gomango

Cool.

We live quite near the Mississippi river on the border of Mac-Groveland and Highland Park.

toavii

Nice area. We probably passed each other more than a few times I'm sure...

I've also spent a ton of time at Groveland Tap.

gomango

Small world.

We used to eat there every Friday night when the boys were young.

Where did you find your nice bicycle?

friday1970

My 1985 Peugeot PGN10. 56CM.
Not much the original bike it used to be. I changed out the fork with a Nashbar carbon fiber one. The stem broke a few years back, and My LBS replaced it with an 80mm stem. Handle bars are swapped with some carbon aluminum hybrid setup, and the brakes are changed out with a pair of SRAM brakes and hoods. The old crankset has been replaced with an FSA Omega crankset two years ago. I have no idea what the bottom bracket is anymore. It was swapped out by my LBS at the same time they changed the crankset. The pedals are Shimano 105 SPD pedals. The original Huret Rival rear derailluer was changed out to a Shimano Claris two weeks ago. The helicomatic hubs have been replaced (good riddens, BTW) with an 11-32t freewheel cassette mounted onto a pair of Mavic CXP-22 wheels. So really, the front derailler, the brakes, seat post, shifters, and the frame are the only original components left.

And, I still ride this as my main bike. It has been since the day I bought it, 27 years ago, new out of the showroom in early 1987. The decals are faded, the frame is chipped and has shown some signs of surface rust. And many, many thousands of miles have been covered by this bike. But, it still feels as nice as the day I bought it, even better with the new fork. I couldn't imagine riding another bike, even though I'm probably long overdue for another one.

toavii

Ha. Ya.

My father bought it new. Rode it for 5 years and then retired it. I've had it for around 7 years now mixing it in between switching from my modern bikes during that time period. It's really the only bike that I've held onto since I've started riding and I'll likely never part with it.

xuwol7

Friday1970, nice Peugeot and I love the story behind it, 27 years and going strong, nice.
Was your original stem the AVA death stem?
I am not sure the death stem is real or an urban myth, but regardless an aluminum stem should be replaced every few years with heavy use.
Al will show no signs of stress cracks like steel and just break.

I like the fact that you kept your original Peugeot and upgraded as the years went by, that is what I do but I may be banned by the CV purists for saying that...lol

friday1970

According to the catalog specs, it was the "CTA Aero". I was riding from my house to Hell, Michigan, and noticed the bars dropping slightly. I borrowed an allen wrench from some random guy working on a car in his driveway, and tightened the stem. As I descended into Hell (sounds almost too cliche), I hit a few rough spots on the road and the handlbars just dropped forward. The screw was stripped and could not be pulled out. That was the first real part to be replaced.
Even better story, when I bought it, I was 17. My father was just livid with anger, stating that in a few more months, I would completely drop the bike and start driving, making my bike a waste of good money. He even demanded that I take it back. I didn't budge. Well, I rode it all through my teen years, during my leave from the USMC, and still to this day. A few years ago, I mentioned the bike to my father who recalled his anger. I said "Dad, would you believe I still ride bike that almost daily?". "You got your money's worth, Son".
Yeah, it might not be a perfect OEM vintage bike. Purists or not, someone rides it, and that is what counts.

repechage

I am very happy my parents had no comment when I bought my first road bike with tubulars when I was in middle school.

Chombi

The AVA death stems predates the Peugeot PGN by at leat a decade. By the 80's Peugeot was using either the Atax or CTA stems on their bikes.....
The aero type stems on these 80's Peugeot was not known to be problematic, quite reliable they were in fact....

salembimmer

1989 Peugeot Montreal Express

Original frame, fork, handlebar and aluminum araya rims.

It's mid-conversion at the moment. Have replaced BB with a UN26. Installed a Shimano M311 crankset, alloy pedals, Continental Touring+ (26 x 1.75) tires. It has XLC bar ends, stem and seat post, Bontrager saddle. Went with Shimano revoshift 7-speed twist shifters and Avid v-brake levers.

I'm waiting on new brake and shifter housing (white), Shimano Acera V-Brakes and Tourney front and rear derailleur's. Should be complete this Wednesday.

kroozer 

1968 Lejeune

I saw this frame on Ebay France a couple years ago but didn’t bid on it. A few months later Shnibop offered it for sale on BF, and this time I did buy it. It’s in good structural condition with no dents or rust. Reynolds 531 with Campy dropouts. It has the typical Lejeune seat stay caps and derailleur cable guide, nice lugs, and a brazed-on rear brake hanger. It was possibly an amateur racing model and it may have been built in Bernard Carre’s shop.

The original finish is the red and blue Sonolor-Lejeune team livery. It is a bit rough along the top tube but the rest is in pretty decent shape, and I’ll be leaving it as is. The hand-painted World Champion bands and the foil decals are in good condition. The best-known Lejeune’s are the early 70’s models with the square block letters, but this one seems to be a bit older. The rounded letters are the same style used on the Sauvage-Lejeune’s of the early and middle 60’s. In 1968 the Sauvage name was dropped and it became just Lejeune, and I think that’s about when this one was made. The decals say “Tour de France” in several places, but I think all Lejeune’s had that. Does anyone know what model this could be?

