Welcome to The Velo Collective
The definitive resource for vintage French bikes.
If you love vintage French bikes, there are lots of reviews and restorations, bike repair tips and information on this site dedicated to classic bikes. You can also find posts on other vintage European, Japanese and American road bikes, many with links to videos on our Youtube channel. Thanks for visiting!
Merckx’s 1973 De Rosa Molteni Bike
One Friday Afternoon It's not often you have the chance to have a moment alone with a legendary bike, especially one ridden by perhaps the greatest rider of all time. It was just by sheer luck that I came across an event listing by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di...
Cycling in Edinburgh: When’s it Going it Change?
Envirosentful? Have you ever heard of the word envirosentful? I'm sure not, because I just made it up. It's the feeling of resentment when you are on a bike, or walking on the street, or even on a bus. Let me explain: imagine you've made a decision to transport...
Cycling in Montpellier
Cycling in Montpellier I've been spending some time in Montpellier, and what a beautiful city it is. At its heart is a wonderful historic centre that's really worth the visit. You could spend days walking its winding streets and squares filled with stylish...
How to Glue Tubular Tyres on Aluminium Rims
Few Instructional Videos For Vintage Bikes If you have a vintage bike and need to replace your older tubular tyre, it's not so easy to find a video about how to glue tubular tyres of aluminium rims. Why? Well, it's because most videos and instructional guides...
Riding My Vintage Bike Through Normandy
Riding my Vintage Bike through Normandy If you've visited this blog before, you may well get the impression that I've moved around a lot. In the last ten years I've lived in the UK, the US and most recently, France. I've travelled all over France and have lived...
Peugeot PX10 Restoration, 1964 or 1965.
Peugeot PX10 I owned a Peugeot PX10 about twelve years ago. I was living in Seattle in the era when vintage bikes were all the rage, before the arrival of the electric bike to our bike shops. Of course, there is still a strong interest in classic, steel road...
Vintage Look Carbon Road Bike
Vintage Look Carbon - the Pros Part of the pleasure of watching the Tour de France when I was young was to see the developments in bike design and technology every year. It was a similar experience to watching a new Formula One season begin, when the drivers...
Stronglight Altec – Anodised, Lugged – Beautiful!
Finding My Stronglight Altec Often you expect rare and high end bikes to be properly advertised for sale, with a good description, detailed photographs and set at a price that satisfies the owner's expectations. In the case of this Stronglight Altec, the...
Motobecane Super Champion Restoration by Rob
Motobecane Super Champion I received an email recently from Rob who came across a Motobecane Super Champion and did an outstanding job of restoring it. Unlike my very dirty Super Champion restoration here, Rob went further with the bike as he had to source many...
Swapping Out Triple for Double Shifters
Swapping Out Triple for Double Shifters Your biking needs may change over the years. It may happen that you buy a bike which has a triple shifting transmission, a system that you don’t need. Alternatively, you could find yourself no longer riding on...
Restoring a Vintage Leather Saddle
Restoring a Vintage Leather Saddle NOTICE: I HAVE NOT BEEN PAID FOR ANY PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN THIS BLOG; THESE ARE JUST CLEANERS I EXPERIMENTED WITH, THANK YOU! When I first saw the leather on the Peugeot PA10L I was about to buy, I really didn't think it could be...
This Vintage Bike Isn’t Junk! It’s Actually a..
Deep in the Countryside It was a twenty minute journey through Normandy to reach the isolated farmhouse where this bike resided. When I pulled up amongst the ancient farm buildings nestled amongst chestnut and birch trees, I could see the wheel of a...
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