Join us as we attempt to fix this rusty bicycle before the big French cycling festival! Along the way, we’ll cover some essential French phrases, and pronunciation tips to help you navigate your way through France. Let’s get pedaling and learning!
Do you love old French bikes? Fancy learning some French while watching a vintage 1960s vélo get dismantled with a bit of dad humour and angle grinder action? You’re in the right place!
In this 4:54-minute fast-paced video, we take apart my daughter’s beautiful (but rusty) 1960s AutoMoto vintage bike. Along the way, you’ll learn the French words for key bike parts, like le cadre, le dérailleur, and les pneus.
Perfect for cyclists, Francophiles, and language learners — or anyone who loves restoring a classic!
🎯 French vocab shown and spoken
🛠️ Real bike restoration tips
Watch Episode 1
[https://youtu.be/t1AjFM3GtuA]
Watch Episode 2
[https://youtu.be/mJmjmC-s-bg]
🔔 Subscribe for Part 4: cleaning, painting, and rebuilding this beauty for the Anjou Vélo Vintage festival in June!
➤ Enjoyed it? Like, comment in French or English, and share with your cycling friends!
#VintageBikeRestoration
#FrenchCycling
#AnjouVeloVintage
#BikeBuild
#AutomotoBike
Website : https://www.morethan21bends.com
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Can we turn this rusty relic into a showstopper
before the French Anjou Vélo Vintage Festival? Step 3 begins now Two wrecked vintage bikes six weeks to bring
them back to life. 1 epic festival . Will we make it to the Anjou Velo Vintage or will
time rust and reality get in the way ! My daughter’s vintage vélo needs some love — so let’s get cracking and dismantle this
rusty, seized-up relic from the 1960s. And hey — I’m throwing in
a French lesson for free. First up: the two wheels — not too hard, just a
couple of wingnuts securing them to the frame. Did you know the French for ‘wheel’
is la roue, and the frame is le cadre? Next, the front brake — le frein avant. Then off comes the front mudguard
— or le garde-boue avant. Right — brake levers next.
Know what they’re called? It’s le levier de frein — sounds cool, right? And this bell… still works — just! In French? la sonnette de vélo. Hey you’re learning some french stuff its
gotta be worth a thumbs up and a share with your bussies especially if you are planning
a French cycling trip in the near future. You might need to know these words !
Now onto the rear derailleur — this one’s easy: le dérailleur arrière. Cut the cable — le câble — and
snap the chain — la chaîne. I probably should’ve removed le dérailleur arrière before breaking the chain…
but hey, you live and learn. Now the rear mudguard. Remember the word for mudguard? le garde-boue —
but for the rear, we say le garde-boue arrière. The rear brake — le frein arrière — is
attached to it, so both come off in one go. Flip the bike over and detach the panniers —
le porte-bagages — connected to le garde-boue. Then finish off removing the rear brake Pop off the rear brake, undo the final
bolt, and off come the mudguards. One bolt on the brake lever was rusted solid
— so I switched to removing the handlebars. Now apparently there are two French words
for handlebars: le guidon or le cintre. This is an old-school bike —
so we’re going with le guidon. Now, the gear levers for this 3-speed
bike: le levier de vitesse du vélo. Still with me? What’s the French for gear lever? le levier de vitesse —
rolls off the tongue sort of Right — onto the headset: le jeu de direction. Not the right spanner, but it does
the trick. Forks removed — la fourche. You’re racking up loads of juicy bike vocab
today that’s gotta be worth a thumbs up surely ! Rescued a rogue ball bearing — le roulement à
billes — and used a magnet to fish out the rest. After a good overnight soak in penetrating oil, it was time for the crankset — le pédalier
and the crank arms — les manivelles. 💬 Can you remember this one? What’s the French
for crank arm? les manivelles — nice one! The drive-side crank bolt was seized, so…
enter the angle grinder. Carefully now! Pop out the crank bolt and take off the pédalier. Time to give le cadre a proper scrub. Then off with the tyres — les pneus — and
out come the inner tubes — la chambre à air. Everything is detached now, except for the
bottom bracket — le boîtier de pédalier. I’m waiting for a specific tool to finish that.
So next up — it’s the rebuild. We’re sanding, repainting, reconditioning and getting
this vintage 1960s AutoMoto velo back on the road so my daughter can ride it at
Anjou Vélo Vintage in June. Subscribe and hit the bell (La Sonnette) so you don’t
miss the big transformation in Episode 4! Thanks for watching !
2 Comments
If you enjoyed this video please consider giving it a thumbs up, sharing with your friends and subscribing to the channel. Phil @ More Than 21 Bends
Maybe you know or maybe not?
Chances are that the bottom bracket will be French thread, so that means both the fixed and adjustable cups are both right handed thread. If markings on cups then French will be 35mm x 1mm (also 35 x 1 and 35 x P1).
There is also Swiss BB thread but chances are yours should be both French. Swiss is same thread directions as an English BB, so left thread for fixed cup and right thread for the adjustable.
Swiss is usually marked up as 35 x P1 S1, or 35 x 1G. The G stand for Gauche (left handed thread) on the fixed cup side.