gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » Hinault or not Hinault??? Goto page 1, 2  Next    View previous topic :: View next topic  Hinault or not Hinault???   Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 5:09 am greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA Anybody ever seen or heard of such bikes? Shown in these links on eBay.FR: http://cgi.ebay.fr/PROTOTYPE-velo-de-chrono-REYNOLDS-531-BERNARD-HINAULT_W0QQitemZ130370089926QQcmdZViewItemQQptZFR_JG_Sports_Collection_Foot?hash=item1e5aa9b3c6 http://cgi.ebay.fr/PROTOTYPE-cyclo-cross-REYNOLDS-531-BERNARD-HINAULT_W0QQitemZ130370091298QQcmdZViewItemQQptZFR_JG_Sports_Collection_Foot?hash=item1e5aa9b922 I wrote seller for the Marque on the frames. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:02 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Really odd. Never seen those before. _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com HINAULT!!!!!!   Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:35 am greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA Check this out. Sellers reply: Mickael Hinault <mikehinault@hotmail.fr> to ********@gmail.com 8:57am Bonjour, Voici les photos du vélo. N'hésitez pas à me contacter si vous voulez des renseignements supplémentaires. Cordialement Mickael Hinault And photos: Might this be a piece of History? Not my size so no interest. Passing it on. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 7:30 am lofter Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 1162 arc en ciel is the first frames hinault used when he started la vie claire now that thing is really wierd. dont know if it was hinault owned tho . maybe he has a delta wing ...hehe didnt we discuss if arc en ciel was made by gitane?   Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:21 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Definitely a well crafted machine (look at the filed lug points). I guess if I had a lot of extra money lying around, I would throw some at those just for the oddity factor. But alas...they are not Gitane! _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:10 am Gtane Joined: 14 Sep 2007 Posts: 681 Location: UK Well spotted Jay, very interesting indeed. I found the following information based on a quick search on the name "Mecacycle", as shown on the bottom bracket; http://tinyurl.com/ykxkqkm Image search through Google; http://tinyurl.com/ycmswxe -------- They are certainly intriguing bikes. Hinault's name on the bikes could well indicate a connection, particularly the pantographing which is lovely and quite tricky to do perfectly. This detailing in itself is enough to show that something special has been applied to give a personal touch, but that some considerable time has been spent in doing it. Add that detail to the fact that the double down tube frame is unusual, it's a cross variant, etc. etc..... Perhaps the bikes were thoughts on a future line of bikes (at the time) bearing Hinault's name. Whatever their history, they're lovely bikes as they are. Tim _________________ Everything has a cycle   Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:38 am greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA Great detective work Tim. I never thought to search the name from the bottom bracket. I asked the seller to send a photo of the down tube decal and have not received it yet. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:04 pm poufthecascadeur Joined: 30 Apr 2009 Posts: 87 Location: toulon,france i'm not sure but Mickael is the first name of Bernard hinault'son.Did you contact his son? To my mind i thought that the first La vie Claire bikes were black with the badger as a headbadge and few month after grey with red decals.....   Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:06 pm sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California The first La Vie Claire bikes that I am aware of were the silver Arc En Ciel, wth the "80" logo on the headbadge, just like the ones shown in the listing. The downtube decals were different though...Red "hinault". _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:10 pm poufthecascadeur Joined: 30 Apr 2009 Posts: 87 Location: toulon,france we used to call this mecacycle frame turbo,i saw some of this in cyclocross during the 80's in France,i didn't know that hinault rode one.   Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:31 pm greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA poufthecascadeur wrote: i'm not sure but Mickael is the first name of Bernard hinault'son.Did you contact his son? Poufthecascadeur, The message quote I posted at the beginning of this is the reply I got from the seller of the Bikes. I requested the photos and that is what was sent to me. I thought it might well be a relation to him. Is Mickael, Bernard's son, or another relative? I might consider these to be historical bikes if it can be proven they belong to Hinault. