Masi? Are you referring to Merckx's bike? I'd say the most famous Peugeot for English speakers was a 1967 PX-10 ridden half way up an extinct volcano on a hot July day in 1967. As far as I know that was a genuine PX-10, just like my 1967 model.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Houston, TX
Russ Fitzgerald <velocio@earthlink.net> wrote: Hoo-boy.
Okay, let's talk about PX-10s a moment. WHICH PX-10s do we extol? The slacker angled '64-72 ones, or the strangely steep '73-74 variety? Don't forget, the most famous one of the '60s for us English-speaking types was - ahem - a Masi dressed up in Peugeot livery.
Don't get me wrong - I like PX-10s. I helped David Goerndt put together the PX-10 database, fer cryin' out loud. But now that a few years have gone by, I can freely state this - I never rode a Peugeot of any stripe that rode as well as a couple of Gitane Tour de France models I had, or, for that matter, never rode any bike that felt as comfy and right as a brutally battered Professionnal Super Corsa that I foolishly let get away.
But what about non-proletarian French bikes? Well, for racing, howzabout a Helyett? Apart from having a name you can pronounce in a way that sounds like a drunken affirmation from my part of the world, weren't they classic race bikes? What about an Automoto - I mean, if it was good enough for the Pelissiers and Bottechia, you know? Dale had a STUNNING Urago a few years back at the Cirque, and I bet it's still gem in his collection - I'd put that up there in the list of ultimate Gallic cycles.
Herse and Singer? Sure, but there are all those other guys, too. I need to spend the money with Jan and get his book, just so I can drool. The '38 Reyhand in the 1st ed. of The Dancing Chain made my heart go thumpity-thump. The lines and the proportions were just so inexplicably correct on that one ...
Can there be ONE ultimate French bike?
Russ Fitzgerald
Greenwood, SC
considering the subject, Etats-Unis