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!
Stuck Brake Cable in Brake Lever – Fix
The Jammed Cable Head Your heart sinks when your brake cable won't come out of its lever. After years, perhaps decades, of pulling on the cable as well as from the build up of dirt and rust, the nipple end of the cable can get squeezed deeper into its...
Peugeot Course PFN 10 1981 Restoration
The Earlier, the Better It's well known that identifying Peugeot models can be very confusing, so at least this bike had its name written on the top tube: Course. In French it means "race", equivalent to the British term for a road bike of the vintage...
Vintage Trek and Specialized Bikes
Vintage Trek and Specialized Bikes Imagine walking into a bike shop in an American town in the early 1970's. No vintage Trek and Specialized bikes would have existed. For the average Joe, there wouldn't have been much choice if he wanted a good road bike...
Parts that Broke and Disappointed
Parts that Broke and Disappointed I admit it; some of these breakages have been my fault. Some, however, broke because of fatigue and wear, and a certain few because of their design flaws. There's no doubt that there are some French components that are...
Review – A 1980’s Peugeot Iseran HLE
The Tubing Debate I notice on forums that Peugeot HLE bikes get some interesting reviews and opinions. You find that some come from the perspective that if a bikes tubes aren't built with Reynolds, Columbus or similar double-butted frames, then its not...
A Vintage Rarity – a 1982 C.N.C Special
Who Were C.N.C? It is not a brand I'd come across before; that makes it often more interesting. This C.N.C bike is quite a stunning colour blue, and was in very nice shape when I acquired it from its original owner. He was an elderly man who hadn't...
Riding the Avenue Verte on a Vintage Bike
Riding the Avenue Verte Imagine being able to cycle from London to Paris on a dedicated bike trail. It sounds amazing, but it's not yet a reality. Riding The Avenue Verte, as its called, may not offer a compete route for cyclists yet, but is a great...
The Loose Bottom Bracket Fiasco
When a 5 minute Job Becomes 5 Hours Damn that annoying play in bottom brackets, when things have got bad enough to feel that side-to-side movement through the crankset! Inside the nicely designed cups of this Mercier was a Stronglight Competition...
Vintage Mercier Bike with Columbus Tubing
Vintage Mercier Bike Now Sold Beautiful Mercier road bike, 56.5cm frame size from centre to top, 57cm top tube, centre to centre, 10 speed, with stamped fork crowns and hear shaped lugs, Columbus tubing, in used but excellent condition for its...
Restoring an Abandoned Raymond Poulidor Bike
Out of the Farmyard The picture above doesn't do the state of this bike justice; it was one of the dirtiest bikes I've ever bought. I bought it from a farmer who didn't talk very much, and who lifted it out of his shed full of tools, abandoned there for...
A Mercier Rose in a Thunderstorm
The Mercier Can I call it rose coloured? I think this bike is more of a purple rose, which is quite unusual and distinctive. I do really like this colour of frame that came from the Mercier workshop, this one being from 1981. It has a French threaded bottom...
Some Bernard Dangre Bikes
Who was Bernard Dangre? I must admit, I always thought Bernard Dangre was a professional rider. I imagined he was another of those French cyclists, tough and gnarly, who turned to making bikes after a career on the road. Well, that was wrong! Dangre was...
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