Vintage French randonneuer's and porteurs.

There were loads of French bikes imported into the UK in mid 2000s, what we called "the Hipster Boom"
Mostly rubbish, but with shiny paint.
Cheap in France because
a) they weren't part of the hipster boom, men already wore moustaches and tight fitting clothes
b) they knew these bikes were rubbish with cheap French bbs and headsets
France: €10, UK: €250

Maybe the Czechs are up to a variation of this? I don't see how a country the wrong side of the iron curtain could accumulate much French stuff between 1938 and 1990🤔
 
bikeworkshop said:
Looks like people were spending decent money on transport bikes and the French were engaged with innovation - before the era drew to an end in the days of cheap motoring😪
Click to expand...
For touring with the "Whole bike" ethos and transport the French were way in front of us for a long time. Probably up to the point Japanese components became popular early to mid 1970s. Only my opinion.
 
I can't find any research indicating a difference between France and the UK decline in cycle manufacture sales and use from the early 1970s

Its interesting though that it almost seems in the 50s the French were innovating in touring, which the British were good at, whereas the British focused on sport and racing developments, which the French were good at!

(I did say Almost😁)
 
I was looking for an early French bicycle, the Vialle Velastic course, which is too rare to find pictures of except in an old brochure, as seen in the magazine of the Dutch old bicycle club (where I got the idea from). There is a "normal" gents version on onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk:

1927-Vialle-Freres-Bicyclette-Elastique-05.webp

https://onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/1927-vialle-freres-bicyclette-elastique-velastic/

This is originally an Italian design, called the Sintesi. Made in Lyon in the twenties. But I was especially enthralled by a road or "course" version. Picture I made from the magazine:

IMG_20250519_170840.webp

Model probably named after cyclist Jules Deloffre.

When searching online, I cam upon a lovely French website which I am not sure has been mentioned here before, tell me if I am wrong. It is an encyclopedic site on French constructeurs of the past and the present.

https://encycloduvelo.fr/
 
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