[CR]CICMO cycles

(Example: Production Builders:Cinelli)

From: "Norris Lockley" <norris.lockley@talktalk.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2006 11:15:00 -0000
Subject: [CR]CICMO cycles

A couple of days before I recently left Sancerre, I had a few hours just to idle away before a charity warehouse was due to open...and bikes,,and a caravan had to be collected. Remembering that there was a "brocante" warehouse in the old chateau in the nearby village, I decided to call in..just in case. As anyone who has trailed around "brocante" shops, depots and warehouses in France knows, these places come in all shapes, sizes and..states of repair...and dereliction, particularly in country areas. The sign"Brocante Au Chateau" was nailed haphazardly to a oak large tree just to the left of what remained of a pair of once -upon- a- time ornate wrought iron gates. Now rust had replaced any sign of splendour. At the end of the plain-tree-lined drive stood the chateau..or what remained of it, in all its faded and decrepit grandeur. Centuries -old light grey paint peeled off the doors and window frames, and a myriad of partially broken shutters, now, almost devoid of paint, clattered in the wind , having long since broken loose from their stays. Yet the structure still possessed an enormous presence, the immense limestone coins that framed the building standing out in the sunshine that filtered through the trees, whose rays brushed against the random-stone in-fill of the walls, a type of chaos framed by the angular stern geometry of the coins. An incredibly beautiful roof of dark blue-grey Normandy slates, set in intricate patterns and swirls, brought a sense of order back to the chaos below, and dignified the whole. As I drove down the drive the trees on the left opened out to give way to a large..former lawn, on which a score of large energetic digs bouded around frenetically at the behest of their handlers..the local Dog Obedience Training Centre. To my right sprawled an area of devastation..no other words would describe it.. long grass with a random collection of 1940s. 50s and 60s vans, tractors, steam- rollers..all abandoned to nature, prey..to weeds, small bushes and moss...and inevitably rust..relics of long disappeared French manufacturers, Berliet, Unic..

The inside of the chateau, or was it just a very large out-house, had not faired much better, seeming to display a sundry collection of very-much-worse-for wear furniture that just might have, before the dust, sunlight, old age, woodworm and abuse took their toll, graced the "sejours" of the grand house.

But there were bikes to be had..at least six..a Mercier, a Motoconfort, the inevitable Peugeot..all demi-course..a very attractive Raleigh, lady's model that most certainly had never seen the inside of the Nottingham..or any British factory..more likely sub-contracted from a French atelier..and in the corner covered in layers of white dust that had escaped from the walls as the seasons, wet and dry caused the white-washed walls to shed some of their texture... a randonneur..and it was old..40s even 30s..and it had been there a long time..and it was completely original,,cranked rear chainstays, Cyclo 3-sp derailleur, braze-on brakes by Bebolux. ..shades of a very class bicycle.

It was black..or had been..no sign of transfers..but the "plaque" was still fixed firmly in place with its two rivets to the head-tube. It was necessary to brush away a mass of cob-webs dangling from long-past-their-best brake cables to fully expose thew dull brass plate. It was not ornate..just geometrical..an diamond elongated horizontally,with no repousse decoration.

Instant recall brought thoughts of Hugonnier-Routens, Reyhand even, for both had head-badges of this design..appearing almost to have been cut and filed up at the frame-maker's bench, then acid-etched to bring the name into proud relief.

But No! The name was short..only five letters..MICMO..or CICMO, difficult to tell. But now definitely CICMO, with "Septembre1953" added on the line below..but no town to locate the manufacturer. Was it simply a hand-made badge, screwed into place by a former owner?

A couple of days later, on my way back to Calais..and the boat..I indulged myself for a couple of hours and called in again on one of those French Ebay sellers who tempt us all with their magnificent range of accessories. The "vendeur" has at least a hundred French frames of distinction stashed away..possibly for sale eventually..Colibri, Barra, Goeland, Herse..but no CICMO. But he did recognise the name..and found it in an a 1946 "Bottin"..directory of the cycle trade. Here we have it ...CICMO..of Marseiiles..constructeur..

But..to answer the question that has to be asked..No! I had not bought the frame..but who knows..I return to that same stamping ground early in 2007.

Norris Lockley...Settle UK