Französische Fahrräder
French bicycles are often of very high quality, but they have their own idiosyncracies and interchangeability problems. This article tries to point out the pitfalls that you may run into in maintaining or upgrading a French bicycle, and offers solutions to common problems.
In the great bike boom of the early-mid '70's, French bicycles were sold in the U.S. in very large numbers, mostly low-end ten speeds with mild steel frames, steel rims and cottered cranks. These low-end models are generally not worth putting any money into, unless you have a strong sentimental attachment to one. Such a bike can be suitable for use as a "beater" to ride short distances, perhaps to the train station where you can lock it up without worrying about theft.
[A note from John Allen: I think that Sheldon overgeneralizes here. Some of the low-end models make for a very nice ride if customized with better components. I'm not the only cyclist who praises the excellent handling qualities of the UO-8, Peugeot's bottom-of-the-line 1970s 10-speed. There are probably other low-grade French bicycles as good. The UO-8 frame has unusually long chainstays, for ample heel clearance when carrying rear panniers. The plain-gauge steel frame tubing is a bit heavier than fancier butted tubing, but the added stiffness is welcome when carrying a touring load, and plain-gauge tubing doesn't dent easily like thin-walled butted tubing. A UO-8 is my favorite touring bike. So there!]
Higher quality French bicycles, with cotterless cranks and aluminum rims are usually worth restoring or upgrading. These bicycles are also often a good choice for conversion for fixed-gear use. Unfortunately, some of the dimensions and thread standards used on older French bicycles can make it difficult to find suitable parts for repair or upgrading.
[Also in connection with this article, see Sheldon's article on upgrading...John Allen]
Typische Abmessungen und Abweichungen zu "Standard"maßen
| Bauteil | BSA/ISO | Französisch |
|---|---|---|
| Oberrohr | 1" (25,4 mm) | 26 mm |
| Unterrohr | 1 1/8" (28,6 mm) | 28 mm |
| Sattelrohr | 1 1/8" (28,6 mm) | 28 mm |
| Vorbau | 7/8" 22,2mm | 22 mm |
| Lenkerklemmung | 25,4 mm, 26 mm | 23,5 mm, 25 mm |
| Gewinde des Gewindesteuersatzes | 1" x 24 tpi (25.4 x 1,058 mm) | 25 mm x 1,0 mm |
| Steuersatz Lagersitz | 26,4 mm (J.I.S. 27 mm) | 26,5 mm (manchmal 27 mm) |
| Steuerrohr | 30,2mm (J.I.S. 30 mm) | 30,2 |
| Tretlagerbreite | 68 mm | 68 mm |
| Innenlagergewinde | 1,370/1,375 x 24 TPI | 35 mm x 1mm (1,378 x 25,4 tpi) |
| Feststehende Lagerschale des Innenlagers | Linksgewinde | Rechtsgewinde (Schweizerisch Linksgewinde) |
| Pedalgewinde | 9/16 x 20 TPI | 14 mm x 1,25 mm |
| Freilaufgewinde | 1.370/1.375 x 24 TPI | 34,7 mm x 1mm (1,366" x 25,4TPI) |
| Kurbelsplinte | 3/8" (9,5 mm) | 9 mm |
Lenker/Vorbauten
AVA Death Stem Many higher-quality French bicycles of the '70's came with AVA brand bars and stems. These have a reputation for failure, and should be replaced.
French stems differ both in the size that fits into the steerer, and the size of the part that clamps on to the handlebar. Thus, if you want to replace the handlebars on a French bicycle, you will probably also need to replace the stem.
French stems are 0.2mm narrower than others where they fit into the steering column. A standard 7/8" / 22.2mm stem won't usually fit. In many cases, the limiting factor for fitting the stem in will be the headset locknut, rather than the steerer itself. Try removing the locknut before sanding down a stem. If the headset locknut is slightly tighter than the steerer, it can be enlarged easily with a small grinding wheel.
In cases where the stem really won't fit into the steerer, a few minutes' work on the stem with sandpaper will usually do the trick. Wrap the sandpaper around the stem, grip it with your hand, and turn the stem round and round until it fits. You only need to remove 0.1 mm, which is 1/250", not much at all! [This needs to be a quill-type stem, which inserts into the steerer tube, and an aluminum alloy stem, not a steel one -- from which you would be removing chrome plating, leaving it vulnerable to rust. Another approach is to replace the fork and the headset with ones with standard British/ISO dimensions. This is possible, as French head tube bearing race dimensions are 30.2mm, the same as British. You could use a standard 22.2 mm quill stem, or a threadless headset and a 1-inch Aheadset-type stem. Also, an adapter is available as of 2014 to fit a 1 1/8" Aheadset-type stem to a French fork.-- John Allen]
If you convert from a French stem to a standard one, you will also need to replace the handlebars, which are a different diameter.
