bike shops in paris

[Todd Owen]

Does anyone have any suggestions on a shop or shops to visit in Paris, France? I will be visiting in late May and early June and would like to visit a LBS that would have some local flavor . As this is my first trip I am totally unaware of the industry in France and specifically Paris. we are staying close to the Eiffel tower.

[Too Tall]

All of them. Really. It is such a pleasure to see such a different and useful collection of city / utility bikes you've never seen. Along the main roads off Nation are several good inner city shops as well a a few near Bastille. If you are fortunate enough to have a mechanic do any work...stand back and admire. They are consumate professionals. I've watched as a friend gave his bike to a mechanic to adjust the headset The mechanic touched up the lower race grease (just because), adjusted the HS AND when he looked at the chain and with a "tsk tsk'd" took out two links 'cause the bike obviously was not leaving HIS shop with a too long chain!!!

Oh, and don't sit at cafes on the r.bank and admire immaculately dressed business men and women riding to or from work...head back and cars whizzing by ;)

At all the usual places you'll see free pamphlets for self guided bicycle tours "Paris à Vélo". Rent a bike and do it! Sunday's are good as roads are very quiet or even closed.

Dang, make it a cafe' grand.

[M_A_Martin]

Take a look at the old phorum...
Dbrk gave directions to several for my June trip last year.

[e-RICHIE]

we were in paris last autumn and WALKED around everywhere for 8 days and only saw one bicycle shop - and it was a modern one. dunno the name. something like Cycles Nom de Plume if memory serves me well. it was within a city block of the arch de triomphe as opposed to the arch de victory.

if you want to explore, alex singer was about 3km from that location but it's not considered "in" paris. it was a cool distraction. not much has changed at the shop since the french discovered jazz, so just smile and nod in agreement to everything they show you.

go to laduree for the macaroons. those are pastries, not little people. you will have a real coup d'etat there.

e-RICHIE

ps

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[Climb01742]

also, go sit at a cafe named (whatever the french words for, which i won't butcher the spelling of:) two maggots. seriously. been there since the '20s. hemingway hung there. great people watching. ok, i'm a sap for the whole american writers in paris in the '20s thing, but to sit where cranky old ernst sat, well, kinda cool, uh? and any cafe named after maggots? only in paris.

[Tom Byrnes]

Todd,

A couple of years ago, I posted a similar request on the Message Board and received a lengthy and descriptive response from our esteemed DBRK, who had kindly asked a Paris-based chum for my requested info. Douglas's friend recommended Cycles Laurent, which is located very close to Place Republique on Boulevard Republique or Avenue Republique. Cycles Laurent is operated by two of the sons of the original owner (Laurent). One son speaks some English and seems to deal more with the customers. The other spoke very little English and appeared to be the head wrench. The shop has been continuously operated by their family for forty years or so. On the walls of the shop are lots of old cycling photos of the Tour de France, Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, etc.

The shop is small, by Los Angeles cycling shop standards, but full of merchandise and bikes. I thought I might get a good deal there on French-made Mavic wheels, but their prices were no bargain when compared to what I would pay in Los Angeles for the same wheels. In fact, with the discount I can get at Helen's Cycles, the wheels are less expensive in Los Angeles.

It was worth the short trip on the Metro, if nothing else than to see the old cycling photos. If you are near the Eiffel Tower, you will need to cross the Seine. I took a metro line from Chatelet directly to Place Republique and Cycles Laurent is only one block from the metro exit. I also found a small cycling shop near Montparnasse.

I wish I would have taken the trip to Alex Singer's (Ernst Csulka's) shop. As M A Martin says, DBRK has provided directions to a few cycling shops in a posting on the old Phorum.

You will have a great trip. Paris is a spectacularly beautiful city, especially in May and June.

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[dbrk]

I've a link _somewhere_ to all the major shops in Paris but there are really precious few worth the trouble. You see production bikes and not much in the way of swaag that is different from what we have here, very few old and interesting things. There are the two exceptions but you have to like cyclo-tourisme style riding to get the feel. Rando-Cycles is the first. Paul, the owner, speaks English perfectly and knows everything about TA and building modern bikes. It is on Rue Fernand-Fourneau, right off Boulevard Soutes near Porte Vincennes. Go here for specific directions:
http://www.rando-boutique.com/plan.php
You can take the metro and walk just a few blocks, any simple Paris map will get you there. They have a slew of bikes in all styles but its mostly cyclisme de randonnee. Modern race bikes are boring anyway...

THE place to see in Paris is the Ste Nouvelle des Cycles, the Alex Singer shop on 53, Rue de Victor Hugo in Levallois-Perret/92300. As e-richie noted this is technically not in Paris but only Parisians really think that. It is on the opposite end of the city from Rando-Cycles. Take the metro to the last stop and walk about half a mile or so. You pass a very uninspired bike shop on the way, don't bother really. Here you are thrown back into a past that is filled with beauty, elegance, and near-perfection in cycling. For a few looks inside the Singer shop go here:
http://www.mupson.com/files/galleries.php?galname=Alex_Singer
Relax, take your time, be respectful of M. Csuka's time, and gawk with requisite awe and wonder. There is just no other place like this on Our Faire Planet. DO NOT miss this stop. It was, in my estimate, as good as the Louvre. My wife Aimee actually was okay leaving the Louvre a bit early to get to the shop. They are closed, I think, on Mondays (or is it Tuesdays?) and do not invite yourself to the Sunday ride that begins from the shop without asking very, very politely. M. Csuka speaks very little English so if you go with a French speaker it is more fun. There is a woman working on the paperwork who speaks some English, so if she is there, you may have more luck.

If I can find that other link, I will send it along. Computer changes have left some things lost in the Bermuda cybertangle.

I do have a list of interesting dealers and shops outside of Paris, the most famous of which is likely Cycles Gilles Berthoud on Route de Montrevel, 01190 Pont-de-Vaux (ph:03.85.51.46.46). Berthoud will fit you himself and build a great bike for a very reasonable price. Of course, a Singer will cost you about 5K before delivery charges and duty. Worth every Euro...

Paris is nearly as bereft of interesting shops as Rome, though there are a few modern shops in Rome worth a bit of trouble to find. Me? If I were going to France I would go find Andre Dugast so that I might shake his hand. I regret having not gone to visit Bartali when I was in Italy. Meeting M. Csuka was, for me, like meeting the great man, Eddy. I try not to make a pest of myself.

Have a wonderful time. Paris is, well, Paris! The French may be the French but that's because they really do have something very extraordinary going on...Now, if there were only, say, five shops like the Singer shop (and once upon a time there were!)

dbrk

[Todd Owen]

DBRK...... thanks so much for your post. I got the call several days ago from one J Peter Weigle. My steel lugged dreams just seem to get better. Looking forward to Paris!