The bike belongs to one of the local CR regulars. It IS a real Lejeune cyclocross bike in classic early 70s Lejeune red. He rode it in the Rough Riders Rally this past weekend.
Mafac cantilever brakes were more or less copies of other famous brands that appeared on touring bikes, randonneurs and tandems as far back as the 30s.
Weird? They have panache! I have several bikes with them!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
Chas. Colerich Oakland, CA USA
Matthew Bowne wrote:
> Just a guess here, but maybe...cyclocross?
>
> Matthew Bowne
> Brooklyn NYC
>
>
> On Jul 26, 2010, at 6:14 PM, Leslie Tierstein wrote:
>
>> I was in Marin county (CA) over the weekend, so I decided to ride down to
>> Mill Valley, to see what sorts of bikes would show up at the Rough Riders
>> Rally (http://www.adventurecorps.com/rrr/index.html ). Since I was
>> staying
>> in San Rafael, I had to ride over a mountain to get to Mill Valley,
>> but it
>> was worth it. There were lots of interesting bikes (some KOF, such as
>> Rivendells), but the most interesting (for me) was that early 70's
>> Lejeune
>> (red!). I didn't even know before I saw them that Mafac made cantilever
>> brakes. Boy did they look weird. The bike was set up as cyclocross, but
>> what was it originally set up as? The frame had no eyelets for racks or
>> fenders, so clearly not touring. But it fit the knobby cyclocross
>> tires just
>> fine.
>>
>> Thanks for any info that can supplement the brief bits available on
>> wikipedia.
>>
>> Leslie Tierstein
>> Arlington VA (usually)