Steuersätze
The threaded parts of a French headset are non-standard, but the press-in parts are conventional. If you have a worn-out headset, it is most likely the lower races that are damaged. If you have trouble finding a French headset, you can replace the bottom races with ones from a standard headset, and keep the old parts on top.
French headsets use a different type of keyed washer than others. Instead of having a groove machined in the threads, the rear part of the threads is filed flat. French headsets commonly used a serrated keyed washer, with matching serrations on the threaded bearing race. This makes French headsets slightly harder to adjust, but once they are adjusted, they hold their adjustment better than conventional designs.
Innenlager
French-thread bottom bracket cups use 35 mm x 1mm threads. They are getting hard to find. If you have a French bicycle with sound bottom bracket cups, you may want to re-use them, even if you wind up changing the axle. Since French bottom brackets are normally the usual 68 mm width, British/I.S.O. bottom bracket axles will sometimes work.
French bottom bracket cups usually have thinner walls than Japanese ones, so the bearing ridges on the spindles are farther apart. If you use a standard Japanese spindle, the adjustable cup won't be able to screw in far enough to snug up the bearings, or if it does, it will sink into the bottom bracket shell so that you won't be able to install the lockring.
The good news is that a Japanese spindle made for an Italian size (70 mm) bottom bracket will usually fit! In the J.I.S. marking system, these are the spindles that are marked with a "5" code. Spindles for 68 mm bbs have codes beginning with 3. This trick often makes it possible to upgrade an older bike from cottered to cotterless cranks, at a reasonable cost, or replace a worn French cotterless spindle that is no longer available -- but see warning below about French crank extractors.
Few cartridge bottom brackets are available in French thread, but Phil Wood retaining rings are available in French size. They work with Phil Wood bottom brackets and Shimano UN72 units. Velo Orange makes a cartridge bottom bracket which uses expanding sleeves instead of threads, and also will work in a French-threaded frame.
French-thread bottom brackets, like Italian, use regular right threading on both sides. This means that the fixed cup will have a tendency to loosen up in use. The best prevention is to make sure it is really tight. In some cases, a thread adhesive may even be called for.
Some French bicycles, notably many Motobécane models, used Swiss thread bottom brackets. These have the same thread and diameter as French, but use a left thread for the fixed cup. This makes life interesting when you need to remove the fixed cup and don't know which way to turn it. Good luck. Phil Wood and velo Orange offer the same options as with French bottom brackets.
Newer French bicycles commonly use Italian or British/I.S.O. bottom brackets.
See the selection of French bottom brackets and parts at Harris Cyclery.
Kurbelsplinte
The usual cotter diameter for French cottered cranks is 9 mm, rather than the 9.5 mm more commonly used on British and Asian bicycles.
Kurbelabzieher
Older TA and Stronglight cranks each had their own unique thread for for the crank extractor, and you will need to get the correct puller for the crank you are working on. TA used a 23 mm extractor, Stronglight used 23.35 mm until 1982, when it converted to the standard 22mm diameter. You must use the correct crank extractor. Be especially careful not to use a TA extractor on a Stronglight crank. It will thread in, but it may strip the threads in the crank.
Some J.I.S. Japanese spindles have studs on the ends threaded for nuts to hold the cranks in place, instead of bolts that thread into ends of the spindle. Many TA or Stronglight crank extractors do not work with a stud-end spindle, because the plunger can not be retracted far enough. You could use a gear puller (sold at auto parts stores) to remove a crank if you don't have an extractor that will work. Next time, use a bolt-type spindle!
Older Stronglight cranks used bolts with a 16 mm head. The common Park crank bolt wrench [unfortunately no longer made] will turn these, but most other socket wrenches will not fit inside the extractor hole. Use only bolts with a 14 or 15 mm head in a crank with a smaller extractor thread diameter.
Ankelmmbauteile
Since the down tube and seat tube are slightly smaller in diameter on French bicycles, clamp-on front derailers, cable guides and stops, and down-tube shift levers may in some cases not clamp tightly enough. This is not usually a problem in practice, but does cause trouble occasionally. You could shim the tube with a couple turns of vinyl electrician's tape.
