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!
What is my vintage bike worth..? This question is a common one in bike forums, for people who have just bought a bike or for those who are selling. As the US is such a big country, the bike market there can be quite varied and prices reflect this; a...
Perfect Rarities for your Vintage French Bike
Vintage Mavic Handlebars The chances are, when you come across a vintage French bike, it will have either Pivo, Ava, Atax, Philippe or Belleri handlebars and stem. Mavic are definitely rarer to find, and especially these bars, named Comte De Coucy. These...
For Sale – Motobecane C5 Road Bike
Dimensions and Condition 1982 Motobecane C5 road bike, top of the range of the Motobecane catalogue that year, 61cm frame size from centre to top, 59.5cm top tube, 14 speed 7 x 2, full Reynolds 531 tubing frame and forks. Huret dropouts, braze on cable...
Stronglight 93, 49D, 104, 105, Cranksets
Stronglight 93, 49D, 104, 105 Cranksets I'd prefer a drilled Stronglight 105 crankset on my bike to Campagnolo Super Record, though many would disagree with me. The great imitators of the day, Shimano, also made a very desirable crankset, the lovely 600...
Vintage Components with Inherent Design Flaws
Flaws and Failures Even the smartest companies make mistakes. The day Lucien Juy decided to make plastic parts for his derailleurs must count as one of the bike industry's biggest mistakes. The founder of Simplex, who was a great innovator in bike technology,...
Huret Success Titanium Road Test
Huret's Best? Huret made some beautiful components in the steel bike era, and the Success was one of the later models of gear sets. It was first released in 1975 and they continued making this successful model into the mid 1980's. These days...
A Brake Lever that Doesn’t Spring Back – Video
https://youtu.be/GTTSewGNqcI Finding the Problem The problem of a sticking brake lever, one that doesn't return to its closed position, can be a tricky one to resolve. It's not easy to pinpoint the issue immediately as there are a number of possible...
A Daniel Jacotey Hiding a Serious Problem
Good Beginnings.. Its not often you find a Jacotey bike, and from the first moment I really liked it. Great colour, Vitus 788 frame, custom built by a boutique frame builder in Picardy, a nicely put-together bike. Jacotey retired in 2016 as a well known...
A Long Abandoned Motobecane C5 ( Le Champion )
The Flagship of 1980 Unridden for twenty years, left standing in a shed and forgotten by its original owner, this lovely bike was under a cover of dust and in dire need of restoration. Made by Motobecane in 1980, this C5 was equivalent to the Le Champion sold...
Changing a Tubular Tyre – Video Tutorial
https://youtu.be/5S3E8h2IeqI Changing a Tubular Tyre: the Basics Changing a tubular tyre doesn't require any tools or special skills, and if a tyre has been mounted before it is generally much easier to refit it back onto the rim. Contrastly, new tyres can be...
Mystery Bike – Solved
Definitely not a Peugeot If you don't know the story, this is a follow up to an original post about a mystery bike I bought without decals, with no serial number, and no form of identification. You can read the original post here: It had me stumped, but...
Restoring a Vintage Bike: a Cyril Guimard
Restoring a vintage bike: the Guimard Stablinski, Poulidor, Anquetil..some great riders have lent their names to bikes over the years, many of them being mass produced and cheap to buy. Most Anquetils and Merckx bikes you see around are as cheap...
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