J—dV

In typical n+1 fashion I seem to have acquired another bicycle. I found it on the ground with broken spokes, stripped saddle, flat tires, bent chain guard, and no lock. So I left note with my phone number and took it home to keep it from the scrap metal recyclers. No one has contacted me so I guess it's now on me to restore. It appears to be 1970s French; or, at least all of the components are French and from that era. In addition to the charming foil "Champion du Monde" decal on the seat tube the down tube has some faded cursive lettering that I think says "R"__"eulade" but I haven't been able to match that with any brand or model yet. I'll try reddit and some forums next, but if anyone here has ideas please let me know!

#BikeTooter #VintageBicycle

Dec 14 at 4:10pmWeb
Show threadJ—dVDec 14

If anyone can figure out what this said I would be grateful!

edit to add: I _think_ it's 1970s French.

#BikeTooter

Show threadJ—dVDec 15

I've put up more photos over on the reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vintage_bicycles/comments/1pn436x/comment/nu52zax/

#BikeTooter #vintage

Show threadDaniel DemmelDec 14
@redjives Ridiculade?
Show threadJ—dVDec 14
@dain Maybe! I keep going back and forth on whether it ends in "eulade" or "culade" — either way I haven't been able to match it to any vintage bicycle brands.
Show threadDaniel DemmelDec 14
@redjives oh yes, it's more likely eulade, starts with a capital R, there's a narrow letter after the R like i and there's one between, so Ri_eulade, maybe Rideulade?
Show threadvarx/socialDec 14

@redjives I'm interested in what appears to be an isolated dot after the initial R.

Though perhaps it might be the stylized crossbar of an A.

Show threadJ—dVDec 14
@varx R. _eulade is plausible. It could be a name (of a shop, or frame maker, or something made up…I don't think this was high end at the time)
Show threadvarx/socialDec 14

@redjives There was a disgraced French Senator by the name of René Teulade... but no relationship to bikes that I'm aware of. :-)

I checked all English and French Wikipedia titles for words ending in [ec]ulade but didn't find anything plausible.

Show threadThe FussDec 14
"Teulade R. * , cycle à Aurillac - Cantal"
Is my best bet from https://wiki.tontonvelo.com/index.php/Liste_des_marques_S_-_T_-_U, where R. Is probably Robert (https://www.societe.com/societe/monsieur-robert-teulade-405511312.html).
Liste des marques S - T - U — Wiki Tonton Vélo

Show threadJ—dVDec 14
@no_fuss Intriguing!
Show threadJ—dVDec 21

@no_fuss It definitely is R. Teulade! I found these two:

https://velosvintagesdugrenier.com/products/velo-vintage-femme-mixte-vert-taille-s-m#product-gallery-10430664278353-4

https://velosvintagesdugrenier.com/products/velo-vintage-femme-mixte-rouge-taille-s-m#gallery-7

Thank you for pointing me in that direction.

Vélo vintage Femme/Mixte vert - Taille S/M

Show threadThe FussDec 21
@redjives You are welcome. It was a good challenge to find that. Tried AI at first, but that would point me always in the wrong direction when trying to refine the prompt. But the initial AI answers had some pointers to sites to search. Silly enough AI is then not capable of doing a fuzzy search.
Show threadvarx/socialDec 15
@redjives Also, amusing juxtaposition:
Show threadEmily VelascoDec 14
@redjives That is such a handsome bike!
Show threadRoth ChildDec 14
@redjives Nice find! The good folk over at Retrobike might be able to help with identification, there's a lovely big thread for vintage French bikes over there: https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/vintage-french-randonneuers-and-porteurs.449944/
Vintage French randonneuer's and porteurs.

It was suggested I start a thread about randonneurs and porteurs. Any pictures or information, feel free to post them here. Here's a few to start. https://forum.tontonvelo.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=24199&sid=3730e0d6d45d7bf9a73f1e512e96c38f...

Retrobike
Show threadJ—dVDec 14
@thechildofroth Thank you!
Show threadplookingtonDec 14
@redjives Very much worthy of a restoration!
Show threadzimpenfishDec 14
@redjives Annoying that the "Champion du Monde" appears to be the Simplex gears rather than attached to the bike model / manufacturer (because, it appears, everyone used Simplex from about 1930 onwards.)

(Also this is exactly the kind of thing they promised us would be easy with the internet. THE LIARS.)
Show threadJ—dVDec 14
@zimpenfish The derailleur is indeed a Simplex SO. This thing has all the classic french components. Huret wingnuts, exceltoo hubs, mafac racer brakes. The head badge says "milan san remo" which is equally non-descriptive.
Show threadzimpenfishDec 14
@redjives None of the "these people were making bikes in France in the late 1940s" pages (because as far as I can tell, the CdM Simplex appeared around 1946-47) have any names even vaguely forceable into the potential letters on that photo. Even tried Italian ones just in case but nothing there either. My best guess is that it's something like "[RK].[GC]eulade" or maybe "[RK].[GC]eusade". Doesn't help that the internet is absolute wombles at searching for things like "French words that end in eulade"...
Show threadJ—dVDec 14
@zimpenfish I think this is actually later, more like 70s. But even there I haven't found any names that could fit. And yes, the internet is annoyingly bad at this kind of "words ending in" searches.
Show threaddragonfrogDec 14

@redjives based on the seat tube decal I'd say that's a Peugeot - the red, black, yellow, green stripes are very Peugeot.

It looks fairly similar for example to this 1978 model
https://bikeboompeugeot.com/Brochures%20France/Peugeot%201978%20France%20Brochure/Peugeot_1978_French_Catalog_Routieres_Homme_Dame_BikeBoomPeugeot.JPG