Pedale
Older French bicycles used a different, smaller diameter where the pedal screws into the crank, 14 mm x 1.25 mm.
The vast majority of French bicycles imported into the U.S. used standard 9/16" x 20 tpi crank threading, but if you find an older bicycle that was bought in France, you may run into this problem. The French-thread cranks can be tapped out to 9/16". This is much easier (and more worth the trouble) with aluminum cranks. Start the taps from the inside of the cranks, so any possible thread damage occurs where it doesn't matter. French pedals will often be marked "G" (Gauche=left) and "D" (Droite=right).
Freiläufe
French-thread freewheels used a smaller diameter attachment to the hub. Neither the freewheels nor the hubs are interchangeable with anything else. Fortunately, they are quite rare: virtually all French bicycles sold in the U.S. had standard British/I.S.O. freewheel threads. In any case, unless you are restoring a collector's item, you will do well to spread the rear dropouts, and upgrade to a modern rear wheel with a cassette hub and index shifting -- see my article on frame spacing.
Die Maillard Helicomatic Nabe
DESCRIPTION Some French bicycles (and many early Treks!) came with Maillard "Helicomatic" rear hubs. This was the first cluster that could be removed without a big, powerful tool. It came with a cute little pocket-size tool that incorporated a spline wrench for the cassette lockring, a spoke wrench, and a bottle opener. The Helicomatic was a nice idea on paper, but poorly executed. These hubs are losers.
Both hub flanges were 1mm farther to the left than those of a normal hub, causing increased dish in the rear wheel, and persistent spoke breakage problems. Many loyal Helicomatic fans tout the ease with which the cassette may be removed for spoke replacement as a great virtue, but if the hub were better designed, it wouldn't break so many spokes!
These hubs were prone to bearing problems as well. Due to clearance requirements, they couldn't fit the normal 9 1/4" bearing balls, so they used 13 5/32" balls on the right side. These didn't hold up well. The cones tended to wear rapidly, and replacement cones are no longer available to fit these hubs.
Schaltwerke
Most of the French bicycles that flooded the U.S. in the '70's had plain rear fork ends, and used rear derailers with bolt-on adapter claws, secured by the rear axle.
The better models, those with Reynolds 531 or other high quality tubing, commonly featured Simplex forged fork ends, with built in Simplex-type derailer hangers. These are not the same as the Campagnolo- and Shimano-type hangers used on modern bicycles. It is possible, however, to modify Simplex hangers. They have an unthreaded mounting hole, which may easily be tapped out to the standard 10 mm x 1 mm thread used by modern derailers. Standard derailer hangers also have a step at the bottom edge which limits the forward swing of the derailer. This can usually be supplied by judicious use of a file. Its angle may differ depending on the derailer. If the derailer hanger can't be made to work, you might remove it and braze on one that does, or use an adapter claw.
Speichen
French spoke gauge numbers are lower for thinner wires, while the U.S./British gauge numbers are larger for thinner wires. The crossover point is right in the popular range of sizes used for bicycle spokes:
- U.S./British 14 gauge (.080", 2 mm) is the same as French 13 gauge
- U.S./British 13 gauge (.092, 2.3 mm) is the same as French 15 gauge
Fortunately, though, the thickness of most spokes is by now labeled in millimeters. When in doubt, measure! Spoke threading also may differ, so always get new spoke nipples to go with new spokes.
Reifen und Felgen
Most French bicycles imported into the U.S. before the mid '80's used 630 mm (27 inch) wheels. This size was never in use in France, and was only supplied on export models.
Bicycles built for the French market and informally imported generally use one of 3 tire sizes:
- Sport bikes would use either tubulars or 622 mm (700 C) clinchers.
- Utility bikes, loaded tourers and tandems would generally come with the 584 mm size commonly known as 650 B or "demi-ballon." This latter size has traditionally been quite difficult to find in the U.S., and is an endangered species in France. Schwinn used this size on a few MTB models. In Schwinn nomenclature, it is called "26 x 1 1/2".
- The 584 mm (650 B) size is recently making a bit of a comeback! See my article on 584 mm/650 B wheels.
- There is a French organization dedicated to preserving this size: La Confrérie des 650B
- Some French folding bikes use 490 mm (22 X 1 3/8") tires. There are also several other specific French sizes used mainly on juvenile bikes.