I wanted to set it up in with all-French parts á la PX-10, but I had trouble getting the Simplex Criterium derailleur to work with the Campagnolo dropout. The dropouts and cable hanger indicate that the bike probably was equipped with Campy derailleurs and Mafac brakes. A French-Campagnolo mix was quite popular back then and was probably the original configuration on this bike. So I did that, along with light clincher wheels. So far I’ve had it out on 7 rides of between 20 and 80 miles, and it’s a nice comfortable rider.

Headset: Coureur
BB: Stronglight Competition
Cranks: Stronglight 93, 40-51
Pedals: Lyotard 45, Christophe toe clips
Derailleurs: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Freewheel: Shimano 14-28 5sp.
Hubs: Campagnolo Record
Rims: Super Champion Gentleman
Tires: Panaracer Pasela 27x1
Brakes: Mafac Racer
Bars: Philippe Franco-Italia
Stem: Belleri
Saddle: Ideale 90
Seatpost: Simplex

Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/476463...7645827637489/

CMAW 

^^^^ Beauty, very nice. Looks like what is an unusually steep head tube angle for a French 60ies bike.

VintageRide

From what I have managed to find out here about my lower level Lejeune is that it is no earlier than late 1968 as that was the year the Lejeune team won the Tour De France which the decals allude to. I will get a better picture or two soon - it has the same style of down tube decal and the identical head badge as yours.

verktyg 

French bikes? A bunch of em'... Some are still bare frames.

Oldest first - from the 60s and 70s:

1967 Peugeot PX-10. How it looked when I first got it. A true barn bike:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7624217336148/

1969 Gitane Tour de France. Another barn bike:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7623681212186/

Late 60s Bertin C-37:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7623897500843/

1971 Gitane Tour de France:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7625904415599/

1972 Motobecane Le Champion (as purchased):



1973 Motobecane Riveria folding bike - $100 special:



1974 Gitane Tour de France:



1974 Motobecane Grand Jubile. Dump rescue:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7623992423353/

verktyg

Chas.

verktyg 

More Frenchies from the 1980s

1980 Bertin C-37bis Super Vitus 971 tubes:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7623655388074/

1982 Bertin C79 SSC:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7623483881858/

1984 Gitane Tour de France:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7633211592782/

1984 Gitane Super Corsa:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7623558722061/

1984 Gitane Team Pro:



1988 Peugeot Biarritz:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7625475962807/

1988 Peugeot Chorus:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7623581520299/

1989 Peugeot Chorus Frame:



1990s Gitane Team - Columbus EL-OS frame:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7623710330632/



verktyg

Chas.

auchencrow

Holy gee-whilikers @verktyg ! You're not allowed to do "shock and awe" postings here! How are the rest of us supposed to follow that?!?!

PS. The '71 TdF is not only my size, it's orange! OMG OMG!

rootboy 

Yeah. What a collection. Really? I thought you rode a 58 to 60, A-Crow?

auchencrow

Looks like a 60 to me. But I'm not fussy.

rootboy 

My eyes must be failing. Looks like about a 56 to me.

qcpmsame 

Nice bike, good background story, still a great bicycle, Semper Fi, Brother

Bill

verktyg 

Not French but... "Simply Forget Us"

I bought a Bridgestone randonneur style bike when I was stationed in Japan at MCAS Iwakuni in 1964. I rode it all over the area for a year. Every chance that I got, I explored the countryside.



Taken from near the same spot years later...



This was taken at Kintai Bashi (Kintai Bridge) which crosses the Nishiki River.



World famous Kintai Bashi.



This was an ad for the 1967 version of my bike:



I packed up the bike and shipped it home and assembled it after I got out. I got all kinds of stupid looks from people when I rode it.

In Japan, most people were so honest that we never locked our bikes.

One day in 1967 I was out riding and parked it outside of a business. I came out to see some little kid riding off with it! He was so small that he could hardly reach the pedals sitting on the top tube.

verktyg

Chas.

verktyg 

Rootboy and A-Crow,

It's a 57cm measured center to top the way Gitane did it.

It's almost all original except for the cables, cable housings, tires and Brooks Pro.

Thanks for the nice comments now wipe the drool off of your monitor screens...

verktyg

Chas.

rootboy 

Might as well keep going, Chas. You're almost done.

Let's see all those cool Motobecanes, too!

verktyg 

You're looking at my 401k...

Rootboy, disclosure: a number of Motobecane Le Champions and Team Champions in my Flickr pictures are not my bikes. I received permission from the owners to use them.


Here's a few more of my French bikes:

1970 All Campy Gitane Super Corsa (not cleaned up:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7625405320041/

1972 All Campy Gitane Super Corsa:



1985 Gitane Professional (50cm for guests and friends)



1979 Bertin C-132 Cyclotouriste:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7624283001949/

1984 Bertin C-37 (eBay picture- not cleaned up yet)



1977 Motobecane Le Champion:



1978 Motobecane Team Champion (serving as a stationary bike for now)



1980 Motobecane Grand Jubile:



1982 Motobecane Team Champion (work in progress):



Peek at future builds:



One advantage of collecting classic French bikes is they are generally more affordable than comparable Italian or British bikes...

verktyg

Chas.

auchencrow

Just "a few"?

That's probably most awesome gaggle of French bikes ever assembled by any individual!
(- And even the ones that ain't assembled are seriously awesome, Chas).

You need to revisit this thread frequently-and-often, with lots of BIGGER photos of a featured bike, because the whole passel at once is just too much to wrap our Francophile brains around.