mtb-timeline

Cycles Lejeune

In 1947, the twin brothers Roger and Marcel Lejeune, along with their sister Paulette, created Cycles Lejeune in Paris. They achieved immediate success, eventually selling over 3,000,000 Lejeune bicycles by the time the Lejeune brothers retired in 1986. The Lejeune brand has bounced around many owners and countries since then, usually targeting only the French market.

Lejeune bicycles were used by many pro cycling teams from 1961 → 1980, including Lucient Van Impe, who won the Tour de France polka dot jersey on a Lejeune. The Lejeune brothers retired in 1986, selling their company to Alain Baumann who moved production to Rabat, Morocco in 1988. By November 15, 1990, Lejeune went bankrupt and the brand name was then sold to Francois du Toit who hand crafted low numbers of frames while from his base in Cape Town, South Africa. In the middle 1990's the brand was resurrected as a “marque de supermarché”, flooding the French super-markets for 10 to 15 years until disappearing again. The original Lejeune mountain bikes were all built with French components and had distinct BMX heritage accents. The Moroccan Lejeunes were TIG welded using the same logos. The South African Le Jeunes (now with a space in the name,) used lugs with higher quality Shimano with a fleur-de-lis head badge. The later Lejeunes went back to the cheapest parts, *all* using Shimano Tourney components, usually with an oval swoosh around the Lejeune name with “Made in France” stickers. Few Lejeune mtbs had model names, except for made in Africa models and a very late 1994+ version.

After the brand and presumably the trademark rights disappeared in 1990, other Lejeunes popped up around the world, including:

Roger Lejeune passed away in 2019, aged 97. See: levelomanevintage, translation: google.

Today, the used bike market in France has more Lejeunes for sale than most other bike marquees: https://www.leboncoin.fr/recherche?category=55&text=lejeune.

Resources:

Sauvage-Lejeune head badge, 1960s, celebrating France's colonization
of nearly half of Africa ¹⁾ flickr

The Lejuene twins, 1947. lecycle.fr

Lucien Van Impe 1977, climbing the Alpe d'Huez on a Lejeunne.
nos.nl

1985

Double frame gusset (as used on their BMX bikes,) biplane forks, looped bullmoose bars (also found on some 1985 MBKs,) Sachs Huret Rival derailleurs (1985-87), TIG'd? frame, front cable hanger welded onto stem, missing decals, tricolor map head badge.

1985 facebook, facebook

1986

Simplex A103 front (1979-89), possibly a Simplex SX610 rear (1983-85), looped bullmoose bars, Sachs Huret Rival derailleurs (1985-87), lugged frame, Mafac cantilever brakes, front cable hanger welded onto stem, mono-plane fork, simple “LEJEUNE” head badge. Drillium chainrings likely not original.

1986 leboncoin

1988

Sachs Huret Rider type 3 long cage (1987-88), LJ head badge, TIG welded frame, interesting crank set (spider-less?).

1988 leboncoin

1989

Possibly made in Morocco. Shimano Touney RD-TY20 (1989-94), Briançon shop sticker, brake cable mounted under top tube (this is unusual,) LJ head badge, splashy paint. The owner thinks it was acquired in 1989. A model name sticker exists and is unreadable.

1989 velovintageagogo

1990 Mountain Adventure

Possibly made in Morocco. Sachs Huret Classic 2000 derailleur (1990-?), LJ head badge, splashy painted accents, brake cable back on top.

1990 Mountain Adventure leboncoin

1992 Dirt Buster

1992 Dirt Buster This is a South African version. Shimano LX/DX mix (1990-92), Mavic rims, XT shark fin, Tubi Oria tubing, “Super Prestige” sticker - not related to Tange. Sticker on chainstay states: “Handcrafted and designed by Le Jeune Cycles”. Note the space. Logo is a fleur-de-lis through a crown. Purchased in France, and owned in South Africa. Is this a SA Le Jeune?

1992 Dirt Buster retrobike

1993

Shimano Tourney RD-TY15 (v1) (1991-96). The date is merely guess work. Toothepaste welds, which also occur in other post Lejeune brothers models.

1993 leboncoin

1994 Atlantide

Nasty rear shocks, fake front suspension (it's rigid), Shimano RD-TY15 (v1) (1991-96). Atlantide == Atlantis. It's likely a later year - but worth including.

1994 Atlantide leboncoin

¹⁾

French colonies included the modern states of Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Benin, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, the east African coastal enclave of Djibouti (French Somaliland), and the island of Madagascar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_colonial_empire.

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