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Anyone steeped in British cycling might initially bristle as they consider
the fifty machines pictured herein. They are all French! Where are the
Hetchins, Bates, Mercians and Flying Scots? Surely our fancy lugwork,
ingenious designs and brazed-on fittings are the equal of anything they
produce across the Chanel?
But the 'golden age' in question here is a rather more specific moment
in time. In the years following the statutory enforcement of a 40 hour
week and two weeks paid holiday in France, there was a rush of enthusiasm
for cycle touring. A plethora of initiatives followed - from annual technical
trials for touring bicycles, to 'competitive' randonneaurs and other events.
At the same time, a small number of 'constructors' started to offer complete
bicycles that aimed to be as light as possible, while including wide-ratio
gears, front and rear racks and integral lighting.
The result was some stunning pieces of design, sold as complete bicycles
- unlike the British marques, where it was more common to buy a frame
and then build it up yourself. Rene Herse's Coucours de Machines of 1947,
for example, had front and rear derailleurs, racks to carry 4kg of luggage,
dynamo and lights and yet weighed just 7kg (14.4lbs). It is also a thing
of exquisite beauty. In the same year, Alex Singer was producing a bike
with custom brakes, wingnuts, fork crown and mudguards.
These machines are the result of a fetishistic attention to detail that
makes today's specialist custom builders look like garden-shed tinkerers.
Sprinkled within the text - which is more in the way of fat captions
than a comprehensive history - there are any number of charming tales.
The annual race for porteurs (bicycle-riding deliverers of huge bundles
of newspapers) that took place in Paris for many years, the involvement
of aluminium manufacturers in the promotion of lightweight bicycles, and,
the use of a 1946 Rene Herse tandem Jan Heine himself in the 2003 Paris-Brest-Paris,
stand out. Heine, incidentally, is the editor of the excellent Bicycle
Quarterly.
There is much in these designs that became the givens of cyclo-touring
bikes - brazed lugs to attach anything to the frame, randonneur handlebars
and wide-ratio gears. But the culture that spawned them appears to have
almost entirely evaporated in its native country, with the arrival of
inexpensive motorised transport.
It might have been forgotten entirely had not a handful of American
enthusiasts started to discover and collect bicycles of this era from
the 1970s onwards. Their cultish obsession means that original French
machines are much sought after and difficult to find, it is now possible
to buy a Rene Herse
bicycle manufactured in Oregon, and, this lavish pictorial journey
back in time is available to the rest of us. It is a trip that anyone
with an interest in touring bicycles will find a stimulating pleasure.
PS April 09
Incidentally, I bought a new copy of this book through Amazon for £16
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