For more detailed tire size information, see my article on Tire Sizing. herse camping bike
Französische Fahrradmarken
Es folgt hier eine Liste von französischen Fahrradmarken, die keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit hat. Insbesondere die Bemerkungen könnten nicht ganz vollständig sein. Wenn jemand Informationen vermisst, freuen wir uns über Ergänzungen. Wenn eine Marke einen eigenen Artikel in der WikiPedalia hat oder eine eigenen Website hat, wird dorthin jeweils verlinkt.
| Marke | Bemerkung |
|---|---|
| Astra | Hausmarke von Beacon Cycle, wurde von Motobécane hergestellt. |
| Automoto | Ältere hochwertige Marke, die man nur selten antrifft. Wie viele große französische Fahrradmarken, hatten sie ihren Sitz in St. Étienne, östlich von Paris. l902-1965 |
| Bertin | Überdurchschnittliche Marke der 1970er Jahre. |
| Louison Bobet | Das waren zu ihrer Zeit gute Fahrräder (1960er bis 970er). Wurden von Cyclopedia vertrieben. Benannt nach einem großartigen französischen Rennfahrer. |
| Dilecta | Sehr feine ältere Reisetandems, deren Logo an die alte vietnamesische Flagge erinnert. |
| Follis | Anständige Marke, insbesondere bekannt für Tandems. |
| Flandria | Ist in Wirklichkeit belgisch und nicht französisch. Die meisten Flandrias waren einfache Klunker aus den Jahren des Fahrradbooms. Einige Modelle kamen sogar aus Portugal. |
| Ginay | Klingt ähnlich wie Jeunet. Einfache Fahrradboomproduktlinie. |
| Ginet | Klingt ähnlich wie Jeunet. Einfache Fahrradboomproduktlinie. |
| Gitane | Bedeutende Marke. Jacques Anquetil und Greg Lemond fuhren Rennen auf Gitanes. |
| Gnôme Rhône | Stellt hauptsächlich Flugzeugturbinen her und baute in den 1950ern auch Fahrräder. Sheldon Brown besaß ein solches Modell als er Ende der 1980er Jahre in Frankreich lebte. Sie hatten Hauptrohre aus Aluminium, die in Stahlmuffen vernietet wurden. |
| René Herse | Diese Marke ist die Spitze der französischen Fahrradmarken. Sie sind spezialisiert auf spezialangefertigte und angepasste Topreiseradmodelle. Sie sind extrem wertvoll. Hier ist eine Illustration eines René Herse "Camping"-Modells. Die Marke wurde durch den Hersteller Boulder (Colorado, USA) wiederbelebt. |
| Jeunet | Hochqualitative Modelle aus den Fahrradboom-Jahren. |
| La Perle | Jacques Anqueteil und Sheldon Brown besaßen jeder ein La Perle. Er gab seines seiner Schwester. Das Schicksale von Jaques Fahrrad ist nicht bekannt. Sheldons Fahrrad war aus 531, hatte Seitenzugbremsen, Schlauchreifen, einen Lenker und Vorbau aus Titan |
| LeJeune | Hochqualitative Tandems und Einpersonenfahrräder. |
| Look (Website von Look) | Stellt aktuell Hightech-Karbon-Rahmen und Klickpedale her |
| Lapierre | Hat seinen Sitz in Dijon. Stellt vollständige Fahrräder her. Hatte früher hochwertige Rennräder im Angebot. In den USA ist Lapierre eher für einfache Fahrräder der Fahrradboom Jahre bekannt. In Europa kennt man Lapierre eher für hochwertige Mountainbikes und Rennräder. |
| Mercier | Bedeutender Wettbewerber von Peugeot in den 1970er Jahren. Das Modell "100" ähnelte stark dem Peugeot "UO-8" und das Modell "300" dem "PX-10. Die Marke Mercier wurde wiederbelebt, jedoch haben die fernöstlichen aktuellen Produkte außer dem Namen nichts mehr mit den französischen Originalen gemein. |
| Motobécane/MBK | Einer der größten Hersteller von Fahrrädern und Motorrädern. "Moto" ist französisch für Motorrad und "bécane" ist französisch für "Bike". Nach einer Insolvenz wurde die Marke als MBK wiederbelebt. |
| OTB | "Only The Best" war die private Bezeichnung von Charlie Hamburgers aus Frankreich in die USA importierten Fahrräder. Mehr dazu im Artikel zu OTB. |
| Peugeot (Website für Peugeot Fahrräder) | Peugeot ist der Golith der französischen Fahrradindustrie. Sie stellen Automobile, Fahrräder und Pfeffermühlen her. Mehr findet man im eigenen Artikel zu Peugeot. |
| St. Étienne | Eine Mittelklassemarke. Die Stadt St. Ètienne war viele Jahre lang, das Epizentrum der französischen Fahrradindustrie. |
