Wonder
Saint-Étienne
A French racer for road and track, with a family history, original receipt and almost nine decades of marks in its paint.
A known beginning
Monsieur Paubert bought the bicycle in Vannes in 1937. Before the war he rode some road and track races.
Many old racing bicycles have lost the names of those who used them. Here the owner’s name and purchase document remain with the machine.
- Year
- 1937
- Marque
- Wonder
- Origin
- Saint-Étienne, France
- First owner
- Monsieur Paubert, Vannes
- Gearing
- Super Champion Course
- Use
- Road and track
- Restoration
- Original paint and patina retained
- Documentation
- Original purchase receipt
Provenance
A name on the receipt
The bicycle was bought from Monsieur Paubert’s grandson together with its original 1937 receipt, issued by M. Rio of La Madeleine in Vannes, a Wonder dealer.
The document binds bicycle, place and owner together and gives it unusually strong provenance.
As found
Ten years too modern
The later mechanism was a visible chapter in its working life, but did not match its original 1937 equipment.
Period-correct parts took several years to find. The mechanics were returned towards their 1937 form while paint, transfers and marks of use were retained.
Super Champion Course
Shifting before the rear derailleur
Oscar Egg introduced the Champion system in the early 1930s, followed by Super Champion. Here a chain guide at the rear wheel works with a separate tensioner near the chainset.
The rider moved the chain with a frame lever and a brief backward movement of the pedals. It was far from modern indexed shifting, but an important step towards the familiar derailleur.
1937
The year derailleurs were admitted to the Tour de France.
The Tour permitted gear systems for the first time in 1937. Super Champion was selected and Roger Lapébie won using the system. Paubert’s Wonder dates from the year shifting gained acceptance on cycling’s largest stage.
The Oscar Egg/Super Champion rear end could be arranged for road gears or a fixed track hub, allowing one frame to serve two disciplines.
The marque
From the bicycle city of Saint-Étienne
Jules Ravat made Wonder bicycles in Saint-Étienne, one of France’s principal centres of cycle manufacture. The Wonder name was registered there in 1910.
Collector archives report production of about 40,000 bicycles a year and around 1,200 employees by 1926. Paubert’s racer came from a large maker, yet survived as a deeply personal example.
Sources and notes
- Collection receipt and ownership history.
- Saint-Étienne municipal archives.
- Historical Wonder/Jules Ravat register.
- Velo on derailleurs in the 1937 Tour.