noglider 

@Grand Bois, what you say is, of course, true. A word means what the speaker thinks it means, especially if his audience agrees. So now "unique" can mean unusual, even if it is not one of a kind. My job, as a language pedant (not by profession) is to defend the original meaning of the word, and I'm sorry if it annoys people. My problem with the evolution of the word unique is that there is no word left to take its place. Well, I guess if we call one-of-a-kind a word, and we can, then we have that. I'm just lamenting. I do accept plenty of changes to our language. I think some of them are terrific. I just don't happen to feel that way about what I consider to be the dilution of the meaning of the word "unique."

Another problem is that as a mathematical type, when speaking in technical terms, unique means exactly unique. For instance, a serial number describes one unit off a production line, and no other unit has that number. The number is unique. If I ask if the number is unique, the person I am speaking with knows I'm not asking if the number has an interesting pattern such as repeating digits. So non-math types are threatening my word and its usefulness.

Wildwood

I like the make-up on that LeJeune. But only in a size 53.

nlerner

I quite surprised that no one yet has dinged the Lejeune for two C&V faux pas: showing excessive seat post and excessively long brake cable housing.

-holiday76

i definitely noticed the long cables but I didnt want to make fun of the bikes ugly colors and hap hazard build all at the same time and risk being too mean. It's a balance, you know.

obrentharris 

That paint is outrageous... I guess that's why I like it: I'm not morally offended by paint jobs, although I can be bored by them.
Ah but I'm a prude in my own way. I'm morally offended by 'cross bikes that aren't raced, which is why I could never own that bike. On the one hand I would have to race it: On the other hand I couldn't bear to mar that paint!
Brent

CV-6 

I say this with the following caveat. I have not seen every iteration Lejeune. That said:

The fork may say Lejeune, but I have never seen a Lejeune frame like that. The seat cap treatment is more like a Gazelle or some Raleighs. I am at work at the moment, so I cannot sift through all my Lejeune pics but I cannot recall seeing lugs like that. Similar, but the windows are different. I have few pics of Lejeune CX frames and those that I have do not look like this frame. This brake bridge has a hole, the pics I have do not. The TT cable guides do not look right to me. I have never seen a Lejeune with the FD under BB derailleur guide.

The only way I could find that paint scheme attractive is if it were a team scheme. I find it ghastly. But to each his own. Obviously someone put a lot of effort into painting the bike and from a technical standpoint it is outstanding. However because it is so distinctive, I think they messed up. The audience for that is going to be limited.

Too bad. It is my size. And I do want a CX Lejeune.

auldgeunquers

One of a one of a kind of a kind. Kinda.

auldgeunquers

You, sir, are very much one-of-a-unique-kind. And so is Grand Bois.

crank_addict

Excess cable housing is one thing but disagree on the long seat post. Take a look at some of the French pro's of that era. Actually, it's kind of fun getting tighter and crunched into a slightly smaller vintage frame. I've been riding a few earlier steel bikes but have gone with longer modern seat post. They rock, in a good way

lostarchitect 

And the valves are not lined up with the tire labels! For shame!

cyclotoine

That paint is stunning. I am in love with it.

Bianchigirll 

I am glad at least a few other others like it. I was beginning to think everyone here was colorblind

oldbikenewbike

I think Stevie Wonder painted it......

Cyclosaurus

Agree...in my business (IT), something is either unique or not. There is no kinda sorta unique.

I can understand in other contexts why someone would feel ok with using very, quite, rather, etc with unique. But to me, it's an ugly construction, especially when there are so many other words capable of communicating the thought better. Distinctive, extraordinary, rare, unusual, special, uncommon, etc. Why try to shoehorn "unique" in where so many other words work better?

Grand Bois

I said nothing. I simply quoted something I found on the Internet that I though you might find interesting.

dddd

I like the originality of the bike's unusual paint scheme, especially since I wouldn't want to see such originality reproduced at modern production levels as has been done by the likes of Colnago. Cool to see such an unusual sight once in a while I guess, and I'm fine with it.

Yes, it's too "clean" for a 'cross bike though, and noting that it wears Pasela tires and awkwardly-narrow spread of gearing for any sort of off-road play. So wondering what it will be used for(?).

Words like "unique" get applied to objects often within the limited experiences of what someone can remember having come across. Someone's short memory thus might have everything seeming unique as if they had just smoked a bowl.

Adding a two-tone finish s one way to liven up the look of a bike, and it's one of the easiest ways to do it.

My Motiv Defiant was ordered and sold by Costco with a contrasting color scheme obviously intended to catch the eye of the casual shopper while distracting from the generic specifications and 30-pound heft.
Sorry, it's no Lejeune, and things like the rear hubshell, chainrings and handlebar were made of steel.
But it passes the 30-foot test, no?

greg3rd48 

It certainly is an eye-catching ride but I don't think it would be my cup of tea.

gbi

Years ago, when the rules of latin grammar were applied to English, we ended up with some junk/garbage rules like not allowing modifiers before the word unique.

CV-6 

Not colorblind.....colorblinded.

Chombi

It might not be everyone's "cup-of-tea", but that painl job sure takes a lot more talent, skill and planning than the typical mid 80's/early 90's splatter and fade finishes which never impressed me one bit, even back then...

cyclotoine

I Agree, the post is a traditional super record and not overextended. Even more so on a cross bike you might be running a size smaller than your road bike for extra standover and ease of hopping on and off. Events are short so a light and stiff bike are more desirable. I would even go so far as to say that any less seatpost would not look very proportional for a cross bike.

noglider 

It's a problem of logic in this case. Splitting infinitives doesn't change meaning. "To boldly go" means the same as "to go boldly."

How can something be more one of a kind than one of a kind?

My t-shirt size is extra-medium. It's right between small and large, but more between small and large than usual. Normally, medium is exactly in the middle, but mine is exactly exactly in the middle.

rootboy 

You neek. I neek. We all neek.

Giacomo 1 

Put me in the "I really like it" column!

I like to see people and builders take risks with paint jobs. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but this one works for me. But I also love the Colnago Masters, Lights, Dreams and Olympics with their eye catching paint jobs to. And the way they sold, I'm not alone...

gbi

Hello noglider, everything is unique and at the same time nothing is unique. depending on what you are looking at and how you want to look at it. it is all relative. perhaps unique fails as a word in reality.

(rootboy should get a kick out of this post)