Late 70s Frenchman

[chickendrumsticks]

A gent with a very pronounced French accent has just rocked up at my place, thanks to a heads-up from KermitGKona88. Thanks buddy!

I'll cheekily pinch some pics from the sellers FB ad, prior to taking some of my own, to show you all. Details of specification to be announced for those interested. Suffice to say I haven't found anything at all, yet, that doesn't speak with the same accent as the man in question.

 

[legrandefromage]

braze-ons for centrepulls!

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Ah yes LGF...I wasn't going to mention that yet. Because I hadn't actually spotted it. Is it a good thing?

 

[KermitGKona88]

Go LGF channeling Vultans hawk eyes...

 

[KermitGKona88]

The only thing other than cleaning, I would do is to bin that awful saddle and replace it with an Ideale leather one.

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Thanks. That's my plan. There are no dings or dents (so far!), everything looks original and little used actually. I think it'll clean and polish up nicely too. In excellent overall condition considering it's likely 40+ years old. A real change from my usual PC or respray route. And that saddle. I'll start saving for a nice Ideale.

Now those brazed on brakes: this from Velobase - "Note: the braze-on adaptation was not made by Mafac. It was proposed as an option on some handmade bikes (such as Herse) or high-end factory bicycles made to order, like the Peugeot PY10 shown in the picture." So that's encouraging. Strangely there's no mention of Racers being brazed on; the Velobase example shows only Mafac Competition.

 

[legrandefromage]

Touch screen laptop, zoom and the eyes of a hawk

 

[legrandefromage]

Oh and at least 5 ciderrrrrrrrrrrs

 

[Old Ned]

Braze-on Mafac Racer brakes were fitted to Peugeot team bikes in the late 70's. Look at photos of Bernard Thevenet during his Tour de France winning rides.

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Thanks Old Ned. Spot on as usual. Some of the pics online are pretty grainy - pretty crap actually - but I saw one good clear image. It seems easier to identify braze-ons as much by the lack of a rear fixing bolt as anything. I'm guessing you have a huge collection of old mags and papers etc with original images?