Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Méral Randonneur

Meral Randonneur

Méral was a French marque that was based in La Fuye, near Tours, in the Loire Valley. Their catalog included a model for most genres: road racing, track, a mountain bike, lady’s racers and some impeccable randonneurs. This particular model was manufactured before Méral was taken over, while the foreman builder was Francis Quillon, now considered a guru of French frame building.

A wonderful example of the glory days of randonneuring—when one relied on the luminescence of a torch to navigate moonlit country roads. The other lamp is actually dynamo-driven, located behind the bottom bracket and actuated by the extra shifter on the seat tube. The frame has been constructed from the ultra-reliable Reynolds 531, and kitted out with Huret derailleurs and a Spécialités TA Cyclotouriste crank set. I can almost smell the damp canvas from here.

Special thanks to tetedelacourse for the fine photography, visit his Flickr for more. Thanks also, always, to Classic Rendezvous.

Meral Randonneur
Meral Randonneur
Meral Randonneur
Meral Randonneur
Meral Randonneur
Meral Randonneur
Meral Randonneur
Meral Randonneur