The Flea Market, take 2 and 3

Bringing my friend Tom to the market at Porte Montreuil on Friday in search of a bike and just general browsing was not as fruit full as I had hoped but it was still enjoyable.

tom trying to run away

For those of you that haven’t read my section on buying a bike, this is where I bought my orange bike. The thing to understand about the flea market is that there are many stalls where they sell the bikes. The best one has a random selection of about 12 bikes in no particular category or style and will be completely different from one week to the other.

The bikes at this stall do work however and the guy who runs the stall will adjust it for your height ect. There are other bikes available at the market but they tend to be few and far between, and ranging from brand new to scrap metal.

How ever how could you not enjoy a trip to a place where things like this chair are available for purchase.

Completely contrasting the somewhat down and dirty style of the flea market is the sterile racks of identical bikes located at the nearby decathlon. Seriously last time I saw a lighting grid this square was when I went to see Tron Legacy in the cinema.

Before I go any further I must correct my previous quote of saying that the trip was not fruit full. The trip to decathlon led me to discover this. An advertisement of sheer brilliance.

The trip to decathlon was unsuccessful though in respect to actually buying a bicycle. The few bikes that were in the category that Tom was looking for were far too expensive, being in the €300 – €400 category.
Verdict: Thinking about it

We left the market at the same time and decided to have a race. The finishing point was Cafe Oz and the objective was to see if cycling was faster than the metro on longer distances.
Result: I arrived 6 minutes before Tom to cafe oz, and en route saw a protest at Bastille, and a festival thing on Rue de Rivioli. Tom saw nothing.

Saturday however saw me return to the flea market with another friend Katie. With no particular agenda apart from having a general look around, we ended up leaving with a bike for her and a double duvet for me. Katie picked up a vintage Dilecta Le Blanc from the 40s/50s for €60 euro. The bike is in pretty amazing shape considering its age and has its original front light which is still in working condition, an awesome leather saddle and 3 working gears.

Verdict: success

After a quick trip to the ATM and a hardware stall to pick up a lock, we were rock and rolling literally.

Also if anyone was wondering how I managed to get my double duvet home, 2 bungee cords and this picture should explain everything.

After a quick spin by my apartment to drop off the duvet the city was ours for the taking.

My Orange Bike

My obsession with vintage bikes continues and this is my most recent purchase, while I have to admit that it was well over a month ago since I bought this bike I have neglected to take photos of it until now.
So you might all be wondering why would buy a second bike?
Well without pointing out the obvious beauty of the bike, the second bike allows my family, visiting and local friends to join me on cycles without having the pressure of having 150 Euro in their account for a velib'.
Also my new bike was in very good working order with even the dynamo in operation for the lights and at 70 euro at the Flea Market (half of which were my tips from the previous night) you can't exactly say that I was going "mad" with my money.

A couple of quick things to note about this bike, after a bit of spurning from more knowledgeable friends I did some research and found out its a vintage 1976 Peugeot, the style is a "cyclotourisme femme". It has 5 rear wheel gears and 2 front wheel gears (only one of the front gears operated), so it has a wider range of speeds and can go much faster than my 3 geared town bike. The saddle is also thinner and harder. The ride is much smoother but the seating position is more forward than on the town bike.

  Here is the original catalogue picture from 1976, my bike has a few subtle differences but I'm pretty sure this is it.