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!
Mystery Bike.. Restored
The Mystery Bike It was in a shoddy state. Unridden for a long time, I'd guess for more than twenty years. The tyres were flat, the rear derailleur was locked up with thick dirt; the chain was off; the Stronglight headset was rusty and so loose that the...
Repairing a Vintage Huret Rear Derailleur
Repairing a Vintage Huret Rear Derailleur: Spring Tension Repairing a vintage Huret rear derailleur, I have to admit, wasn't a job I was sure of. I really believed that this 1978 Huret Eco rear derailleur was broken, after taking it off an old...
Restoring Simplex Derailleurs
in I'd consider myself a purist when it comes to restoring vintage bikes. I don't really like seeing good quality bikes, close to their original build, being stripped into fixies or reassembled into some custom street bikes. I'm not saying there's anything...
Vintage French Seatpost Sizes
The 26mm Issue Vintage French seatpost sizes..or simply called "why didn't they just make one bloody size of seatpost?" Yes, beware the French bike, for there are a surprising number of difficulties that can easily stand in your way to building...
An Eighties Hinault, Possibly
Where Did All the Decals Go? This is the first thing I always think when I see bike removed of its branding. Do they just fall off in time? Do people take them off to protect their bikes from being stolen? Do they just somehow slip off in the rain, or while...
Regretfully Sold: An Exquisite Super Mondia
Jewel in the Forest One misty spring morning I took a drive out into the forests of Washington State, on the borders of the Olympic National Forest. Though the clouds became darker and the mist became heavy rain as I drove across to the peninsular, I was...
Peugeot Triathlon: Regretfully Undersold
Recapturing My Youth When I was growing up in my city, no one had a good bike. A Peugeot Triathlon? You're kidding. None of the kids I knew rode anything decent, not even the adults had a half decent bike, and you never saw anyone going by, like you do now, on...
Pronouncing Vintage French Bikes and Parts
Many of the French brands in the cycle industry are pronounced wrongly in English speaking countries, simply because unless you've learned the rules of French pronunciation, the way you say these names will more than likely be wrong. It's not surprising that, in...
Raleigh Carlton Longfellow
Raleigh Carlton Longfellow First of all it's really hard to date a frame when the serial number is meaningless. This was the case with this Raleigh Carlton Longfellow, a model built at the Worksop facility in small numbers from about 1964-69. My best guess is that it...
Peugeot Galibier v Raleigh Record Sprint
Peugeot Galibier v Raleigh Record Sprint I wish I had more pictures of these late 1980's bikes, a Peugeot Galibier of 1987 and Raleigh Record Sprint of 1985. Unfortunately, I've lost the other, more detailed, photographs I took of it one spring day in Seattle...
Raleigh Super Tourer – Regretfully Sold
Raleigh Super Tourer: Lucky Find I suppose all collectors dream of finding that one gem, stored away and forgotten for years, in pristine condition and at a bargain price. The 1974 Raleigh Super Tourer I bought in 2012 was just one of those rare cases, a...
A Vintage or New Brooks Saddle?
A Vintage or New Brooks Saddle? Brooks saddles are loved around the world, and especially in the U.S, their biggest market. When I lived in Seattle, they were ubiquitous, a necessary topping on carefully trimmed vintage builds and on modern bikes alike. So what's the...
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