Yellow Jo Routens
#1
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Yellow Jo Routens
As seen at Alex Singer shop this weekend. You never know what you'll come across in there. I believe he'd acquired it for another client.
Also rode with those guys again in today's 40 degree rain. Great people, and no hard feelings when I have to turn about as the knee starts to ache.
OK, the Routens!
Crappy iphone pics in a dimly lit space, but still cool enough to post. I gotta start bringing my camera every time I swing by there.
Check out the Cyclo derailleur
Reverse mount rear brakes
Desmodromic shift system
Fork crown...artwork and function
Lovely rack design
Check out the cable routing!
Also rode with those guys again in today's 40 degree rain. Great people, and no hard feelings when I have to turn about as the knee starts to ache.
OK, the Routens!
Crappy iphone pics in a dimly lit space, but still cool enough to post. I gotta start bringing my camera every time I swing by there.
Check out the Cyclo derailleur
Reverse mount rear brakes
Desmodromic shift system
Fork crown...artwork and function
Lovely rack design
Check out the cable routing!
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#2
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More pics!
Graceful stem
Made in Grenoble, gateway to the French Alps
Saddle is really something
I'm guessing the added buttress on the downtube at the BB shell is to change the stiffness? No idea. Someone with more knowledge chime in!
Another workbench in the Singer shop...filing system. Get it?
This detail shot makes me cringe. I have to have every tool and spare in its place, and the bench clean after every job. Of course, that's why I'm a guy who pretends to know about bikes and he's been building them for 40 years.
Graceful stem
Made in Grenoble, gateway to the French Alps
Saddle is really something
I'm guessing the added buttress on the downtube at the BB shell is to change the stiffness? No idea. Someone with more knowledge chime in!
Another workbench in the Singer shop...filing system. Get it?
This detail shot makes me cringe. I have to have every tool and spare in its place, and the bench clean after every job. Of course, that's why I'm a guy who pretends to know about bikes and he's been building them for 40 years.
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#3
aged to perfection
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pretty cool bike - thank you for the detail pics !
/markp
/markp
#4
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@poprad
Cool as heck, love the HB, industrial, no nonsense.
Missed my Routens, bought an Ideale saddle from the guy then @gugie swooped in and snatched it after the fact, my bad, it was my size, DOH!
Great reporting and pics, please do keep it up and convey our thanks for the window to the inner sanctum of Cycles Alex Singer and followers.
Cool as heck, love the HB, industrial, no nonsense.
Missed my Routens, bought an Ideale saddle from the guy then @gugie swooped in and snatched it after the fact, my bad, it was my size, DOH!
Great reporting and pics, please do keep it up and convey our thanks for the window to the inner sanctum of Cycles Alex Singer and followers.
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Originally Posted by poprad;22322523[i
Another workbench in the Singer shop...filing system. Get it?
This detail shot makes me cringe. I have to have every tool and spare in its place, and the bench clean after every job. Of course, that's why I'm a guy who pretends to know about bikes and he's been building them for 40 years.
This detail shot makes me cringe. I have to have every tool and spare in its place, and the bench clean after every job. Of course, that's why I'm a guy who pretends to know about bikes and he's been building them for 40 years.
At least half the tools will be needed on the next car, bike, task, etc. If they're laying out on the bench already you can save a lot of steps.
Each of us has our own version of "in It's place".
You have to embrace the chaos.
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#7
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I’m sure he knows exactly where everything is.
Tim
Tim
#8
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Very stylish bike, love that forkcrown and the seat stay treatment! Thanks for all the pix, workbench "chaos" included! Also never heard of "Desmodromic" in reference to anything but Ducati valve trains before now...we live and learn!
Last edited by unworthy1; 11-28-21 at 12:32 PM.
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Apologies if this has been posted on here a thousand times over the years.
https://vimeo.com/35915497
https://vimeo.com/35915497
#10
framebuilder
I'd be forever thankful if you took a picture (or pictures) of his main fixture which I believe hangs above his alignment table except when in use. As I understand it, he drops it down to rest on the table when probably spotting the frame together and then raises it up out of the way when he is aligning the frame. The reason I am so interested in a picture of his fixture is because it is based generally on the same concept I use for my fixture. These are not the kind of fixtures most modern frame builders use (especially in the US).
#11
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The rear brake cable routied through the seat tube is a Routens characteristic. I've always wondered if the two holes in the seat tube is a problem for moisture.
