decathlon:start
Table of Contents
Décathlon
Décathlon was started in 1976 by Michel Leclercq as a supermarché for all sporting goods. The “Décathlon” name was used to represent the ten main sports they originally wanted to feature in their stores.
Michel Leclercq started out as a supermarket butcher in 1961 at the Auchon supermarket chain, rising in the ranks to becoming their CTO 1). In 1976 he left to form his own supermarket chain for sporting goods, growing it to become the today's world's largest sporting good retailer, with over 1,800 stores in 79 countries, grossing over $US18B in 2025. 2) Michel Leclercq currently has a net worth > $6B 3)
Bicycles were their only product bearing the Décathlon brand from 1976 → 1986, so as to not compete with their manufacturing partners. Décathlon's bicycles were originally manufactured by Cycles Leleu, of Lomme, France.
Resources:
Décathlon founders, ca 1976.
Michel is to the right, in blue.
decathlon.com
1983 Raider MK II
Suntour aRX GT (1981-83) rear derailleur, lugged frame and fork, Weinmann cantilevers, fluted seatpost, Simplex quick releases, Sachs-Huret friction down tube shifters as thumb shifters, Spidel hubs (1979-80), OMAS headset, 3×6 gearing, Nervar cranks.
1983 Raider MK II
flickr
1985 MTB
Sachs Huret Rider v2 derailleurs (1984-5), bullmoose bars, Sachs-Maillard Diabolo hubs 4) (1983-85), with 5 speed freewheel, Gipas dropouts, Stronglight cranks, Visaro saddle, lugged frame and fork.
1985 MTB
tontonvelo
1987 Torrent
Triplex Extra (1985?+) derailleurs, Sakae/Ringo MTS-101 (1985-1990) stem, Dia-Compe New Gran Compe NGC982 brakes (1986+), TIG'd frame.
About the Triplex:
Another horror from the Spanish tat-meisters. This is an execrable steel and plastic creation, plumbing the very depths of nastiness - nasty design, nasty materials and nasty finish - there are no mixed messages here. Disraeli Gears
1987 Torrent
tontonvelo
1988 Raider MK III
Shimano Exage Mountain (M450 SGS) (1988 only, thus) derailleurs, crankset, hubs,, shifters and brakes. Converted to a 1x city cruiser. Fluted seat post. ITM BIO-line stem. Lugged frame.
1988 Raider MK III
der-ritzler.de
1989 Raider MK 5
Shimano Mountain LX derailleurs (1989), Mountain LX MC-452 Biopace cranks (1989), U-brakes.
1989 Raider MK 5
leboncoin
1990 Cap Nord II
Shimano XT derailleurs & brakes. Rear upper XT u-brake with XT front cantilevers 5), Tange Prestige MTB tubing, front straddle cable catcher, triple triangle frame, partial internal cable routing.
1990 MTB
velovintageagogo
1991 Cap Nord II
Shimano XT M732 (1989) derailleurs & brakes. Shimano MT-60a cranks (1990), rear upper XT u-brake with XT front cantilevers, Reynolds 531 tubing??, front straddle cable cather, triple triangle frame, partial internal cable routing. The owner thinks this is a 1992 - but the components seem older than that.
1991 Cap Nord II
velovintageagogo
1)
Auchon is one of Europes's largest supermarket chains, with over $36B in 2025 revenue.
2)
By comparison, Dicks Sporting Goods has 724 locations grossing about $13B.
3)
Net worth as of 2026, according to https://www.forbes.com/profile/michel-leclercq/.
4)
Diabolo hubs are heliomatic. See https://borgercompagnie.com/helicomatic/index.html.
5)
Is this upper-rear u-brake unique to the Cap Nord II? They are usually installed on the lower chain stays.
decathlon/start.txt · Last modified: by mtbtimeline