Avenue de la Republique, Nice, France

Urago hand-made French 10-speed bicycle

There is what I believe to be a 1974 Urago bicycle in my garage. It was my number one riding buddy Z's college bike, and when retiring to the more forgiving climate of the American Southwest last year, he elected to leave it in my hands rather than transport it.

For a variety of reasons, not the least being that it is at least six millimeters too large for me, am not really able to ride it. But even if it was the right size, I probably wouldn't because the beautiful, handmade French frame has been the victim of a vengeful ex-wife with a ball peen hammer. Hell hath no fury. The Urago unfortunately exhibits wifey's handiwork in the form of prominent dents on the top tube and a creative yet obviously amateur red, white and blue spray painted "fade" finish Z applied in an attempt to cover the damage. Too bad. So not only will I never ride this bike, but it seems unlikely anyone will. The top tube would have to be replaced, which is possible, given that it's a lugged frame, but I can't see anyone investing the money to resurrect this particular bike. I certainly wouldn't.

I will nevertheless cherish and make useful what parts I can, and hope to maintain at least some parts as mementos of the decade or more Z and I rode together.

Mafac "Racer" center-pull brakes

Most of the components are nothing particularly special. The drive train was obviously overhauled in the late seventies or maybe early eighties, replacing what were almost certainly a mix of Simplex and Spécialités T.A. with 10-speed Shimano 105. There are still some leftovers from the original build, including some cheap looking Simplex shift levers and a great looking Pivo stem. I will definitely scavenge these parts, though I can't imagine actually using them. I'm never going back to a 5-gear rear cluster, and there's a possibility that the the Pivo is one of the notorious French "death stems". Even if it's not dangerous, the Pivo is probably too long for me, and would likely only fit an antique handlebar - like my mid-80's Nitto Olympiad. So I likely won't use these parts, but couldn't bear to get rid of them.

The parts I'm eager to scavenge, and am most likely to use are the brakes. Typical of European bikes of the time, the Urago came with MAFAC "Racer" center-pull brakes, mounted on a plate to the bolt hole in the middle of the fork crown. That was pretty standard during the bike boom. The "Racer" was not the top of MAFAC's line, but according to both Sheldon Brown and Jan Heine, they are still among the best brakes ever made, especially when direct-mounted to dedicated braze-ons like I have on the Velo Routier. The plastic parts are beyond their prime, but everything else is probably as good as ever. Fortunately, Rene Herse sells a rebuild kit for MAFAC brakes that replaces the plastic bits with brass and will generally rehabilitate the brakes. The Diacompe 750s now on my Velo Routier work just fine (my next post will likely be about them) and there's no need to swap - but c'mon, MAFAC.

MAFAC Brake Levers with OEM "gum" hoods

I'll probably take the MAFAC branded brake levers too, but I'm not sure I'll use them any time soon. I really love the Origin 8 Classiq aero set I have with the brown hoods and the drillium levers. But I'll toss 'em in the box and see if a need ever arrives. I'll probably want to pick up some hood covers from Velo Orange while I'm at it - I can't believe they'll be around forever and the originals are pretty well dry rotted.

The other thing I'll probably scavenge from the Urago is the wheels. They're 27 inch wheels like the ones I have on my Fuji, though they look to be in a lot better shape. I'll have to see if the hubs will accommodate the two extra gears (the Fuji is an '86 14-speed while the Urago is a '74 10-speed), but I think they should, and this will buy the old rice-cranker a few more years until I have to decide whether to convert to 700c.

Center-pull cable guide, "DEPOSE"

There's also a cheap but intriguing cable stay that reads, "DEPOSE". I presume the word is  dépose meaning to "take down".  I'll definitely keep that, though I'm not sure it would work on most modern bikes or that I'd ever need to use it.

As the weather warms up I'll probably get out the Dremel and try to polish up the Racers. I've got a new stem and handlebar I've been wanting to install on the Vélo Routier and I really should put the Fuji back in working order - I scavenged it for parts during the Routier build and have never really put it back together. So as the weather gets nicer I'll probably pull out the bike stand and tend to a couple of these pandemic projects. Right after I clean the gutters and do all the pruning and lay down some mulch. Oh, fuckit, I think I'll just go for a ride instead...