1970’s Meral 650B Randonneur

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Nola Wilken

This bike came to me as a frame, fork, fenders, shifters, headset and rack. It is a 1970s Meral 650b Randonneur. The Meral shop, located in France, built custom bikes up through the mid 80’s. Their custom racks and fenders are as beautiful as their frames. This frame features double rack mounts front and rear so that Meral’s custom camping racks could be added. Note: these photos were taken before final assembly and QC – the brake holders are mounted backwards. The closed section of the holder should be facing the front of the bike, so that the pads don’t slide out! (Everybody knows that, right?)

The fenders are stainless steel – and looked beautiful after just a bit of polishing. I needed a number of parts to get the bike completed, and ended up deciding to build the wheelset using a set of NOS Italian Gnutti hubs, since the spacing at the rear was 120 mm. It can be difficult to find a nice wheelset with this spacing these days, and I didn’t want to cold set the frame to wider spacing, as I usually strive to keep a wonderful bike like this as original as possible.

The hubs are very pretty and look a lot like older Campy hubs.

I used Weinmann 650b rims, and removed the labels for a clean look. Even though this bike features through-the-frame dynamo wiring, I decided not to use a generator hub, both to save weight and to keep the bike simple and closer to original. I am not a huge fan of generator lighting, and find that for the riding I do I can use simple, lightweight, and inexpensive battery-powered lights.

The original cork spacers are still in perfect condition. However, my fender line needs some more work. Installing and fine tuning racks and fenders can easily take as long as building up the bike itself. This frame is designed with tight clearances, so I could only use 32 mm tires. I chose these Grand Bois Cypres tires from Compass Bicycles, and they are fabulous. The ride is really just about the smoothest I have experienced. The only down side may be their puncture resistance, which I haven’t put to the test.

I used Simplex Super LJ derailleurs, which are not only beautifully made, but work perfectly with this drive train. A Stronglight crankset and IRD 6 speed freewheel finish off the drive train. The IRD is just a placeholder – I no longer trust these freewheels due to their high failure rate, which I have experienced personally on two separate freewheels in use for under a thousand miles.

I used NOS Zeus pedals, which are some of the nicest I have seen, and Mafac levers to match the Mafac Racer centerpulls. The bars are Nitto World Randonneur and the stem is a French sized SR.

The frame was built with Columbus Aelle tubing, for a stronger frameset, or perhaps for a heavier rider. Even so, the bike weighs 26.6 lbs, including the rack fenders, Brooks saddle and pedals – that is amazing. The paint is still very vibrant and in beautiful condition. More photos of this bike can be found on my FB page.

1930’s/40’s Peugeot Mixte 650B – Part II

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Nola Wilken

I have just about finished my recreation of this 1930’s/40’s Peugeot Mixte. The bike was incomplete, as shown above, so I set about locating the appropriate parts to bring this old bike back to life and to make it rideable. Right now, the bike looks great, but there’s a little more work to do on making the braking system stop the bike effectively.

This particular model is built with Rubis tubing – a Vitus brand that was used on higher end bicycles beginning in the 1930’s. Unfortunately, over a decade of Peugeot bicycle catalogs are not available – from 1937 to 1950 – so it is not possible to determine which model this is, or what year. During the war years, the Peugeot factory was under German control for a time, and there is very little information available as to what was happening in the cycling industry during the German Occupation. The serial number at the left rear drop-out includes an “H” so it is likely this is an H model.

The frame was in remarkably good condition, with all the brazing intact. Although I tentatively dated the frame to the late 1930’s, I believe that it was later upgraded with the 1940’s or 1950’s Simplex Tour de France derailleur that was included when I purchased it. The frame has braze-ons for an earlier style of derailleur, however.

I wanted to use the 4 speed freewheel shown above, but the Simplex TDF derailleur did not have enough cage swing capacity to cover all 4 cogs. In fact, it measured out as exactly equal to the 3 cog freewheel shown above right, meaning of course that it was built as a 3 speed derailleur. In a separate post, I discuss the procedures and issues related to setting up a Simplex Tour de France rear derailleur – no small feat.

Through the frame cable routing, Jeay brakes

Simplex shifter

Possibly the original pump

Another view of the Jeay brake cable routed through the frame – a nice touch.

Full chainguard with blue pinstriping. The crankset and pedals are very lightweight – pedals are aluminum but unbranded.

Peugeot logo still very vibrant

Vitus Rubis tubing

Pin striping still evident on the fork legs. The wheels are not original, nor are the fenders.

Jeay Brakes

Headtube badge in nice condition

The aluminum bars with wood grips and custom aluminum levers were a perfect addition to bring this bike back to its glory.

I harvested the 650b fenders and wheels from another French rando bike. The hubs are by Normandy laced to 650b Wolber Super Champion rims. The aluminum fenders are unbranded. The frame has some nice features, including the braze-ons for the Jeay brakes and the thru-the-frame cable routing for the rear brake. I still need to install the rear and head lamps on the fenders and mount the dynamo, and get the lighting wired up. But that can happen after its first test ride, coming soon.

1940’s Peugeot PolyMultipliee’ Gent’s Bike

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Nola Wilken

This 1940’s Peugeot was one of the first restorations that I completed. There were a number of challenges, but because the bike was complete and original, it was worth it. This Peugeot was well loved and well ridden by its owner. So, I wanted to make it totally rideable again, as well as to preserve its original beauty and function.

The bike had both keys to the original fork lock, plus the owners engraved tag on the down tube. All the reflectors were intact, and the original toolkit bag looked great.

The bottom bracket had a small dent on the underside, and one of the pedal cones was toast. Fortunately, the axles looked good and the other pedal was fine. To find the parts necessary to repair these old bikes can be a challenge. Fortunately I found a replacement cone in my parts bin, and I was able to thread the bottom bracket in without a problem.

There were a lot of hours put into cleaning and dealing with mechanical issues. A particular problem was learning how to adjust and set up the Simplex Juy Tour de France rear derailleur. Originally, I had the chain routed incorrectly, but this drawing helped to solve the problem. There aren’t a lot of adjustment options in the rear derailleur, so the shifting is still being “fine tuned”.

The end result proved well worth all the effort – this is a beautiful and fun to ride bike from the late 40’s. It is equipped with aluminum Mavic 650b rims, Lefol hammer fenders, Simplex Tour de France derailleur, aluminum bars, a rear constructeur rack, a working dynamo with front and rear lights, a complete leather toolbag and kit, Peugeot chain guard, and two keys to the fork lock – all working perfectly.

Update January 2014: SOLD! Congratulations to David in California.

Restoring Vintage Bicycles from the Hand Built Era

Portland, Oregon, USA

Tag Archives: vintage french bicycle

1970’s Meral 650B Randonneur

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1930’s/40’s Peugeot Mixte 650B – Part II

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1940’s Peugeot PolyMultipliee’ Gent’s Bike

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