Hello from French Pyrénées

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French Pyrénées
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Hello, I'm Matt from France.

Firstly, excuse my weak english !

I'm relatively new to american bikes, I've discovered them during summer 2009. Back then, I threw away my ugly modern MTB ! Well, in fact, I've completely disassembled it.. One never know...

Other than your great bikes, I'm into old Heavy Metal, old Death Metal, 60's rock and soul music, and comics, mainly classic from Belgium and France.

My first bike is a 2009 Schwinn Classic 3. I still own it, but since then I've purchased a Chicago-made Schwinn (more about it below) and I've a problem with it : it's really cheap in the making ! Nonetheless, it's very cool looking and still a pleasure to ride. And mainly, it's with this bike that I've discovered a cooooool way to ride bikes !!!

schwin12.jpg


Then, a few years later, I've made myself a great gift : a '59 Schwinn Panther II ! No more words needed, except : heck yeah !
Since I'm also into Heavy Metal, I could not be happier : this is pretty solid heavy metal !

schwin10.jpg


schwin11.jpg


Then, 2 years ago, I've found, here, in France, an '86 Murray Monterey which is also a cool bike. I'd like to custom it a bit, but I'm still not sure about a colour scheme and that's maybe the main reason for me to join you : I hope to get some inspirations. I (think I) have a theme, I may have a name for it, a few ideas, but no colour scheme… Well…
Also, I think it would be great as a klunker, both look-wise and what-a-pleasure-to-ride-in-the-mud-wise ! So I'll see where I go with that bike…

murray10.jpg

As you can see, I'm also fond of Citroën 2cv, a passion shared with my wife...

I also own a small bunch of french bikes, more or less old. They were useful for me to learn how to fix a bike, at cheap costs…
Also, it's easier for me to begin to learn to custom with such bikes. Here is an example with a french ladies' frame :
banane12.jpg


Before :
banane10.jpg


Well, that's all for now !

Cheers !

Matt
 
Are there still a lot of the Le forge still running in France? 30 years ago when I cycle toured France there were many of them!
Not sure about Le forge... Do you mean Lejeune ? If so, I think the brand is still active but I'm not sure, I'm more into american cruisers than race bikes, whatever country they come from !!!
 
Not sure about Le forge... Do you mean Lejeune ? If so, I think the brand is still active but I'm not sure, I'm more into american cruisers than race bikes, whatever country they come from !!!
Some of my friends that I met in France said they called the cars le frog because they remind them of frogs. I thought it was a common Nick name for them. They are a neat design some times you might see them here! But just not a common car. L


Lejeune at one time was commonly sold race bike here in Michigan. I ride anything with two wheels. Cruisers,mountain bikes, or racing bikes! I was a former racer in the mid 1980's.
 
Some of my friends that I met in France said they called the cars le frog because they remind them of frogs. I thought it was a common Nick name for them. They are a neat design some times you might see them here! But just not a common car.
Ok, you were speaking about my car ! My mistake ! Well, it's now an old car, the lastest ones are now 26 years old, so they are not common nowadays... Just a few old persons and collectors use them now...
I don't recall them being called frogs but why not ? Frogs are so french ! They are also called ente (duck) in Germany, cabras (goat) in Spain, tin snails in Great-Britain...
 

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