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This is a little off topic as it involves a camping bike as opposed to a randonneuse…But…a few years back when I was looking for a bike to do some weekend trips, etc. I was lucky to find a Meral “campeur” that had been well used but had all of its parts. What I had in mind, anyway, was to have a bike with a more modern drivetrain-some more cogs, Ergopower levers- so it was a perfect candidate. It had a very elaborate and complete set of chrome moly tubing racks custom sized for the bike. In addition to what is shown, it has a set of front low riders. So it was repainted and all of the drivetrain parts were new. It retained its brazed on Mafac brakes, Stronglight headset that will never die, Atax seatpost, etc. I also have the original TA triple crank that can be refitted for more gears very quickly as I got a second axle for the modern BB for that job. I understand that the OP was interested in a randonneuse and not a campeur, but you could do something similar. It is not inexpensive, but the whole project that did expand significantly from the original concept and budget was still quite a bit less than the full custom route. (Dark photos due to early morning departure)
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