[CR] Historic bike...but who's?

(Example: Production Builders:Peugeot:PY-10)

Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:35:19 -0800
From: "Norris Lockley" <norris.lockley@yahoo.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR] Historic bike...but who's?


 I've just been catching up on some of the recent Contris to the List and came across Nick March's recent one about the bike lent to Jean Robic..a b ike that Nick has recently acquired.

I am quite a fan of Robic..in some ways at least, and own one of his Magnat Debon cyclo-cross frames. Robic was a highly successful cyclo-cross rider in his day and was French Champion several times.

A few months ago a Peugeot  bike came up on French Ebay for about 400 eur os. It appeared to be a top Pro model from the late 50s or thereabouts..but it was badkly set up and did not photograph very well. The bike attracted no bidders throughout several auctions and the price was reduced accordingl y.

The seller claimed that it was the last bike that Robic ever rode..in fact he had been riding it in a Grand Prix des Gentilhommes type of race on the day that he was killed in a car crash, on his way home from the race in 119 80

I enquired of the seller if he could prove the provenance of the bike, as i f it was the real deal..abd it was my size..I would be very interested in b uying it.

It turned out that the seller, based in eastern Paris was called Jean LETEN DRE, the son of the former Pro Eugene Letendre who raode as a Pro from 1956 - 63 for the ROCHET team and then with Peugeot. The bike on Ebay had been his father's last bike as a Pro.

Letendre had ridden alongside Robic and had befriended him...and in the lat ter's retirement Eugene gave him a job in his haulage and furniture removal company.

Although I agreed to collect the bike from Jean's house and pay a good pric e I never managed to actually get my hands on the machine..

Could this be the bike that you have managed to buy, Nick..Have you got any good photos to show us?

Norris Lockley....Settle UK