Vintage Jeunet Bicycles History and Facts

Jeunet history is elusive, but I’ve found some information on the company. I believe the company started in Dole, France in the early 1900s, possibly 1928. The founder was either Andre Jeunet or Albert Jeunet depending on the source. The company was definitely run by the Jeunet family, and I found a reference for Dominique Jeunet and Jean Pierre Jeunet in the 1970s.

They started with making bicycles and later expanded into mopeds and motorcycles. All the bikes I have seen in the USA are men’s road bikes, but I saw evidence they had a full line which also included folding bikes, cruisers, and mixte bikes. I am guessing mostly men’s road bikes were imported into the US.

I regularly see old Jeunet bikes for sale in my area, but I’m not sure if they were as common in other areas. Emerys bike shop out of Milwaukee, WI started offering them in 1966. I also saw an ad for Jeunet bikes by Beacon Cycle which was a distributor out of Wisconsin.

I haven’t seen any evidence that the company made it out of the 70s. All the bikes I have seen and any information I can find seem to stop in the late 70s. I found one source suggesting that they were exporting lots of bikes to the US and distributing through Cycles Jeunet. Cycles Jeunet eventually failed to pay their bills and this led to Jeunet going bankrupt.

Quality

Most seem to think these compare well to Peugeot bicycles also out of France. All the bikes I have seen have nice lugs and lots of chrome. Even the entry level bikes have a quality look to them. They mostly use French components like Simplex, MAFAC, Stronglight, Huret, and TA cranks, but also had some models that used Campagnolo. They all seem to have a Franche-Comte decal which references the region in France. The bikes don’t have any model decals.

Models

610 – entry level road bike

611 mixte – entry level mixte road bike

620 – upper entry level road bike

630 – Professional level road bike, plastic Simplex derailleur, Reynolds 531 tubing

640 – Professional level road bike, Campagnolo components, Reynolds 531 tubing

650 – Professional level road bike, top of the line French components, Reynolds 531 tubing

Value

Around here I see the entry level bikes listed from $100-200 depending on the condition. The pro level bikes should be more in the range of $300-600 in good condition. The 640 and 650 would be more valuable than the 630.