ehcoplex 

Absolutely stunning!

merziac

That is just fantastic, beautiful, so glad you wound it up, love it when a plan comes together, especially one like this.

So much anticipation, hope and expectation, often hard to come by these days.

gomango

Pretty bike.

Enjoy!

BFisher

Thank you for sharing all of this. What an enjoyable thread!

Many smooth miles on that incredible machine!

non-fixie 

It must be a wonderful feeling when la dernière machine is actually your bike. Enjoy!

mpetry912 

it's beautiful Mark ! very nice. you now are the caretaker of a true heirloom quality bike.

Truly built for you !

be sure to ride it, not just let it sit on the wall.

Very nice

/markp

poprad

So the day after...
Once the white smoke cleared from above the Vatican and the angels ceased their melody, I collected my thoughts and committed to a group ride with the "slow group" of the ACBO. You may recall earlier ride reports of these fine folks and their crushing strength on the hills, their gentle manners with lagging Lanternes Rouge (me) and my amazement at the average age in the 60s. French cyclists do not wane. They ride more, because you know...more time.

After an unfortunate incident (non-alcohol related) on a Berlin escalator (hint: they're never broken, they start automatically) it has been since Feb that I've been on the bike. I've focused on gentle runs and "ruck marching" to build the knee again. This has worked wonders, and actually today was the first time I've done decent size hills around Paris without pain in that knee since my accident in summer of 2020. Maybe it's the bike... in any event I met the group and we headed off west towards St Germain and the hills out thataway. Maybe I mis-heard when I asked how many km today would be. I heard "oh a gentle ride, it's your new bike and we will let the others go ahead. Maybe 30 km or so." This sounded just right to my ears, and was a message delivered by Olivier's lovely wife Catherine. I should have known better... perhaps there is a cultural thing and one simply doesn't ask "how far?" As it turned out the day's ride was approx 52 mi, or 85 km. Happily they were nice to me and waited on all the long climbs. Without them I'd have had a real time of it navigating my way back through the complicated warren of roads in the communities west of the city; none are remotely parallel and they never seem to put you where you are sure you must be.

The bike? Ah, yes. The bike. As expected zero mechanical issues. The fit, with no adjustments by me, is spot on. This is not inconsequential. I assume most here in this forum are well-experienced in the minor adjustment phase of a new bike, even after careful measurements. I didn't need to turn a single bolt or change a thing. To pick up a brand new bike, after zero saddle time in three months, and do 50+ mi isn't a credit to me. It's a credit to Olivier and his ability to set a bike up to the nth degree. The man knows his business, cold.

To describe the ride experience is difficult at best. I want to avoid hyperbole. Also, does anyone ever say their brand new Porsche or Ferrari sucks? Of course not. I will say that I deliberately tried to find fault (spoiler: FAIL) and forced myself not to react in a way that is attributable to the full experience of ordering, waiting, dare I say befriending the folks at AS, and then finally receiving the most gorgeous bike I've ever seen. I don't know that I was fully successful, this has been a journey for me on several levels and to coldly assess the ride of a bike after all of that is rather impossible. Also, I am far from being "on form" as the French say. It was hard to an unbiased reviewer, but I'm not writing for a magazine nor am I trying to portray this as anything but a personal choice based on numerous aesthetic and functional biases.

It goes like stink.

If you're unfamiliar with that old hotrodding phrase, it's a compliment. A major one. It implies raw speed and domination. At my fitness level I'm not dominating anything right now except the occasional steak frites. And I crush those. But, I have been in good shape before and a not too shabby rider, and I know what feels right. And fast. This machine is both. The feel is similar to my Vanilla (although I'm not trying to compare builders here, they're very different bikes) once I had it set up how I wanted it. It descends like a rock off a bridge, but some of that is my own spare tire. Being 6' and not wire thin has its benefits, right up until the hill goes right up. Which they did. So glad I chose the triple up front. I didn't use the smallest gears but they sure weren't bragging rights. I kept hearing the sane voice saying to kick the derailleur a notch as soon as my cadence drops. It made for some syrup-slow climbs but also resulted in little to no knee pain until the very last twenty or so kms.

I have never had a new bike ride this well. I have never had a Frenchman slow upon passing me and say "damn, that is one classy bike!" This happened not once, not twice, but three times. My Cannondale Slate with the Lefty fork barely gets a glance. This bike gets stares but from riders you'd want to have a beer with and hear their story. I didn't buy this machine to gain attention; I didn't make it and the only credit is being smart enough to get in the queue. It is a nice side benefit though. Chrome in the sun does garner attention in an era of matte black to gray lookalikes.

I couldn't be more satisfied. I took it out for the maiden voyage and went just hard enough to truly suffer a bit. I met more new friends, smelled the fields outside Paris and saw the acres of red poppies swaying in the breeze and reminding me of my job here. I saw goats under an ancient bridge and had the best-tasting croissant in history with people you want to earn the respect of. It was a very French experience on a gorgeous French day. La vie est belle. Vraiment.


