I can scarce believe the bike currently on eBay is really a Meral. Doesn't a genuine Meral have to be that horrible putrid green color? The one now residing with Joe is the stuff of CR legend. Passed like a hot potato through the hands of almost every CR member attending Cirque one year, it finally landed with the late and much lamented Chris Beyer, who appeared at the subsequent Cirque with the frame now built up and sporting matching sneakers and Argyle socks. I think, for CR members who remember Chris, no other color will ever seem correct for a Meral.
I note the black one on eBay seems to have no decals. It was no doubt repainted, black being chosen as the only color dark enough to cover the original green and thus prevent the bike glowing in the dark and keeping the owner awake nights. Probably a futile effort to attempt to actually locate today a can of that radioactve green paint with which to restore this bike to its former "glory".
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
Joseph Bender-Zanoni <joebz@optonline.net> wrote: My Meral, which I really like, has been the subject of much derision on the list due to an unusual green color. It looks a lot like a LeJeune and I always assumed it was just an alternate brand name. It is a sport touring geometry.
Joe Bender-Zanoni Little Falls, NJ Packing bikes today for my impending move.
Norris Lockley wrote:
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> Norris Lockley
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> No connection with the seller..just would like to see a CR member get hi
> s legs over this one.
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> Ebay No : 290129471040
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> Norris Lockley, Settle UK
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> Norri
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