| St. Tropez | Eine gewöhnliche Einfachmarke. Einige dieser Modelle stammen aus Taiwan und nicht aus Frankreich. Sie bilden den Bodensatz der französischen Fahrradmarken. |
| Alex Singer | Sie waren René Herse ganz dicht auf den Fersen als Kleinserienhersteller hochwertiger Fahrräder. Es gibt einige Diskussion, ob man den Namen Englisch oder Französisch aussprechen sollte. |
| Stella | |
| Terrot | Ältere hochwertige Marke, sehr selten. |
| Urago | Ein südfranzösischer Hersteller hochqualitativer Fahrräder. |
| Velosolex | Stelle sowohl Fahrräder als auch merkwürdige Mopeds mit Frontantrieb her. Außerdem sind sie ein wichtiger Hersteller von Vergasern. Im Jahr 2010 wurde die Marke für elektrisch angetriebene Mopeds reaktiviert, die das Aussehen der alten Mopeds imitiert. |
| Vitus | Vitus war ein lange existierender Hersteller von hochwertigen Fahrradrahmenrohren. In den 1980er Jahren machten sie "geklebte" Aluminiumrohre bekannt, die sehr leicht waren und bei bei leichtgewichtigen Fahrern recht beliebt waren. |
Französische Fahrradkomponenten
AGDA Low end leather saddles, standard equipment on the Peugeot UO-8. Atom Hubs, including rear drum brake popular on older tandems. Atom also made some decent pedals. Absorbed by Sachs? Ava Handlebars and stems. Don't ride on them, they break! Also rims. Christophe Toe clips and straps. CLB Brakes. The CLB brakes sold on U.S. market bikes were not as good as Mafacs. CLB also made a self-energizing centerpull brake with helical pivots, similar to Scott Pedersen cantilevers. For the cyclist who prefers lightness to safety, CLB also made aluminum brake cables! Cyclo French Cyclo was a different company from British Cyclo (Benelux). Early touring derailer mounted to chainstay, used dual cable and external tension spring (There is one on the René Hérse pictured above.) Cyclo Pans freewheel kit was a quick-change freewheel, the first to use splined sprockets like a modern freewheel of cassette. The fact that you could change ratios without having to remove the freewheel from the hub was a big deal in the '60's Excell Good-quality frame tubing. Huret Allvit derailer, the first inexpensive parallelogram-type derailer(early '60's). Duopar super-wide-range derailer, used two parallelograms to extend chain take-up. Very hot stuff in the late '70's. Jubilee, the lightest derailer ever marketed. Multito cyclometer was the first quiet cyclometer, using a rubber belt drive instead of the older star-wheel design. Bought by Sachs, name changed to Sachs. Then Sachs was bought by SRAM, name changed to SRAM. Hutchinson Tires. Still in business. Its 1970's products were of poor quality, but reportedly they have improved considerably since then. Idéale Fine leather saddles, similar to Brooks. Super-light models used flat aluminum rails. Lapize Toe straps--affiliated with Christophe. Look Ski binding company, invented the first practical clipless pedal, revolutionized the market. High tech carbon fibre frames and disc wheels rarely seen in U.S. Special rear hub with strain-gauge power measuring unit. Lyotard Pedals. The Model 23 "Marcel Berthet" platform pedal was one of the most elegantly designed bicycle parts ever. This pedal is the easiest-entry toe-clip type pedal ever made, and is remarkably light, especially considering its all-steel construction. Maillard Hubs and freewheels. Absorbed into Sachs. Helicomatic hub was an early cassette freehub. Mafac The best French bicycles of the 60's and early '70's all had Mafac brakes. Mafac made both centerpull calipers and cantilever brakes. Some high-end French custom builders disassembled Mafac centerpulls, and brazed the pivots to the frame, turning them into what we now call a "U-brake"
"MAFAC" is an acronym from: "Manufacture Auvergnoise de Freins et Accessoires pour Cycle (Manufacturer in the Auvergne of Brakes and Accessories for Cycles.) Mavic The number 1 French rim maker. In the '90's they diversified into other components. Their hubs and cranksets are highly regarded.
