A couple of weeks or so ago I put a contri on the List about this St Etienne-based company in response to an enquiry about the company's "Turbo" model - a twin-seat-tubed frame, with derivatives for road, track and cyclo-cross.
In the contri I stated that Mecacycle also made other frames such as touring/randonneur models etc. The basis of the company's production was an emphasis on bronze-welded lugless machined, which enabled them to respond to trends, model styles etc fairly quickly.
Always wanting to be in the vanguard of innovation they realised when companies such as Vitus, Peugeot, Altec and TVT started marketing carbon-tubed frames that they should also respond to this emerging demand. Not having the resources of these larger companies in terms of being able to place orders for sets of cast aluminium lugs, Mecacycle set about producing their own sets of tubular joints for bonding on to carbon tubes, by bronze-welding them from chrome-moly tubes, much in the same way that Andre Sabliere was doing, but he used aluminium tubes. Both Sabliere and Mecacycle were based in the centre of St Etienne at the time..and not too far apart, but there is no evidence of any collusion between them.
I remember seeing a Mecacycle "carbon" frame on their stand at the Paris Show in the 80s. possibly as early as 1983, but have never seen one since, until one turned up on French Ebay yesterday - Item No 130059850647.
The construction of the frame is fairly easily observed. The tubes are the same ones as used by Vitus ( whose factory was only just about 5kms up the road at La Varizelle), being made by spirally winding carbon-fibre threads interspersed with kevlar- hence the golden effect.
The eBay frame could just possibly be the prototype..who knows..but certainly one that should be in someone's collection
Norris Lockley. Settle UK