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Thanks for the visit, lovely pictures, beautiful bike, looks like my wine room, the inventory is in my head….
#13
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And beings as the French are the original world class randonneurs I would hope it to be a nonissue.
Framesaver and or painted inside the tube and inspected regularly would also go a long way.
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Apologies if this has been posted on here a thousand times over the years.
https://vimeo.com/35915497
https://vimeo.com/35915497
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#15
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I'd be forever thankful if you took a picture (or pictures) of his main fixture which I believe hangs above his alignment table except when in use. As I understand it, he drops it down to rest on the table when probably spotting the frame together and then raises it up out of the way when he is aligning the frame. The reason I am so interested in a picture of his fixture is because it is based generally on the same concept I use for my fixture. These are not the kind of fixtures most modern frame builders use (especially in the US).
I could see lifting it up and catching points from below also.
later on is an image of the vise with lead drapes over the jaws… maybe scraps from Notre Dame? I jest but not.
a number of Routens frames have transverse webbing- one of the constructors also created a folded reinforcement. For enhanced stiffness most likely. Probably thin tubing.
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#16
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I'd be forever thankful if you took a picture (or pictures) of his main fixture which I believe hangs above his alignment table except when in use. As I understand it, he drops it down to rest on the table when probably spotting the frame together and then raises it up out of the way when he is aligning the frame. The reason I am so interested in a picture of his fixture is because it is based generally on the same concept I use for my fixture. These are not the kind of fixtures most modern frame builders use (especially in the US).
#17
framebuilder
Funny you would ask that, I was trying to get a shot of that during this visit, but the fact that he hangs it about 7 feet up and the shop is lit by skylight makes it next to impossible to achieve anything worth posting. It all just comes out as a black skeletal thing with no detail. I'm hoping one day I'm there and he has it down on the table. It is the coolest looking frame jig I've ever seen, and even though I've not yet learned to braze up a frameset it interests me greatly. I will keep it in mind though and try to get some worthwhile pics of it.
One of Englands great builders Johnny Berry had recently died in 1974 and I brought back a lot of his tooling. One of his pieces of equipment was a "sizing board" used by a number of builders in the UK to design frames. F.W. Evans in London claims to have invented the system in the 30's. It replaces the need to do a full scale drawing. Over the years I (with a number of engineer helping me), have refined the concept to include bells and whistles that make me happy. And it helps me teach my framebuilding class students how design frames. It also is useful for checking miters and spotting a frame together ready to be brazed. I now have them laser cut and etched out of stainless steel in Ukraine. I'll attach a picture of one so you can get the idea.
Perhaps if you let them know that one of America's frame building teachers is anxious to see the features of his fixture design he might be persuaded to take it down for you? It is worth an ask so you appear to be a helping agent of knowledge instead of just a bother trying to get pictures. It is worth a shot anyway.
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#18
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Now that is cool. I am supremely jealous of your having that experience. Comparatively I'm just a voyeur. PM sent.
Last edited by poprad; 11-29-21 at 02:43 AM.
#19
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I can't claim the credit for using that, I believe I picked that up from Jan Heine in an issue of BQ. It's an excellent one-word description of a push-pull system though.
#20
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interesting to see that Routens has a Cyclo rear derailleur, but a braze-on for a modern(ish) front derailleur. I wonder if that modification was done at a later date. The Routens I owned was the opposite - modern derailleur hanger in the back, handmade Cyclo-style pushrod derailleur in the front:
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#21
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interesting to see that Routens has a Cyclo rear derailleur, but a braze-on for a modern(ish) front derailleur. I wonder if that modification was done at a later date. The Routens I owned was the opposite - modern derailleur hanger in the back, handmade Cyclo-style pushrod derailleur in the front:
#22
Senior Member
You can read all about it here, and see a gallery of photos: https://djcatnap.com/jo-routens-650b-restoration. It was shown at the 2015 Eroica Concours d'Elegance, and ridden in the Eroica. I sold it in 2016 to another collector.
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#23
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Wow- that's cool.
Thank you for this.
Thank you for this.
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Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
#24
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That is a lovely bike, thanks and your blog about it is interesting. Anyone who likes the pics above should click his link and read it.
Last edited by poprad; 11-30-21 at 02:31 AM.
#25
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The yellow Jo Routens is for sale on Le Bon Coin, couldn’t link the ad so here’s the screen shot,
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