My Meral, which I really like, has been the subject of much derision on the list due to an unusual green color. It looks a lot like a LeJeune and I always assumed it was just an alternate brand name. It is a sport touring geometry.
Joe Bender-Zanoni Little Falls, NJ Packing bikes today for my impending move.
Norris Lockley wrote:
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> Norris Lockley
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> For anyone wanting to purchase a class French Randonneur in the traditon of
> the classics, but built with 1970/80s frame components, there is a su
> perb example on French Ebay at the moment.
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> the bike is a 55/56 cms MERAL, fully equipped with French equipment, inc
> luding F and R chrome pannier racks, as you would expect from this hig
> h quality builder. With just about 20 hours to go, the bike is standing at
> 800 euros, without a bid on it yet.
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> MERAL was a small company of about fifteen staff working out workshops&n
> bsp; at La Fuye, just near Tours in the Loire valley. The company had a ful
> l range of bikes for all types of cyclesport, and most were very elegant, w
> ell brazed and nicely finished. The company also had a custom shop. Althoug
> h models were produced in small series, the build was excellent and the pri
> ce sensible, if you appreciate what I mean...possibly FOLLIS quality..but s
> lightly larger production.
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> Their foreman builder was Denis Quillon who, when MERAL was bought out i
> n the early 80s and some worked moved nearer to Le Mans, stopped in La Fuye
> and set up his own frame shop. enjoying a tremendous reputation especially
> with the racing fraternity. He is supposed to have built for Laurent Figno
> n, Cyrille Guimard, other of the Renault-Gitane teams of that era, etc etc
> Alain Prost. etc He is now one of the gurus of modern French frame-bui
> lding
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> In a sense he was in the 80s and early 90s the "Bernard Carre" of his ti
> me. I bought a lot of his frames at the time he was the one of the chief bu
> ilders - high end models - for Geliano/Jean Marie Duret.
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> The Ebay bike looks to be immaculate..and is quite rare as like so many
> other top randonneurs, the owners dont part with them very quickly. It is l
> ocated in Paris...I shall be in the Paris area for about two weeks starting
> on July 3...and again for a similar period in the second and third weeks o
> f August and would be willing to collect the bike and despatch it to the St
> ates.
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> No connection with the seller..just would like to see a CR member get hi
> s legs over this one.
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> Ebay No : 290129471040
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> Norris Lockley, Settle UK
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> Norri
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