Vélo Vintage - Ride in Style, On the Cheap!

Paris' Vélib service is great, but for some, owning a bike is the only option. And spending 115 euros on Decathlon's entry level bike just isn't very appealing.

For a while, the only other options have been haggling with sketchy bike shops or braving the classifieds of kijiji and vivastreet, potentially spending a whole afternoon haggling over the price of a broken or stolen bike.

Putting an end to all this fuss is Vélo Vintage in the 18ème.

Run by two young Parisian hipsters, Vélo Vintage just opened its doors this past week, stock full of old bikes fully refit and ready to ride.

Eddy and Hugo scour the countryside looking for prime vintage bikes, fix them up and sell them at their shop.

There are about twenty bikes on display with prices start at 50 euros with many bikes costing no more than 70 euros. Some are sold with nice retro panniers included in the price!

It all comes down to their motto:

Nous vendons un état d'esprit qui va avec le vélo, c'est-à-dire être cool, disponible et surtout très sympa. [We sell the state of mind that comes with a bicycle, that is to say, to be cool, available and always nice.]

Hugo 06 03 89 61 21
Eddy 06 13 13 42 27

Vélo Vintage
58 Rue du Ruisseau
75018 Paris

Metro: Jules Joffrin (line 12)

Comments

[simon]

bring it on! I love bikes (I have 2 canondales) and I love the french bike called a Singer! If you know where I can get one.....

[Nicolas]

I bought a bike from here!
Good shape and vintage!
I LOVE IT
Niko.

[adrian]

I love my bike, it's the one in the photo!

[Sandrine]

I thought the bikes here were crazily expensive! Over a hundred euros for an old rusty bike...

[Sandrine]

Who would pay 100 euros for a rusty bike when you can get a brand-new one for almost the same price at one of the big sports equipment stores? I tried a bike here, it was in worse condition than the bike I already had! Well, I guess if there is a market they would be silly not to tap into it!

[Pat]

It's true that their bikes don't always LOOK great, but any bikeshop will tell you its better getting an older bike, when they were made better and more solid, than one of the new Btwin plastic-y bikes which fall apart and aren't nearly as solid. I guess they are shinier though. I think vintage velo is really like a vintage clothes store, depending on the day it can be all rags or you can find something really perfect for a steal.

[patrick]

expensive yes,
all over craigslist, ebay etc yes,
standard parts yes,
brought one from them yes,

do it again, no.

[Marcus]

Very much agree with patrick:

bought one too, because I didn't have the time and means to look thoroughly on leboncoin.fr and similar sites. Bikes are just barely worth their price (if at all) and do come with a lot of standard parts. Their prices have gone up immensly since they started a few years ago so you definitely won't find a steal there.