What is your Holy Grail among French frame builders?

[Apple Tree]

May I give a shout out for the doyen of French frame builders, Bernard Carre. Built for Anquetil, Stablinski and many of the great riders. Also, Alain Michel who followed very much in Carre's footsteps but then built some extraordinary low-pro and time trial bikes. Particularly noted for building for French Olympic teams.

 

[non-fixie]

Please let us see more of this.

It was originally a Miki-built Union Sapporo frame, which I'd bought for €5. Inspired by the French classics I painted it, hung my favourite parts on it, and took it to Italy for a test ride.

I really liked it, and ever since I have been playing with the randonneuse légère format and enjoying the results.

A couple of years later I was back in Italy, this time with an Austrian-American Austro-Daimler. I had been looking at what Olivier Csuka was doing with modern parts at Alex Singer, liked it, and decided that 'Shimergo' would provide a means of having modern shifting while still being able to use most of my pretty (and cheap) old parts.

My current toy is again Japanese: a Miyata-built randonneur frame I'd more or less rescued from becoming skip fodder. A lick of paint and a dive in the parts bin, and I was again off to Italy, as per the protocol.

Version 0.3 beta:

 

[otherself]

Paris-Tours