Detail of the rim gen from Germany. I vascillated on this decision until Olivier told me about his client in Munich who rides one every day. Munich is not known for pleasant winter weather nor grime free roads. I'm excited for my first night ride to see how it works out, but the indoors test is bright as all get-out with an excellent standlight time.

The chateau in Beynes, about 25 mi outside Paris

Goats. Pondering the lycra clad humans who seem to be foodless and thus uninteresting.

Church tower and clock


Post coffee and croissant, ready for the return

Three, yep THREE Singers.

Catherine. She looks nice right? Pleasant and non-threatening? Sure. Pleasant absolutely and nice enough to wait for me on hill after hill. But a vrai rouleur.

Her Singer is a gorgeous road machine in a lovely mild gray. At least it wasn't a fixie, I have been often crushed by ACBO folks riding fixies and that's just not called for.

So, after food and water now I need to carefully ensure all sweat has been removed. One caution from Olivier was that any salt left on the chrome will pit it and I shall not let that stand. Thanks for joining me on this adventure and for patiently wading through my pics and prose. Now go for a ride!

ehcoplex 

Thank you for sharing this journey!

52telecaster

Damn that's beautiful. You make me want to ride!

philbob57

Thanks for this. Best of luck in getting into good enough shape to stick to thi or a faster group.

Hobbiano 

So beautiful! Really enjoyed following your story. It doesn't have to end here, does it?

repechage

Avoid Gravity Storms and you will be fully healed soon enough. Bikes have therapeutic power.

much earlier on in this thread I noticed the rim dynamo- looks smart- the with a stand light feature too... assume a small battery in the light housing?

merziac

I would have begged him to let me clean that up although it might cause an imbalance in the force.

poprad

I'm guessing a tiny super capacitor. Unlike a battery they can charge in seconds (or much less) but dump their energy much quicker as well. Perfect for this application.

bibliobob

Oh, man, that is one gorgeous bike. I'm pretty sure that you've self actualized at this point. I'll stay subscribed to this thread.

Apologies if you already included a build sheet somewhere, but I'm curious on how you built it up. Hubs and rims? Handlebars? Are those Simplex shifters?

Cheers,
Bob

Germany_chris

Does the integrated mount for the dynamo quiet it down? I have one but pulled it because I couldn’t stand the noise.

poprad

I don't have a comparison to base it on, but it definitely sounds quiet to me. I know the mount they sell it with is a universal kludge that has to work with anything and everything, so I'm guessing that's the noise source. Also if on a carpet fiber fork the sound would really resonate, on this build it doesn't at all. After my first real quiet night ride on country roads I'll know more, but so far it sounds quiet to me. I don't have a db meter, so I can't provide an accurate measurement.

poprad

Thanks man, it is a literal dream come true. And I literally avoid the use of the word "literal" with a vengeance.

I can find all that out tonight on the build sheet which I can post but it's in French. Hubs are sealed Grand Bois units. Shifters are non-index Grande Comps mated to Microshift rear and SRAM force front D's. I wasn't sure about full non-index shifting but I didn't miss a shift all day yesterday. Turns out my fingers can index pretty well, and unlike the stuff we're used to there wasn't any "overshift and back off" technique required. I can't remember the bars.

Germany_chris

I kinda thought that the mounts may have issue which is why I wondered if it was quiet. The thing gets great reviews on the internet but I just couldn’t take the noise.

I’m glad you’re happy with it it’s such a nicely machined piece.

CMAW 

That bike is simply irresistible! Curious about it's weight. Your blending in with the AC crowd is also amazing to me, Parisians don't exactly have the reputation of being open and welcoming to foreigners.

poprad

Thanks CMAW. I don't have a scale here, but it's no lightweight with all the stuff I specified. That said, I doubt you'd find a randonneur with these options in my size weigh much less.

As to the ACBO - they're some of the nicest folks you could ask to meet on two wheels. I don't think Parisians in general are any less friendly than most urban dwellers worldwide. The French are as friendly as people anywhere, and our time here has made me really appreciate the culture. They also have a few kinds of cheese. And calvados....

northbend 

Simply wonderful, Mark. I appreciate you sharing your experience with us. Thank you!

Drillium Dude 

While the entire bike came out wonderfully, this little detail is my favorite. Enjoy the new ride in good health - and I hope you get more chances to ride together with your new group as you get back to full fitness!

DD

El Chaba

Okay, the bike is fabulous…in every detail….fabulous….It amazes me the variety of machines and the incredible number of details that comprise them that are produced by AS…They never seem to put a foot wrong. I also love the combination of components that they favor to produce machines that seem to defy the passing of time. If one isn’t careful when mixing things up, it can easily wind up as a dog’s breakfast…but at AS they are always right. Once again, fabulous machine…enjoy it. As fabulous as these bikes look, they perform even better….

santa fe 2926 

I have had many wonderful experiences in France, rides all over the country, in Paris, plus seven successful shipments of wine, 12 cases each. Viva la France! Many thanks for sharing this, a lovely experience indeed.