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!
Removing Pre-1982 Stronglight Cranksets
Stronglight Stronglight made some of the best cranksets in the age of steel road bikes. Based in the heart of the cycle industry, St Etienne, the 49D, 93 and 105 cranksets were some of the best ever made, by a company that was competing with the very best Italian...
More 531 Peugeot and Motobecane Frames
Classic French Bikes I thought I'd present some vintage French 531 frames and a Motobecane Le Champion that I sold this summer, and I thought I’d put a few of the most interesting ones on here. My favourite was the gold framed Peugeot pictured above, I can’t...
Motobecane Grand Sprint 1978 – Worth it!
Motobecane Grand Sprint It's strange that all three of these bikes I bought this year all dated to 1978, a fine year to buy a Motobecane. Two of these were the same model with very similar specifications, the C2, or as it was known in the UK, the Motobecane...
St Etienne Bikes
St Etienne Bikes - the Brand Who were St Etienne Cycles? Who made St Etienne bikes? There's little information on this obscure company, even on French websites and forums, which is a sign that this marque was never a significant player in racing nor were...
More French 531 Frames
The Gold Peugeot I sold some nice French 531 frames this summer, and I thought I'd put a few of the most interesting ones on here. My favourite was the gold framed Peugeot pictured above, I can't say what model it is because I find the Peugeot catalogues...
The Bike Boom Effect: A Sleeping Giant Awakes
The Bike Boom and the Japanese Revolution The bike boom in the early 1970's must have been a wonderful period for bike manufacturers and component makers in Europe. Exports of bikes to the USA rose from 7 million in 1970 to to 14 million in 1974. Demand for...
Mercier Vitus Mixte Bike – a Featherweight
Mercier Vitus Mixte Bike: a Rose by any Other Name.. A very nice example of French bike building for the more discerning female rider, this Mercier Vitus mixte bike, a rose mixte, is a real head turner and as lightweight as some of the higher-end...
Shimano Arabesque, 1978-1983
Like it or loathe it The Arabesque or 600 EX is always deemed a bit of an oddball, a strange foray into the exotic by Shimano at the end of the 1970's. There is little information out there as to why they chose to create such an elaborate design to an...
The Lost Life of a De Rosa Professional
35 years later, this De Rosa has still yet to be built, and has never seen the road. I bought it in Seattle in 2012 from its original owner, a Californian who purchased the imported frame in 1980. He asked the bike shop to fit the first of what he thought would be a...
Best Vintage Pedals
Best Vintage Pedals Undoubtedly the Campagnolo Super Record groupset is the undisputed king of the most desirable vintage components of today. You only have to look at EBay listings to see how highly prized these components are, even though it is well known...
1976 Mercier Rose "Service Des Courses"
The Velo Rose Why did Mercier choose pink as the iconic colour for their road bikes of the '60's and '70's? I don't know the answer, but le vélo rose is one of the most distinctive and eye-catching bikes of any era. This particular bike came with its original receipt,...
Peugeot PX 10, Possibly
Peugeot PX 10 This frameset was in beautiful condition. The paint was glossy and free from bad scratches, and the half chrome forks and stays were shiny and free of the rust and weathering so typical of bikes of this era. I believe this was a...
Recent Comments