"MAVIC" is an acronym from "Manufacture d'Articles Vélocipediques Idoux et Chanel. (Idoux and Chanel were the names of the partners who founded the company in 1890.) First company to market an electronically controlled derailer. New ownership has led to retrenchment; now Mavic makes rims and wheels, as well as some clothing and bicycle computers.. Maxicar Very good hubs. Maxicar drum brakes were fitted on the finest French tandems, they had large enough flanges that spokes could be replaced without removing the freewheel. Michelin Tires. The Michelin Élan was the first modern high-performance clincher. Nervar Cranksets. These had a different bolt circle from any other. Nervex Lugs. Ornate Nervex lugs were very popular on high end frames until the mid-'70's, when simpler styles came into fashion. Normandy Normandy hubs were supplied on almost all '70's bike boom imports. Normandy also made freewheels, and, I believe, was the first to make a freewheel that used a splined remover. Phillipe Handlebars and stems, good quality. Prugnat Lugs. Best known for simple, Italian-style lugs. Rigida Rims. Steel Rigida rims with textured braking surfaces were standard equipment on mid-line bike boom bikes. Robergel Spokes. the "3 Étoiles" (3 stars) model was widely considered the finest spoke available, until DT came along. Sachs A German conglomerate, has absorbed much of the French industry, including Atom/Maillard, Huret, and Sedis. Sedis The world's best chain, bought by Sachs which was bought by SRAM. Simplex The Simplex Prestige derailer was very hot stuff in 1960. It was largely made of plastic. This model was being supplied unchanged until the mid-'70's when Sun Tour blew it away with a more modern design. This was the beginning of the end of French bicycle exports to the U.S. Simplex also made quick-release skewers and high-end microadjustable seatposts. Simplex "Rétrofriction" shift levers have a cult following, and are regarded as the finest non-indexing shift levers ever. Stronglight Innovative maker best known for cranks and headsets. Stronglight pioneered the use of roller bearings in these parts. The headsets are still quite popular. Super Champion Excellent rims. The Model 58 clincher was for years the top choice for loaded touring. It was the first common aluminum-alloy clincher rim with parallel sidewalls, allowing brakes to work smoothly even on out-of-round wheels. The "Arc en Ciel" ("Rainbow") tubular rim was the state-of-the-art for lightweight racing rims. Super Champion is now a division of Wolber. TA France's top maker of cranks. The "Cyclotouriste" was for many years the triple chainwheel set-up. TA also used to own the market for bottle cages and shoe cleats. They also make (or at least used to make) special orthopedic pedals with interchangeable cages to accommodate riders with one leg longer than the other. Time Clipless pedal/shoe systems, the first to feature "float" Velox Patch kits, the world's best rim tape. ("Fond de jante" is French for "bottom of rim".) Vitus France's leading manufacturer of high-quality frame tubing. Also a major builder of frames from aluminum and carbon fiber. Wolber Primarily a tire manufacturer; purchased Super Champion's rim business. Zéfal The world's leading pump manufacturer. The Zéfal HP was the first frame pump that would give satisfactory performance with unmodified Schrader valves.
Französische Werkzeuge
Huret Huret used to make a very nice little 1/4" drive socket set, with an "L" shaped handle and 5 handy sockets. Alas, this is no longer available. Facom The Snap-On of France. Very high quality tools, not cheap. If you visit France, you should look into the Facom "Pince-Étau" locking pliers, which are the nicest I have seen, even better than genuine Vise-Grips. The Facom unit combines a slip-joint with the link-lock function, providing a very wide range of adjustment, and quick operation. The "clé à pipe" is a very handy style of wrench unknown in the U.S. It is an "L" shaped wrench with a socket on each end. The socket on the short end is open, so it can fit over long bolts. Mafac Used to make a very compact tool kit that mounted behind the saddle. In its day, this was quite a nice set, though modern multi-tools have surpassed it. VAR The main source of professional bicycle tools in France. VAR tools are quite solid and well made, but roughly finished and old-fashioned in design. VAR tools are available from U.S. bicycle sources, but tend to be expensive due to the current exchange rate of the euro to the dollar. Online scans of the classic VAR Tool Catalogue
Siehe auch
Quelle
Dieser Artikel basiert auf dem Artikel French Bicycles von der Website Sheldon Browns. Originalautor des Artikels ist Sheldon Brown.
