Cool shop bike: Le Chemineau diamond (men's) framed bike.

     Last year I profiled the Le Chemineau ladies bike we have here at the shop. Le Chemineau ladies bike
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!

Cool Shop Bike: late 1950's Peugeot PX-10

     This is another one that has never been properly profiled. It is a late 1950's Peugeot PX-10 that was purchased many years ago from a bike shop in the immediate suburbs of Philadelphia. It has a lot of components and features that I find pretty interesting. I hope you do too.
     The frame and fork are constructed of Reynolds 531 tubing and the seat tube bears the French Reynolds decal, something I always liked. It utilizes early Nervex lugs which have been somewhat filed and thinned. The original older style decals are all intact and are quite ornate and have great vibrant colors. Especially the seat tube decal. The paint is a nice blue that has aged well and flattened out some over the years. The yellow accents on the head lugs really make it "pop".
     The rear derailleur is a simplex JUY 543 model, which is extremely rare and quite beautiful. It was produced in the early to mid 50's and required a special cable stop on the chain stay because it was a twin cable type. Jaques Anquetil famously  used it in the Tour De France. It can be set for use with either 3, 4, or 5 speed freewheels, hence the name 543. Stylistically, it is one of the most elegant rear derailleurs ever produced in my opinion. There is a Simplex competition rod type front derailleur with upgraded wing nuts to handle the front chain rings. It has a Stronglight 5 pin steel cottered crank set that I have not been able to find much info about. The chain rings are Stronglight model 49 type I think, but they also look the model 57 cut outs which used a more traditional BCD and spider combo as opposed to the 5 pin 49 model alloy cranks. If anyone can enlighten me, please do. The bike has a Stronglight bottom bracket installed. The hubs are low flange Prior laced to unknown steel 700C rims. It has very cool Beborex brakes and levers. The brake calipers have a unique QR system and the vertical mounting style on the rear brake, which was a relatively common French thing. there are early Simplex QR wheel skewers with the "dog bone" skewer nuts, quite rare! Really cool Ideale Type 59 Record alloy railed saddle which is in pretty good shape for its age. The sides of it are drilled for lightness? Aesthetic? Either way, it is super rare and elegant looking. There are nice unknown alloy fenders which have been painted to match the bike, a cool Ventolux frame pump, and an early T.A. handlebar bag (not original to the bike). There are also a pair of Lyotard  no. 460 Duralumin pedals that I forgot to photograph. This bike is a nice example of what was available in the mid 50's if you wanted a top of the line lightweight machine.