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:00 am nicolas Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 543 Location: Paris, France Late in the game but, my time to chime in. Mickael IS Bernard Hinault's son first name. It is a fact. But so far there is no way to tell if this guy is legit. When I spoke to Hinault he told me 2 interesting things regarding this sale: -That his son never cared too much about walking in his father's shoes, regarding cycling or farming -That the only vintage bikes he had kept where prototypes I also remember seeing that type of decal stickers on Hinault bikes available for the public but never on a pro bike. I'll e mail the seller and try to sort this out. _________________ "Ooooh Putain !!! C'est vous ?" -Greg LeMond www.greglemondfan.com   Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:02 am nicolas Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 543 Location: Paris, France lofter wrote: arc en ciel is the first frames hinault used when he started la vie claire now that thing is really wierd. dont know if it was hinault owned tho . maybe he has a delta wing ...hehe didnt we discuss if arc en ciel was made by gitane? it was arc en ciel 80. And Hinault told me they were manufactured by Motobécane. _________________ "Ooooh Putain !!! C'est vous ?" -Greg LeMond www.greglemondfan.com   Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:17 am greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA nicolas wrote: Late in the game but, my time to chime in. Mickael IS Bernard Hinault's son first name. It is a fact. But so far there is no way to tell if this guy is legit.I'll e mail the seller and try to sort this out. Nicolas, Here is the post to another list regarding the bikes: Archive-URL: http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=classicrendezvous.11003.0182.eml Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 23:56:27 +0000 From: Norris Lockley <nlockley73(AT)googlemail.com> Subject: [CR] The Bikes That the Pros Ride - these are the real deal! I realise that it is very easy to doubt the claims of some sellers on Ebay, but the two Bernard Hinault-owned Bernard Hinault bikes recently auctioned on Ebay - I believe that the chrono one was sold in the last few minutes of the auction - WERE THE REAL DEAL. I had an email Off-List from Jay Dubiel, saying that he had been in touch with the seller about more photos. The reply came back from a certain Mickael Hinault. Mickael is the 34-year old son of Bernard Hinault ; there is another son Alexandre. Mickael works with his father on contract to the company , Amaury Sport Organisation,that owns the Tour de France and many of the other major French races and others abroad, and is responsible for organising the Tour Village at the Start and Finish towns. I have been in touch with Mickael who told me that the family were clearing out the greniers ( the lofts) of their farmhouse and came across the machines and, having no use for them, decided to sell them on Ebay. Before phoning him I had checked the Ebay seller's address and found that it is in a village, near Dinan, in northern Brittany about 60 kms from Yffiniac where Bernard was born and brought up. The HInault family is very active in the cycling world with Bernard- Le Blaireau - making a serious comeback on mountain bikes - he rides the new LOOK 996XO machine - and he is preparing his own team of family and friends to take on some serious sportif rides, using the new HINAULT carbon frames equipped with Campag equipment. There is also a new range of cycling clothing - TEXTILE HINAULT. The Mecacycle Hinault for auction on Ebay..but not sold.. had the Arc-en-Ciel 80 head tube transfer, relating of course to Hinault's sole victory in the World Road Championships at Sallanches in 1980. At 1000 euros this is beginning to look like an attractive proposition particularly as Hinault would provide full provenance. The aero-tubed chrono bike that I thought looked a bit too big for Hinault due largely to the very long head-tube, is, of course, much smaller than it looks, simply because the bike is built with a 650/26 inch from wheel. Don't know why I did not think of that in the first place. Mickael keeps a blog of the family's activities..there are currently 965 pages of photos. It offers quite a fascinating insight into the lives of Hinault and his family and friends..and of the world of the Pros that they inhabit when they are not riding 60kms across snow-covered countryside of their mountain bikes. Ther are some excellent photos of Eddy Merckx..who will celebrate his 65th birthday this year. If you find yourselves with a some spare time and want to soak up the life of top amateur riders in northern France..including a lot of cyclo-cross I recommend to you: *www.exclusivelo.skyrock.com* ** Alternative access to different parts of the blog can be made at: *www.exclusivelo.skyrock.com/2709665044-MICKAEL-HINAULT* ** If you choose the first access route..go to page 23..where you will find photos of hardman Bernard Hinault doing some serious winter training rides. Good viewing Norris Lockley Settle UK ** Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 9:42 am nicolas Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 543 Location: Paris, France Wow, major input there... So I guess it's just the farm that Hinault's sons are not interested in, because they do ride ! _________________ "Ooooh Putain !!! C'est vous ?" -Greg LeMond www.greglemondfan.com Hinault or not Hinault???     gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum All times are GMT - 8 Hours   Page 1 of 2   Goto page 1, 2  Next All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First  Select a forum Gitane USA----------------Vintage GitaneGitane RacingModern GitanePro Racing - Classics/Giro/Tour....Owner Gallery   Powered by phpBB © 2001-2004 phpBB Group Designed for Trushkin.net | Themes Database.