I just bought this bike. Brand is St. Etienne, says made in france and hand made on the frame. Allmost all the components say made in france. Mafac "Racer" brakes. Very unusual quick release hubs. Samir Samiox rims. Anybody know anything about this bike, brand, age etc.? Excuse the dirt haven't cleaned it up yet.

Looks like a typical low end French lightweight from the fifties to seventies. There were probably more French brands that came and went during that period than any other. Those are wing nuts, the poor man's quick release. I have a French track bike of similar vintage. A Lejeune Captivante. Normandy hubs, Mavic rims, Brooks saddle, unknown crank and pedals. Rear hub had been stripped and replaced with a derailleur Shimano, which I replaced with a steel Brampton double sided fixed/freewheel hub. I also added the front brake and alloy SR seat post. Wish I could see how to attach an image without hosting it myself. Is there a trick to it?

Okay, I found out how to attach an image of my hub.

This link sheds more light on St. Etienne...

https://216.239.39.104/translate_c?h...GLD:en%26sa%3DN

... also added the front brake and alloy SR seat post. Wish I could see how to attach an image without hosting it myself. Is there a trick to it? ...

Go Advanced, Manage attachments (lower part of page). The images must be smaller than 100k or they won't load...I drag mine through Canvas and reduce the image size and JPG quality until they fit. Most image editing software gives you these options.

Thanks, lurker, I did the unthinkable and went to "Forum Suggestions & User Assistance" while you were posting. However, your St. Etienne link returns a Google error.

The presence of wing nuts indicates the bicycle is most likely early 1970s. As Oldyellr points out, the the bicycle is typical of even earlier periods, but most likely it's from the early 1970s boom period, as that's when the vast majority of 10 speeds were purchased. The CPSC (sp?) targeted wing nuts as a hazard in their proposed legislation in the early 1970s. Most manufacturers voluntarily removed the devices in advance of the legislation, according to their own implementation schedule, so there is no specific date when we can say that they disappeared. However, most manufacturers had gotten rid of them by 1975, so the presence of wings usually indicates early 1970s models.

From what I can see, the model appears to be the US-10, which was an entry level model. I had a 1977 St. Etienne with Reynolds 531 butted tubing, which I sold off last year. I do have some info on St. Etienne, but first I'll give the Luker the chance to re-post with his info.

Interesting. Try this link. Maybe the translation engine hosed the first link up?

https://babelfish.altavista.com/babel...om%2fid160.htm

I agree with T-Mar that this is a bike from the early 1970's. When the U.S. bike boom hit in 1971 -1972 everyone and his brother starting exporting bikes to America. St. Etienne was one of a large number of French brands exported here that lasted maybe 5 years maximum before they disappeared. Typical basic French stuff, and like said, the front hub wing nuts are a dead giveaway for its time. Intersting trying to get replacement parts for this bike now-frech threaded everything plus smaller than normal stem, bars, etc.

I picked up a bike at the thrift store last week. Says St. Etienne on the headtube area. The downtube has a Francia decal on both sides. Now the odd part. At the top of the seatube is a Peugeot logo (lion?)
with Peugeot under it. I am of the opinion that it is a Peugeot but am not sure. Has Simplex deraillures and shifter, Mafac brakes . So Peugeot or St. E??? What you think?

Thanks

Just about every French entry level bicycle during the 1970s boom had those components. St. Etienne was the center of the French bicycle industry with several manufactures located there, so the headtube reference could be to the region and not the manufacturer. The Peugeot lugwork is quite distinctive, especially the early boom era models. Posting pics would be an immense help.

Hopefully this works. I always have problems sizing pic's down .

Robert

the saint etienne is the same bicycle as the vita sprint. onr friebd told the reason for that was so they could use two importers. this is entry level equipment, but it is a real bicycle & not like a discount store gas pipe huffy along with too many other makes.

i received a Francia road bike for graduation from college in 1975. i would love to see a photo of the bike with the Francia decal. mine was white, black lugs, Mafac racers, cottered steel cranks, Simplex derailleurs, steel 27" rims, leather seat (can't remember the French name), steel seatpost, turkey wing brake levers. i adored it.

