The first steps of the reassembly of my NOS LeJeune are complete. Several passes with rubbing compound, followed by Meguiar's Swirl Remover, then some good wax. Found some more dents in the frame and one it a seat stay...don't know how I missed them...but the bike sat in a box for 35+ years. Besides, it would have to be pretty bad for me to give this up. It's fun to notice some details. The seat stay area where it joins the seat tube is nicely finished with the threaded lug for the seatpost bolt. Comparing the same area on my French equipped bike, they are nearly identical save for the treatment for the seatpost bolt. The lining of the lugs overall is pretty shabby. Completely different lugs. The brake bridge has a flat washer and small tube so you don't have to use a fitted washer on it. The fitted washer would have looked nicer appearance wise IMO. The brake bridge itself is kind of crude with a very noticeable seam. The steerer tube has the ubiquitous wood plug. Gotta love the French

Frame Pics

Very nice Lynn. Are you going to build it up and ride it?

Yes, but not a lot.

Truth to all, I have a soft spot for this marque.

I am sure the dents were from an hourly worker throwing his wooden shoes at the boxed bike upon returning from the annual August vacation and unhappy with his lot in life, hence, sabotage.

I was advised earlier about another very recent ebayed LeJeune (NOS) frameset for auction, one with a blue head tube which for a moment had me thinkiung this frame was one in the same, nevertheless, it had worse lug lining on it. Sold for over $700. with some fittings by the way for the non French interested.

This is one of those bikes that after completion will be difficult to ride in questionable conditions... at least for a time.

By the way, I don't know if I would bother changing out the bars, the tape job with the tricolor finish is just Too chic.

But there is now quite a bit of red in the garage now, no?

Looks great Lynn. Looking forward to seeing how she looks put all back together.

What can you tell me about the "ubiqitous wood plug"? Was it just a French thing? What's its function? I discovered that my PX10 has one when I disassembled it for painting and I'm very curious

Beautiful bike!

+5 on Beautiful bike! I have a question... I note the headset has the <c> do you know what year the bike is? And also does the crown race had the 1mm lip? I'd like to see a close up of that. Nevermind, I think I can see in photo 9 that it is in fact the non-lipped rounded profile crown race. Sweet!

There's one in my 1915 Pierce track bike, so an American thing too. I think it adds strength to the steerer, or keeps any failure there from being catastrophic?

I thought it was to keep gunk from splashing up and corroding the steerer from the inside-out.

I have heard a couple of stories on that. One, as USA Zorro mentions, is that it "was to keep gunk from splashing up and corroding the steerer from the inside-out." However it would seem to me that it would actually keep moisture in longer to me. The other, as pointed out by Otis, is that it was to keep the fork from falling off should the steerer break.


Tape job will get changed out as the tape is in rough shape. But I will replicate the "Tri-colore" theme. I think I am going to do the same for the French bike. Four LeJeunes in the stable now, two red, one blue, one chrome.

I missed the frameset you mention...got an auction number?

So when do we get to see some pics or your LeJeunes?

meh, not bad for a french bike

very nice Lynn, so what are you planning to throw on it?
we will be waiting for detailed pics of the complete build.

Marty

I too discovered this on my girlfriend's PX-10 when I first disassembled it. I drilled it out. I only did this because the stem was seized and I wanted to be able to try and punch at the bottom of the stem from inside the fork - not that it made any difference, just as I expected.

It will stay "box stock" with perhaps one exception. John Barron has kindly provided me new cables for it.

Hi there - Beautiful looking frame! I've read that jamming a piece of wooden broom handle up the fork steerer tube was a precaution deemed essential by professional continental racing cyclists (Europe) in the '60's and '70's. The team mechanic would treat every new frame in this way. This was to hold the thing together if the steerer fractured, long enough to stop the forks coming out before the rider could stop. This came to light when Tom Simpson's bike was acquired by the Tom Simpson museum in Yorkshire, many years after his tragic death in the '67 Tour. Initially there was some natural doubt as to whether it was the genuine bike , but Tom's mechanic Harry Hall positively identified it from the piece of broom handle he had put in there years before! I can find no records of whether this ever actually worked, although in the 1950's there are quite a few references to crashes from broken forks, so it might have done the trick. This could be an indication that your frame has a racing history?

https://cgi.ebay.com/1969-LEJEUNE-CHA...QQcmdZViewItem

item # 270222139384 ended March 29

Should make you feel good.

Images? I don't do images, I used to, but having art directed too many pro photo shoots, my standards are high and my time is short. Of course, if someone would lend me the use of a cove for a few days...

Thanks for the link. I do not know how I could have missed that and I did not find it in completed auctions. Nice to see LeJeune get the respect. Kind of sad to see that they parted the bike. I had inquired on the 531 Forever site about the bike a few years ago and they said they would assemble it soon. They still have the teaser pic up and a line saying pics will be posted soon. The buyer certainly has some interesting tastes and is not afraid to drop bucks.

As for pics...no one is asking for perfection.