Cool shop bike: Le Chemineau ladies bike

     I am excited about this edition. The bike I am sharing today is a Le Chemineau ladies bike and is easily one of my favorites in the shop. First, a little background on the marque. It was started by Joanny Panel and Claudius Bouilllier around 1911 in St. Etienne Loire, France The word Chemineau is an antiquated one meaning wanderer or vagrant. They established a patent on their derailleur system in 1912 and were advocates of derailleur use in bicycles. They operated until about 1958, and then disappeared. Le Chemineau were imported in the USA by only one man, James Armando. He was a former Olympic racer who lived in Hartford, Connecticut.
     The bike has the proprietary derailleur system and early index shifter. It functions well. 650B demi balloon tires on early Mavic rims laced to Prior high flange hubs. Easily one of the most beautiful hub sets ever produced, in my opinion. Le fol alloy fenders, the rear fender has a platform built into it for carrying items with two leather straps, very rare. Ideale saddle. Simplex rod operated front derailleur. a really cool feature is the chain oiler below the front derailleur. The spout is not there, but basically oil was in the seat tube and when you turned the spout down, you could oil the chain. These have been on a couple of  Le Chemineau bikes I have seen. Modified front chainguard is attached to the frame. Neat little chain slap protector on the chain stay. Early Zefal pump is attached via brazed on pump pegs on the back of the seat tube. Unknown cranks with early Stronglight chain rings that are attached with chain ring bolts I am not familiar with, maybe home made, but definately well done.Unknown, perhaps proprietary brakes which utilize brazed on cantilever studs for a stiff and responsive brake, ahead of their time. Also the fact that the rear brake is under the chain stays, much like mountain bikes many decades later. Beborex brake levers are some of my favorites. Incorrect bars and stem. Unknown pedals, perhaps early Lyotard with cut strips of tubular tire that are wired together to be easy on shoes. Smart idea! Radios rear light and generator with a ball and socket mechanism on the head light so it can be angled and held in place with a set screw! Very cool!
     When I first saw the head badge, I thought it was a grave stone. Which I thought was a bit morbid and hilarious at the same time! I learned later that it is actually a mile marker, still very cool. The bike also retains all the original frame decals. We also have the men's mate to this bike, which I will showcase as well. The ladies bike is the better of the pair, being much more deluxe. It has so many neat features, it really is a special machine! Enjoy!

Simplex Tour de France spare parts

 We now have 2 Simplex spare parts kits for the Tour de France derailleur, so if you are looking for a small part for one, we may have it, just inquire.

cool home made front derailleur

I ran across this front derailleur on Cyclops bike blog and I thought it was pretty exotic and I would like to have one on my bike. It is a take on the Goeland front derailleur(the chain link), the Alex Singer(wire, spoke cage), and Rene Herse(telescoping square).
More information can be found through this search on the Cyclops blog.

Derailleur demonstrator

Back in the 1960s, there were a couple different gear demonstrator offered to bicycle shops to help educate customers how the 'new' derailleur gear bicycles worked. The Schwinn gear demonstrator was the most common one, like a mini bicycle, with feet that would sit on the a counter top, and a handle as a 'pedal.'

The Schwinn demonstrator was offered over a long enough period(estimating around 10 years) that collectors can find them with different era derailleurs and shifters. All the ones I have seen have been equipped with Huret gear(some labeled Sprint, but mostly "Schwinn Approved").

I have come across French ones in my travels as well, one Peugeot and one Gitane. They were both equipped with Simplex rather than Huret and Stronglight cottered cranks.

(the Schwinn gear demonstrator in the photo above was a 1970s one, with the large Schwinn stem shifters. The price tag of $250 is ambitious, as I usually see these selling for $100 or less. Behind it is a display showing the all the merits of the construction of a Schwinn bicycle, messing a couple bits.)

1960 Schwinn Continental sold

I made a blog posting about this bike a while ago, while it was hanging out in the woodshop at the bikeshop. Some asked for pictures and I took some quick ones in poor light. Someone else just asked for better pictures so I brought it downstairs to take better ones in natural light.
The Continental is a lot like the Schwinn Varsity of the time, also with the Simplex rod front derailleur(sometimes referred to as a 'Suicide front derailleur')
The bike is all original- except the front wheel and the handlebar grips are of course wrong.
serial number- B029208


$sold


here is an outline of the parts from Schwinn Lightweight Data Book-


"First year for the derailleur Continental. 10 speed. Stronglight 47/50 chainset. 15-17-19-22-25 Atom freewheel cluster. Simplex Competition front derailleur and Simplex Tour de France rear derailleur. Weinmann side pull brakes. Tubular painted fork with chromed tips. Forged alloy stem with double clamp bolts. Steel? drop bars. Tire size is listed as 27 x 1 1/4 (correct) in the consumer brochure, but as 26" (incorrect) in the model and price sheet. Rims were Rigida steel with knurls on the sides. Hubs were alloy high flange (Normandy?). Yellorex chain. Ideale saddle (#43). Colors were Radiant Red, Radiant Blue, Radiant Green, Radiant Coppertone, and Black. Options included thorn-resistant tubes at $2.00 extra cost and southwest tires and heavy duty tubes for $4.50 extra cost. Frame sizes were 19", 21" and 23". $86.95 "