Mine was bought for me in 1973 or 1974. It was orange. I do not recall any wingnuts on the wheels. I do recall the lugs were pretty, accent paint on these was white, IIRC.

Here of pics of my 1977 model with Reynolds 531DB.

Am I in the right place? Trying to restore my fathers bike and just checking if I am right on the Bicycle company.
Also, any additional input or advice?
Here is the link to the bike: https://imgur.com/a/Yaje7
Thanks!

Hi,
Those photos bring back memories! That bike is the exact one I bought in 1975 from the Brigham's Ice Cream warehouse in South Boston. Apparently they had bought a shipment of St. Etienne bikes and were selling them at half price. I believe the warehouse was at the corner of Dorchester and "D" streets. There was a huge crowd snapping them up. This was the best model they had left. They had some chrome plated full Reynolds 531 Campagnolo Record equipped bikes going for $300 but they were all gone by the time I got there (90 miles from home). I paid $150 for the competition model.

The sticker reads Reynolds 531, not 501. Only the 3 main tubes and the head tube were 531 butted, the forks and stays were not.
It really was reynolds. I repainted it twice and you could read the reynolds embossed stamp on the bare unpainted frame.
Components were as you show except for your wheels which appear to be replacements.
Simplex competition front and rear derailleurs. (plastic parallelogram front derailleur not the pushrod Prestige model)
Nervar Star crankset.
Kiprim bar, unlabeled stem
Mafac Racer Brakes
Unlabeled high flange hubs, super champion tubular rims, sew up tires.
Atom 5 speed freewheel
Unlabeled leather saddle and unlabeled seatpost
Unlabeled caged pedals
22.5 lbs which was quite light for the day.

I have some photos somewhere. I sold it in 1982.

It had those diabolical French threads and small diameters, Hard to get parts for.

Lots of good rides on that bike including the Fitchburg Cycling Club Triple Century in 1977.
It was always too big for me.

Hope you or someone else can enjoy it!

Welcome to the forums. This sounds like a predecessor to my 1977 (see photos, post #6 ). Most was as you describe, with the following exceptions. The saddle was a plastic based Ideale. The brakes were MAFAC Competition versus Racers. The derailleurs were the slightly more modern SX810 and SXA22. The tubular rims were MAVIC Montherly and the hubs were 3 piece New Star with aluminum flanges pressed onto a steel barrel.

Had a customer at my workshop who had this same model about thirty-five years back. His was orange with black trim. It was equipped the same as the machine shown in the gallery. It must have been a couple years earlier as it wore the previous model of Simplex forged ends.

He had also purchased it on the east coast of the U.S. Forget now the city and state.

I converted a St. Etienne into a single-speed porteur. I replaced the original fork with one from a Raleigh Int'l (more rake/lower trail) and powder coated it black. It's a very nice rider:

In 1975 I entered my first bike race and won. First prize was a St. Etienne. It was equipped exactly like a Peugeot UO-8. It retailed for $145 to the Pug's $140.

Just sand the insertion portion of a standard 22.2mm / 7/8" stem to 22.0mm. Been there ... done that ... works like a champ.

My dad just got a vintage St etienne and we can't figure out what year it is.

It's an entry level model from the bike boom era 1970-1974. It looks it has "nutted" hubs - hex nuts instead of wing nuts or quick releases.

One recommendation: always post pictures of the drive side of a bike - the scary, dirty, ugly stuff that makes it go. They're some of the most important features for identifying a bike. Also closeups of the areas circled in the picture below.

The city of St Etienne was the capitol of bicycle manufacturing in France. St Etienne brand was mid-range marque.

The few that I saw during the early 70's were all entry level models with decals that looked a lot like those used by Gitane.

The bike looks like it's in nice shape.

verktyg

Chas.

St Etienne was sold in the Northern Ohio area during the mid-70s by Rick Case Honda (branching out from/capitalizing on the 'gas crisis' days I'd guess). I almost bought one in late '74, but got my first Fuji 'Special Tourer' instead.

-----

Before anyone rides it PLEASE lower that BF handlebar stem. It is dangerous in that position. Not enough insertion.

-----