All this talk about french bikes made me wonder what ever happened to what I thought was a very very very reputable French marque: Urago. I thought those rascals had a serious racing pedigree.
The only ones that I have seen in the last 20 years have been that Nelson Miller thingy on the CR website and a couple of early 80s contraptions that didn't look much different from a Motobecane.
What I miss seeing is the early 70s NR-equipped steeds that looked every bit what you would expect out of a Masi or Cinelli. Is it just me or are other people missing them too?
I can not recall who the imported was, but I can recall seeing beautiful rows of them on the floor of the Spoke on the Hill in Boulder as a wee lad. Freshly built bikes with the smell of freshly glued sew-ups permeating the air when the shop first opened. They must have had at least a 100 come and go through their doors. They were very cool.
What the heck ever happened to them things? The landfill? metal recyclers? abducted by aliens??
Heck those were darn good bikes, but no one ever talks about them.
how come that Jan Hienie guy never talks about them? Maybe he sequestered them all?!!
Has anybody on this List seen any recently? Whatever happened to them??
Granted its been 30 some years, but surely 100 high-end bikes just don't disappear, do they??
And I am sure that the Spoke was not the only freaking shop in the country that had them.
If anybody has them, can you bring them out of hiding, please. I miss them.
Nels Cone
Seattle WA
> Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 15:32:21 -0400
> From: tom@voimports.com
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org; internet-bob@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR] Francophiles Rejoice!
>
> Listers:
>
> Velo Orange has French thread bottom brackets in stock. The same quality and
> features as their English sealed bottom brackets, but with the hard to find
> 35x1 R/R threading.
>
> more here:
> http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/
>
> They will fit any french threaded Motobecane, Peugeot, Gitane and other
> French marques made before the early 80's.
>
> Velo Orange has them priced for under $50.
>
> Full disclosure: I am the General Manager of VO Imports, the dealer/
> distributor side of Velo Orange. Shops can contact me directly for a dealer
> application and wholesale pricing on the BB's and other Velo Orange goods.
>
> Tom Martin
> VO Imports
> 1817 George ave
> Annapolis MD 21401
> e: tom@voimports.com
> p: 443-949-9923
> f: 443-926-0095
> w: http://www.voimports.com
> w: http://www.velo-orange.com
> t: twitter.com/velo_orange