Norris Lockley
For anyone wanting to purchase a class French Randonneur in the traditon of the classics, but built with 1970/80s frame components, there is a su perb example on French Ebay at the moment.
the bike is a 55/56 cms MERAL, fully equipped with French equipment, inc luding F and R chrome pannier racks, as you would expect from this hig h quality builder. With just about 20 hours to go, the bike is standing at 800 euros, without a bid on it yet.
MERAL was a small company of about fifteen staff working out workshops&n bsp; at La Fuye, just near Tours in the Loire valley. The company had a ful l range of bikes for all types of cyclesport, and most were very elegant, w ell brazed and nicely finished. The company also had a custom shop. Althoug h models were produced in small series, the build was excellent and the pri ce sensible, if you appreciate what I mean...possibly FOLLIS quality..but s lightly larger production.
Their foreman builder was Denis Quillon who, when MERAL was bought out i n the early 80s and some worked moved nearer to Le Mans, stopped in La Fuye and set up his own frame shop. enjoying a tremendous reputation especially with the racing fraternity. He is supposed to have built for Laurent Figno n, Cyrille Guimard, other of the Renault-Gitane teams of that era, etc etc Alain Prost. etc He is now one of the gurus of modern French frame-bui lding
In a sense he was in the 80s and early 90s the "Bernard Carre" of his ti me. I bought a lot of his frames at the time he was the one of the chief bu ilders - high end models - for Geliano/Jean Marie Duret.
The Ebay bike looks to be immaculate..and is quite rare as like so many other top randonneurs, the owners dont part with them very quickly. It is l ocated in Paris...I shall be in the Paris area for about two weeks starting on July 3...and again for a similar period in the second and third weeks o f August and would be willing to collect the bike and despatch it to the St ates.
No connection with the seller..just would like to see a CR member get hi s legs over this one.
Ebay No : 290129471040
Norris Lockley, Settle UK
Norri
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