About Ebykr
Ebykr celebrates classic and vintage lightweight bicycles through provocative imagery and opinion. Ride along with us.
About Ebykr
Ebykr celebrates classic and vintage lightweight bicycles through provocative imagery and opinion. Ride along with us.

A practical guide to dating an Idéale saddle — why there is no date code, what the initials on the badge tell you, which models arrived when, how the alloy stamps and the rodée main mark narrow the window and how to date the paper.

A practical guide to identifying and dating Mafac brakes — why there is no date code to rely on, how the Racer's arm markings changed, which models arrived when and how to read Mafac's own three-digit lever code.

Step back into the workshop of Spécialités TA, the small Clamart firm whose duralumin chainrings and cranksets carried some of the biggest names in cycling for over 70 years. This gallery gathers the company’s period advertisements, catalog pages and technical…

André Maury built his reputation in the shadow of better-known Parisian constructeurs like Alex Singer and René Herse, working first from the 15th Arrondissement and later under the corporate banner of S.E.C.T.A.M. His fillet-brazed frames and quiet technical innovations, including a 1948 threadless stem decades ahead of its time, mark this timeline of French cyclotouring's golden age.

Prolific Innovator While the Golden Age of French cycling is often synonymous with the legendary workshops of Alex Singer and René Herse, André Maury occupies a unique space as one of the undercelebrated, almost unknown masters of technical integration. Establishing his…

Setting the Stage When reminiscing about the crowded field of mid-20th century Parisian constructeurs, familiar names like Alex Singer and René Herse usually consume the largest share of the conversation. Their machines have come to represent some of the most…

André Maury Frame #3603 André Maury Fork Cyclo Rear Derailleur (4 Speed) Cyclo Derailleur Lever (4 Speed) Le Chat Front Derailleur (2 Chainrings) Rosa Chainrings (Front: 48T, Rear: 30T) Brampton Course Chain (French, Half Inch) French Freewheel (4 Speed, 14T-16T-19T-22T)…

All About the Francs, and Palmarès Very few marques from classic cycling’s golden years are as simultaneously transparent and opaque as Cycles Mercier. Wonderful examples of the company’s craftmanship abound in their namesake bicycles, spanning the pre-War 1920s through the…

The story of Cycles Mercier is inextricably linked to its master strategy of brand management and horizontal integration, a philosophy that ensured its longevity even as smaller rivals struggled to survive. Over its 66-year reign, Mercier established no fewer than…

The storied history of Cycles Mercier spans well over a century now, marked by rapid industrialization, a long-running racing dynasty, pioneering technical innovations (like the Méca Dural frame), and dramatic corporate collapses and revivals (note the use of plurals here).…
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