This has been a long time in gestation, due to circumstances. I love riding the 1960 Goeland Randonneuse. It is a lovely bike to ride, but it is over 60 years old and not getting any younger. The components on the bike, which add up to the sum total of ride experience and satisfaction are finite. Once worn out, they are no more. Therefore the bikes use has to be rationed, as I want it to live on, once I depart this mortal coil. I am only the caretaker, for my allotted time.
So thoughts turned to creating a modern replacement around seven years ago. My personal circumstance changed through divorce, in which I suffered a significant financial hit. The gyno-centric government lottery which passes as a justice system is not equitable. So buying a new Alex Singer 650B Randonneuse wasn’t going to be an option. I looked to see what if any 650B frames were available off the peg and saw that Bicycle Quarterly, Issue 49, Autumn 2014, reviewed the Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier. This offered possibilities, however Jan Heine in his review of the frame commented on the ‘stiff fork’.
I am not the fit young sylph like figure of my youth. I suffered numerous physical injuries during my service to my country, not least a back injury, so being somewhat heavier, a sturdier tubed frame is not such a problem for me, but stiff forks which affect the ride of the bike are an issue. The first task was to order a Velo Routier 1 frame from Canada, which after a suitable delay because of customs, duly arrived. I then had to gather up the funds to order the Toei fork blades, fork crown and brake pivot bolts for the MAFAC Raid brakes I intended fitting to the bike. Once these parts arrived, I then had to get a frame builder with a fork blade mandrel to bend the straight fork blades to the necessary fork rake. I ended up speaking to Trevor Jarvis of T. J. Cycles, who agreed to bend the fork blades and build the replacement fork. I sent the original forks to use as a pattern. I also had to send the front brake calliper and TA front rack to make sure all would fit correctly, when the forks were brazed.
I also wanted to build the bike up with as many French or European components as possible. I also decided from the outset, that I wanted nothing larger than an 8 speed cassette on the rear hub. My reason for this is durability. Having grown up in an era when a 5 speed freewheel would last for years and chains generally were replaced every 3 years with an average mileage between 27,000 to 36,000 miles of use, modern ultra narrow gearing systems above 9 speed are not durable compared to the past. So the cassette would be Shimano pattern. The possibility exists of making up a custom cassette using sprockets from several cassettes to get the gearing comfortable. I also determined that I would use a triple Stronglight chainset on the front with Sachs vintage derailleurs. The rear derailleur would be able to handle the 8 speed cassette. Old proven technology which works. The gear levers would be downtube friction levers from Simplex, again vintage parts which work.
I would use parts from Gilles Berthoud, MAFAC, TA, Stronglight, Sachs, but handlebars, stem, pedals would be Japanese and the seat post Taiwanese. I would use Gilles Berthoud stainless steel mudguards/fenders as opposed to alloy. The bike would be fitted with a Schmidt SON 28 dynohub and Busch and Muller LED lights. The front light would be the best output available at 100 Lux. The rear mudguard would have to be drilled to take the rear light and also need painting detail as per the original French bikes used to have. There is a slight difference in paint colour between the frame and the new forks, but I really don’t care.
After having the forks built, the next jobs in order of Priority, were getting the mudguards painted and building the wheels. As already stated above I was putting a Schmidt hub in the front, but the rear hub was more of a dilemma. The options were Ambrosio, Hope, Royce or SunXCD. The SunXCD was the only large flange hub. All of the other hubs have annular bearings and the Royce hub was my preferred option, not cheap, but good quality. In the end I opted to try the Sun XCD. Wheels would be 36 hole spoking, built 3 cross. I had initially sourced Pacenti 650B rims, but deferred using these in favour of Belgian Exal MX19 rims in 650B size. Spokes would be Sapim 14 gauge double butted stainless steel.
