leicanthrope

I've seen this on a few bikes in photographs... Anyone know what that little lever that looks like a downtube shifter on the seat tube is there for?

ilikebikes

Méral was a French marque that was based in La Fuye, near Tours, in the Loire Valley. Their catalogue included a model for most genres: road racing, track, a mountain bike, lady’s racers and some impeccable randonneurs. This particular model was manufactured before Méral was taken over, while the foreman builder was Francis Quillon, now considered a guru of French frame building.
A wonderful example of the glory days of randonneuring—when one relied on the luminescence of a torch to navigate moonlit country roads. The other lamp is actually dynamo-driven, located behind the bottom bracket and actuated by the extra shifter on the seat tube. The frame has been constructed from the ultra-reliable Reynolds 531, and kitted out with Huret derailleurs and a Spécialités TA Cyclotouriste crank set. I can almost smell the damp canvas from here.
Special thanks to tetedelacourse for the fine photography, visit his flickr for more. Thanks also, always, to Classic Rendezvous.

Metacortex

The answer can also be found here, where it states "The other lamp is actually dynamo-driven, located behind the bottom bracket and actuated by the extra shifter on the seat tube."

non-fixie 

Nothing to add to ilikebikes' elaborate answer, except that it is a very nice solution for operating the unparalleled Sanyo BB generator. Got one on my Gijs van Tuyl:

The Golden Boy 

I love that bike in the first post!

non-fixie, let's see some more pix of that guy!

non-fixie 

Sure. As bought:



A month later in France on a cycling holiday:

JohnDThompson 

Except you got the super-light Ofmega version!

noglider 

I recently bought one of those dynamos. I've heard they can be trouble and are out of production.

How come so many fantastic long distance touring bikes come from France even though the French aren't so much into bike touring? The French I met there hadn't heard of it.

The Golden Boy 

Beautiful.

Is that an XC Pro chainring?

shoota 

Whelp, there's something I've never seen before. This is why I love getting on this board, always learning new things.

non-fixie 

Thanks. No, Shimano Biopace:

wahoonc

I have a couple of bikes with that lever, both happen to be Giant Excursions from around 1989/90.

Tom, nothing really wrong with the BB generators. The will slip in nasty conditions especially as the springs wear. Also they have a tendency to not last as long as a bottle or hub generator because of the operating environment.

Aaron

The Golden Boy 

It has a very nice, refined look.


Very cool!

thinktubes 

Proof that a touring bike can never have too many doodads.

Pompiere

Although not the case here, bikes equipped for heavily loaded touring, especially tandems, will sometimes have a lever like that to operate the rear hub brake as a drag brake for long descents in the mountains.

SlowRoller

Hey NG. I think France had a rich history of traveling and touring by bike up to the second World War or thereabouts. When mass produced cars became affordable in France, this reliance on the bike nose-dived. Dr. Clifford Graves of the International Bicycle Touring Society, who did much for the touring tradition in the U.S., was much influenced by the bicycle touring scene in France, as were the Japanese.

noglider 

Oh, I didn't know that. Glad you're here to tell us this, seriously.

SlowRoller

Sorry, my bad I didn't catch the tone of your initial post! Anyway, I'm here to solve all super obvious problems, haha

ilikebikes

Can you )or someone) post detailed pics of this BB generator? Mounted please.

austex

And as one more usage, Rene Herse was known to place the shift levers on the seat-tube of Demontable models, so that when the frame parts were separated for transport, shift cables need not be decoupled. Voici:
https://veloflaneur.wordpress.com/201...avel-bicycles/

Tom

noglider 

https://sfcyclotouring.blogspot.com/2...1_archive.html

John E

This is a complete new one on me. Thanks for the education!

CrankyFranky

I valiantly (or is it doggedly?) tried to make the Sanyos work for me in the early 80's in sunny olde England. Even with the truest of wheels and the most radially uniform of tires, the darn things would stop working for me with the mere suggestion of moisture. I even tried gluing on a cut-up sew-up tread on 'em, but they just would stop spinning with any wetness. I also tried gluing on various wet-or-dry sandpapers - this would work for a few miles and then stop. Like old Lucas ignition systems, sweet when they worked, but seldom did work.
ps They struck me as such a good idea that I went through two of them in succession, all the while trying and failing to get them to perform reliably.

noglider 

Maybe I'll end up wrapping a band of asphalt around it.

wahoonc

Ask and ye shall receive! I believe mine are Union rather than the Sanyo, I don't know if that makes a difference or not. One of the ones I have has been through hell with my brother and it still works AFAIK. Need to haul it out and test it.

Aaron