Mecacycle Chrono = French HotRod.

Mecacycle was a bespoke cycle manufacturer based in Saint-Étienne, France, it was operating for 10-15 years from the late 1970's to at least the late 80's. The firm was either started by, or brought in it's formative years by ex Mercier frame builder/designer Raymond Crozet.

Mecacycle frames were well known in Europe for their frequent use of superb fillet brazing in the construction of many of their signature frames, though they are not that well known outside of Europe, as many of their frames carry the decals of the cycle shops that distributed Mecacycle frames, this frame for example was made for Cycles C.Rieu, Cavaillon.

The signature Mecacycle was the Turbo road model which has a double seat tube design which the rear wheel sits neatly in-between, to provide a very short and responsive wheelbase.

This Mecacycle Chrono is constructed from Columbus SLX with internal brake cabling on the top tube, it is beautifully hand fillet brazed and still in original factory paint, it does have numerous small paint chips, but is still very presentable, the two/three colour fade paint style was also quite a signature of Mecacyles. 
The chrome is in excellent condition.
The frame has been aligned, and is straight and true with no dents or corrosion.

Equipment;
Huret Jubilee Front Derailleur
Huret Jubilee Rear Derailleur
Modolo Kronos Carbon Shifters
Mavic SSC 631 Starfish crankset
Dura Ace chain
Campagnolo Super Record pedals 
3TT stem/Cinelli bars (bars a bit marked)
New Zero Suede Bar tape
Stronglight Delta headset
NOS Cobra Aero Waterbottle
CLB Compact Super Light brake set
Strong Seat Post
San Marco Concor Supercorsa Saddle
NOS VAR Tubular Carrier
Zefal 3 hand pump 
New cables, inners and outers.

Wheel set (Tubular)
Front
Campagnolo 28h L/F hub
Bladed Spokes Radially laced
Wolber Profile 20 Aero rim 
Rear
Campagnolo 28h L/F hub
Bladed Spokes Radially laced non Drive Side, Two Cross (Tied & Soldered) Drive Side.
Wolber Profile 20 Aero rim 
Six Speed Suntour Winner Freewheel

SOLD

Shipping

North Island $65.00
South Island $90.00
I ship World wide contact me for rates.
Payment
New Zealand Bank Account
PayPal
Contact;
adrian@theflyingwheel.com
To view larger photos, click on photo,right click and enlarge.

With optional Topilino C19 wheelset.

Test Riding the Mecacycle Chrono

                                                                                                                                                   After spending a few hours test riding the Mecacycle over a couple of days around a few of the local circuits (fitted with the Topolino wheelset), the first thing I have to say is that the bike has been (in my opinion) misnamed. 

I am not sure why it is called Chrono, a name which one would normally associate with a straight line no nonsense time trial bike. No this is no time trial bike, true it has a reasonably low bottom bracket height (25 1/2 cm), and a fairly short wheel base (98cm) but somehow it's geometry makes it feel and ride like a all day stage race bike.  Instead of being a 25km road burner it actually proved to be an excellent handling, and extremely comfortable road bike that is a real big mile eater. The frame feels super stiff while climbing, yet very forgiving and easily absorbing much of the tiresome road feedback we all experience riding over New Zealand's quite rough and noisy chip seal country roads.

The CLB brakes are very effective, but maybe a little snatchy, this could be due to the rubbers being a bit old and a bit soft, if I get a chance I will try some new brake shoes.

The gears work like a watch, the unusual combination of the Huret Jubilee derailleurs, powered by the classic Mavic 'Starfish' crankset and joined to the the 9 Speed Campagnolo cassette by a Dura Ace chain, all controlled by those carbon Modolo Kronos shifters have resulted in probably the smoothest shifting non index drive train I have ever used, don't ask me why, it just does, and it really is a beautiful thing to use.

So the to sum up I would suggest this would be an excellent choice for the rider looking for a unusual and exotic European classic road bike, one that they really want to put some serious miles into.
Maybe change those tyres to some Vittoria Corsa 25's or even 28's to absorb even more road noise, and you might be surprised how easily the miles just seem to tick by.

I have really enjoyed riding the Mecacycle, and will be genuinely sad to see this one go..luckily I have a Mecacycle Turbo frameset hanging in the workshop waiting for me to restore.