Victoire cycles N469

https://www.victoire-cycles.com/en/velo/le-randonneur-de-gabriel/

Modern, yet classic. Beautifully made and build choices just work for me. Walks off grumbling that a pair of wide profile cantilevers would be better.

Randonneur=Hiker in French.

Gabriel, great lover of craftsmanship and epicurean cyclist, has decided to entrust us with the realization of his companion of getaways. Above all, he wanted a comfortable bike and left us a lot of freedom on the realization choices. Gabriel's Victoire 469 is a timeless bike, blending vintage aesthetics with modern, reliable and functional components.

This hiker is a reinterpretation of the typical French artisanal bikes of the 40s to the 60s with particular characteristics : leather saddles, no (or very little) sloping, steel fork and stem...

These years represented the golden age of cycling in France, with craftsmen such as Singer, René Herse, Charel or even Bourdel, originally from Clermont-Ferrand.

This traditional aesthetic does not exclude the use of modern equipment. Gabriel's hiker is thus equipped with a Rohloff hub. Guaranteed for life, this belt-driven system requires very little maintenance and features rock-solid durability. It is the ideal system for the use intended by Gabriel. As on all our traditional hikers, the frame, the fork, the stem and the set of luggage racks are entirely made in our workshop. Creating these parts ourselves allows us to have total control over the geometry of the bike, but also to integrate everything the customer needs : eyelets, mounting for bell, attachments for disc brakes, location for a headlight.

Original creation from usd (??), the headset (Stem GIGFY) is freely inspired by the design of the ones manufactured by René Herse. It is made up of three steel tubes, which are the source of the Columbus MAX shrouds. We offered this model to Gabriel, who was won over by its aesthetics.
The frame is made of Columbus XCR tubes. This stainless steel allows us to make the work of the material visible. The brazed cords are the soul of our craftsmanship and Gabriel wanted them to be visible on the rear triangle of the bike.

A belt does not drift (Split??) like a chain. So we had to design the framework to let it pass. The Rohloff hub requires very specific dropouts. The made-to-measure manufacture allows the frame to be adapted to this type of particular component.
Vintage hikers often featured a detail that can prove to be of crucial help on a trip or long outing: the spare spoke holder. In addition to its practicality, this accessory allows us to make a nod to the history of the artisanal hiker.
Brass does not allow welding with stainless steel. We therefore use money to make the cords (??) for our frames, luggage racks and bottle holders in stainless steel.

The bike incorporates as many French components as possible: the saddle and bar tape come from Berthoud and are manufactured in Fleurville. The carbon mudguards come from Cyfac, whose workshop is located in La Fuye. Finally, the crankset is a "spécialités T.A.". located in Sissonne, whose creator is a former employee of René Herse.

As often as possible, we want to offer reliable, durable parts with a limited carbon impact. This hiker was therefore made with many components of European origin: the SON front dynamo hub, the Rohloff rear hub as well as the Gebla box which allows the use of indexed cocottes (Google says cooking pot or early 20th century prostitute, you choose:p GIGFY) with the rear hub, in particular.


Now let's give the floor to Gabriel, who came to pick up his bike at the workshop:
"The bicycle corresponds exactly to the mental image that I had had time to create for myself. When I returned home my friends auscultated it from every angle."

"Working myself in the craft industry and being surrounded by craftsmen, he was natural for me to move towards tailor-made to make this bike. I wanted to leave a lot of freedom to the team, to allow them to work to get as close as possible to perfection without fear of my directives. big lover of cycle tourism, I like to evolve at my own pace in nature, I like how riding allows you to refocus on yourself, on your body and on what surrounds you. The comfort provided by the tires is appreciable, and the discretion of the belt is incredible. The transmission does not make a noise. I was a little apprehensive about using the Rohloff hub, but I'm very satisfied with it. The fact of having 14 speeds, its fluidity. It's great. I start to find my reports, and I ride the bumps sitting in my saddle, smoothly.
"Once in the saddle, I feel like I'm in my chair, and I assure you that I know him well! Riding this bike is a bit like playing the piano on a Steinway"

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Going against the grain, I’m not enjoying the new stuff. Could you maybe start a Modern/Contemporary Randonneurs for them in the post-2000 section instead of here?
I think the constructeurs would all be building the above machines now as they were innovators and not afraid to experiment, and the design, craft and quality is undeniable.

That said see my post ^^ where I quote myself.

I still don't like disc brakes, massive 1x cassettes. Take away those and you have top quality campeuers and randonners that I'd be happy to own.

I have lots of what you like lined up😁
 
Victoire cycles porteur with an interesting alternative to the Rolhoff. Some lovely features built into this bicycle.

https://www.victoire-cycles.com/en/velo/citadin-alain/

N513 Alains City Bike.

Alain dreamed of a practical, comfortable bike for his urban commute in Paris. Marked by the memory of the carrier bike we designed for the Likebike show in Monaco in 2015, Alain was freely inspired to design his urban Victoire with us.

We don't produce many urban bikes, but we particularly enjoy the exercise: urban use allows more freedom for design. We can manufacture many components, and concentrate on the lines of the object.

The frame of Alain's bike features strong aesthetic signatures, such as the triple triangle (the junction of the seatstays on the top tube via the seat tube) or the curved seat and top tubes. Combined with a 36mm threadset, these features set the Victoire n°513 apart, making it a bike with a unique allure. The seat tube bears the punch of Olivier, who is in charge of production at Victoire, and was responsible for this particular project.

This Victoire is equipped with a transmission integrated into the rear hub, instead of derailleurs. This system requires a chain-tensioning mechanism, here integrated into the frame dropouts. This type of transmission prevents derailment, which is an advantage in urban use.

Alain gave us carte blanche, so we chose to manufacture as many components as possible in the workshop. In addition to the frame, the stem, fork and luggage rack are all Victoire creations.

The René stem, a tribute to the famous framebuilder René Herse, offers Alain a comfortable and practical riding position for city use.

The front rack is a unique piece, designed and built by our framer Olivier. Made entirely of stainless steel, it will soon house a custom-made bag for Alain. The vertical part of the luggage rack features an integrated lock holder, also unique and designed by Olivier.

Another special feature of the Victoire n°513 is its transmission. The Norwegian brand Kindernay offers a hub with integrated gears entirely made in Europe. The XIV hub offers a number of advantages over its main competitor Rohloff: lighter weight, smaller diameter, very fast gear selector coupling system, and the possibility of removing the gearbox without removing the wheel spokes thanks to a clever cage system. This highly practical hydraulic shifting system requires no maintenance apart from an annual oil change, making it an invaluable asset for urban use.

The shifter also stands out from its competitors: machined from a single block of aluminum, it blends in perfectly with the bike's aesthetic lines. Hydraulic power transmission ensures optimum smoothness of operation.

An avid mountain biker in the 90s, Alain still has a taste for quality parts. He asked us to install the Canecreek EEwings crankset, a modern version of the Morati titanium crankset from the late 90s.

He also wanted Hope brakes and pedals, entirely manufactured in the Barnoldswick factory in England, whose aesthetic perfectly matched the sober frame of his machine. The Wolftooth chainring is mounted on an aluminum disk which also acts as a protective cover. As is often the case with Victoire, the bearings are from Chris King. The bottom bracket is standard T47.

The Victoire n°513 is packed with details: the headset, for example, houses a stop system to prevent the front luggage rack from damaging the frame in the event of a fall. This part, integrated into the upper headset, has been entirely hand-polished to visually match the other components.
The slightly champagne-tinted paintwork is simply enhanced by the metallic orange of the logos.


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