Some good French sites

[Rich34]

For anyone who understands some French (or doesn't but likes looking at nice pictures of old bikes), these are worth a look:

http://velosvintage.over-blog.com - some beautiful rebuilds on here. The guy builds up (or shows other peoples) replicas of a certain bike ridden by a certain rider in a certain year and gives a brief biography of the rider in question.

http://forum.tontonvelo.com - the closest the French come to Retrobike, but not much mountain bike stuff. Good for Peugeots and Merciers and there's some great Urago information too.

http://www.velocompetition.com

http://www.lesvelosduvieux.com

http://www.road-art-13.com - this is more for singlespeed and fixed but the guy has a lot of nice old road stuff for sale.

In case it's any use for Google searches:

The French for "frame" is "cadre".
The French for "racing bike" is "vélo de course".


Now, how long before somebody asks me what the French for "derailleur" is...! :roll:

 

[Old Ned]

Thanks Rich, I've bookmarked them for later.

 

[Johnsqual]

Damn, there goes another morning's work

 

[David B]

Now, how long before somebody asks me what the French for "derailleur" is...! :roll:

Smart-alec answer: as above but with an acute accent above the first 'e'?

David

 

[Rich34]

I wondered how long it would be before somebody said that...

 

[burrotaxi]

patina

The first link is very interesting, the french seem to go to every length possible to conserve their bikes rather than our tendency to restore. Every year a group of Bugatti owners descend on Prescott and their cars are similarly patinated with paint worn thin, leather seats and trim worn and everything coated in a layer of Castrol (or French equivalent) and to me they are far more representative of the real car that has had a life and tells its story rather than the over prepared cars we normally see.
That said I have a tendency to collect pristine bikes and hang them on the wall when not being ridden so perhaps I'm a hypocrite?

(ps quality of paintwork and chrome on my 61 Claud Butler far superior than anything from the 80's)