I just received an early 70's LeJeune tandem I bought on eBay, mostly undamaged despite the worst packing job I've seen in a while. The seller didn't know a lot about it and said the wheels were 24", which, as I suspected, was not accurate. The bike has Japanese rims (Arraya I think) and the tires are marked "700D x 1.40". According to Sheldon's web site, 700D was 587mm and used only on a few GT brand bikes. Sheldon's site says French tandems typically had 650B or 584mm wheels. I can't find a size on the rims, but they are laced to what look like original Campy Tipo hubs and the rims themselves look like 70's style Arrayas, when this brand first appear in the US and Europe. Could the previous owner have gotten away with 700D tires on 650B rims? (If the seller installed these tires, he could easily have put the wrong ones on as he was calling these 24"). Someone have a good method of measuring rim bead diameter that will differentiate between a 584mm and 587mm?
Regards,
Jerry Moos