This is the men's (diamond frame) mate to it. These bikes came to us as a pair several years ago. The ladies bike is more deluxe than this bike, but it is still very cool.
My favorite features of this bike are the Le Nervurex fenders with the "crocodile" pattern ridges and the rear fender reflector with its hammered alloy housing and original lens. The housing is engraved with the word "agree" and a couple numbers. I do not know what they mean and it looks like it was done after production (home job). I estimate this bike is from the early to mid 1950's. Le Chemineau ended production in the late 1950's. It has the proprietary early indexing shifter and rear derailleur mount, but uses a Cyclo rear derailleur as opposed to the one of his design. The frame also has unusual rear drop outs, perhaps Oscar Egg or Cyclo? I am not 100% sure who made them. Please let me know if any of you readers out there can educate me. It has nice GB super Hood levers and mis-matched calipers. The front is GB and the rear is a Gloria Iseran model. The chain and seat stays have "cro-mo" stamped on them, perhaps the Reynolds speedy model?, which was below 531. There are nice early Mavic tubular rims as well. On the front fork leg is an after market light bracket solution attached to the generator mount, pretty cool. The bike also has nice sleeved GB Maes bars and an incorrect stem. The frame uses Nervex professional lugs and an early Nervex bottom bracket shell. All the original decals and head badge (a personal favorite of mine) are there. This bike is in great shape for its age. I wish we had more information about the original owners and how they liked / used these bikes as it is obvious they were well used and well cared for, a combination that does not always go together. Enjoy the photos!
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