. Kint himself.

I remember the shop was full of really old bikes and parts, junk I though to myself back then. If only I could go back in time and take another look around.

I think Marcel was 84 at the time of my visit. I had become good friends with the local mailman. He was a huge cycling fan and often drove me to races. He asked where I got my new frame, and when I told him it was from Kint's shop, he nearly dropped a load in his pants and blurted out "He is still alive? Where?"

He made me get in his on duty mail truck, go to his house and get his childhood cycling trading cards of Marcel Kint and drive to the shop while on the clock to get his autograph.

Sadly, Marcel passed away some time ago, and I left the Colnago for another racer in Europe to use. I hope he appreciated it as much as I did.

Love the last photo, sort of the "bike boom" in still life.

Wonderful story. Thanks.

What a fantastic bicycle, it is like a two wheeled time capsule! It's nice to see such a well cared for machine.

Bikegeek1968, very interesting story, thank you for sharing!

Do I see a Nervex professional seat lug and plain head lugs?

Sure is a great find.

This is an unbelievable story to read! That quiet old man and his wife are my grandfather and grandmother, past away in 2002 & 2001. I can remember the red colnago frames we had. We still have one...i think i will never sell that one.
The shop is still there. Me and me wife have bought the place last year and next week (!) 20st of October we are presenting our new bike; retro / vintage trackframe.

Do you remember the name of the mailman?

JAcky Sport is still there, the shop is now renovated by the son and grandson of Jacky (Jerry and Steven)

Nice bike.
If you ever want to sell it....please contact me ;-)

Wow! What a great thread.

Is there a web site for the shop?

Wonderfull :)

From another thread on M. Kint.

The mailman's name was Jean, unfortunately I cannot remember his last name. And there is a bit more to the story. It was not Jean who wanted the autograph, it was one of his good friends. So we picked up someone named George and all 3 of us went to your grandparents shop. They were particularly impressed by the old WC jersey hanging from the rafters.

And about the red Colnago, I like to imagine it is still plying its way around the Kermesse circuit, but in this age of carbon I kind of doubt it. I can't believe it has been nearly two decades, my memories of racing in your country make it seem like I was there only yesterday. I was based in a little farmhouse outside of Mouscron.

Good luck with your re-opening. Post some pictures.

+1. Wouldn't mind a picture here: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Belgian-bikes!

OK, great bike, great story from BikeGeek1968 and how wonderful that the Kint family is bringing the brand back!!

I REALLY regret not jumping on a beautiful, fully plated M. Kint when it was on a BIN on ebay, I had TOO many bikes and in hindsight I would have sold a couple to make room for the M.Kint.

This gets my vote for thread of the year! Fantastic story!

I'll second that AZORCH. It's people-centric stories which really make the old bikes more interesting. With input from a family member, even more so.

I love the graphics on that bike.

No personal stories to add, but... presenting the book! First of all, Kints shop does still exist, now run by his grandson Marniek, in the city of Kortrijk or Courtrai near the French border (where I was born). Marniek keeps his grandfathers heritage in high regard and initiated the publishing of his biography (which is for sale in his shop and some other places). A few years ago he discovered an atticful of old frames, teamed up with a marketeer and put them on the market as retro-modern fixies. "Black Eagle" Marcel was a very succesful rider, prototype of the flandrien, and most legendary as reigning world champion between 1938 and 1948 (courtesy the Germans, as you all know - this is not a fixed gear forum). After his career he started a business that flourished, selling mostly city and commuter-style bicycles, demi-courses, but also some high-end racers: he sponsered local amateur teams in the 60ies and participated in the Belgian Kint-Mercier pro team. Yours is certainly the nicest I've seen, OP.

http://www.fietsenkint.be

Now, let's plug this book some more with what makes it universally appealing, a great collection of visual documents:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8050/8...51e9edd5_h.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8055/8...54325091_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8188/8...e9a47e98_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8...e6c3dba8_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8327/8...4d5d1a0b_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8467/8...c350cdc6_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8188/8...c256e0d2_b.jpg

www.marcelkint.be
but there is no 'shop' online yet.
but pictures of the farmes and bikes are coming soon :)

great story!
I am totally confused by the website and...music? Are you going to make M Kint fixed gear bikes?
Look forward to more as it develops

I am up to the early 30's in my study of TDF, Marcel has just been mentioned. It's great to know the shop still exists.

Oh, I seem to have missed the post by mkint himself, looks a bit silly. Anyway, great book, great grandad!

yes, we are opening a shope where you can buy the fixie, single speed, single chainer,.... built as Marcel used to do in the '50 / '60.
We are renovating the house of Marcel and we still have the 'old' machine to produce these frames. While I was writing the book about my grandfather, we found some drawings about a 'special' geometrie (i don't know if this word is english ;-)) and so we decided to honour my grandfather by re-making this frame.

more pictures and an enligsh website is coming very soon.

the Interior Design Fair (Kortrijk - Belgium) is the first one to visit our shop. opening on Saturday 20st of October.

This is the picture that got me started.
I got it as a present and the older man who gave it too me told me that i had to be proud about a grandfather like Marcel ;-)
This picture, taken in 1939, is showing my grandfather arriving in Paris - Parc des Princes (Tour de France 1939)
He is winning the last stage of this tour, as a World Champion...and the last one before war. More then 10.000 pax were attending this final in the stadium. Everytime i look at this picture I hear the crowd, applauding for that rider, my grandfather. And i think to myself; waauw! He was realy the best, my grandfather.... and a little tear is blinding my eye.


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That is a great photograph. And, what a wonderful story!

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