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!
When Motobecane Became MBK: a Review of the Super Sprint
Fall of the Giants Motobecane shares a similar history to Britain's Raleigh brand, and sadly both companies no longer produce bikes in their respective countries. Both Motobecane and Raleigh became behemoths in the cycle industry throughout the 20th century,...
Halfords Review: Refusal to Help
Halfords Review: No Box For You! This is my Halfords review, after my experience of shopping there over the last two years. They sell cheap bikes and generic tools and prices in the their bike stores are heavily marked up, which is common knowledge. I...
Removing a Stuck Crankset By Extra Force
Removing a Stuck Crankset: Some Caveats This method of removing a stuck crankset has been useful to me a number of times, with the problem of unyielding crank arms. With s bike stand, you only have so much force you can use with one arm. You may find...
The 1980 Dawes Galaxy – Reborn in Pictures
Bringing it Back to Life Here is a list of the issues this 1980 Dawes Galaxy had when I bought it: Rear Wheel out of True Headset Loose Bottom Bracket Seized Hubs Bearings Rough Brake Calipers Loose and Untensioned Chain Clogged with Dirt Tyres Flat...
After the Touristique, I came Across a Dawes Galaxy..
Post Touristique Blues The best bike I've ridden for a while? The British Eagle Touristique. It surprises me, that a British touring bike from the early '90s made such an impression and makes me want to find another to replace it. It's very unlikely. I...
Restoring the Anquetil Super Vitus 971
Not Without Problems.. Just because you may have come into ownership of a really lovely vintage road bike, it doesn't mean to say restoring it will be a series of happy moments. Looks are deceiving. Sometimes, the most wretched looking bikes prove to be...
Peugeot PFN 10 – but Rusty
Peugeot PFN 10 Sometimes, when you go to see a used bike, your first impression is sheer disappointment. Perhaps because the photos of the bike weren't very clear on the ad, or the description wasn't accurate. In this case, the owner had placed one...
A Jacques Anquetil Super Vitus 971 Review
The Rider Jacques Anquetil is France’s greatest cyclist, five times winner of the Tour and winner of 8 tours in total. For 19 years, he dominated his sport with his graceful riding style, and was considered a very intelligent and articulate rider. His era was the...
The River Ride: Cycling on the Dordogne
Let's Get All Folksy I don't know of any French folk songs about rivers or journeys, but this ride could be sung like one of those old American folk tunes: I took my Bianchi down to the river Where with every twist And every turn My trail followed with...
Riding a Steel Bianchi in the Dordogne
The Bike: Late 1990's Bianchi, Full Cromo Tubes and Forks 57cm 24 Speed, 3 x 8 Campagnolo Mirage Groupset Rigida Rims, Steel Spokes Riding in the Region The Dordogne isn't like the flat and wide open spaces of Normandy. It is a hilly, rocky place, that...
British Eagle Touristique, a Classic or Not?
The Touristique British Eagle are not a celebrated name in the British bike industry. Search on forums for British Eagle bikes and you'll come across descriptions such as "decent" and "competent" for the models that this brand produced. Yet, if there is...
Remove a Quick Link Without Tools
Quick Link Removal They are a clever piece of modern bike technology, simple and effective, but they can be a real pain to remove once they are fitted. Quick links can prove to be quite stubborn to remove by hand, especially ones that have been on a...
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