#randonneuse

Things started out pretty rough.  I chose to build a lugged frame instead of a fillet-brazed frame. I picked very pretty lugs that looked like they came from an elven land, but instead they came from a dude in Connecticut named Richard Sachs.  I also chose to use a bunch of braze-ons, little bits that are useful for randonneuring bikes but take time to add.  Like these:

I probably spent a full work day just filing lugs to get them to fit with my tubes.  Here’s my first attempt at lug brazing.  The gold material is brass.  I was more than a little sloppy.

Here are the actual lugs I used, Richard Sachs “Newvex”.  They’re sitting on top of the full-scale drawing we had to make of our frame.  You can see how the head tube, top tube, and down tube all fit into the lugs.

Raking the fork (i.e., bending the legs of the fork to a specific point) was nerve-wracking because you’re literally just pulling down on the blade and trying to get it to just the right bend.  Twice.  I stuck with a conservative rake of 45mm -- used for many road bikes -- but later changed my mind because I wanted to put a rack on the front of my bike.  The rake wouldn’t be changed until after the frame was painted, because I am stupid.

I used a Pacenti fork crown and did only a slightly awful job on the brazes here.

Here are the lugs from before brazed to the head tube, top tube, and down tube.

Pacenti bottom bracket shell. I picked it for being similarly elven.

Long story slightly shorter... here’s the (sort of) finished frame and fork:

After the class ended, I went back to California and the frame sat around, taunting me.  I messed around with some logo ideas but realized they wouldn’t work on the thin downtube.  My inspiration was initially from the Columbine company’s head badge and late 19th century lettering styles.

Later, inspired by some old pictures of Jacques Anquetil, I came up with a basic paint scheme:

And then elaborated on it.

I worked out the details with Cyclart in Vista and sent my frame to them for cleanup and paint.  Cyclart has a great staff and they were able to address my various minor mistakes like excessive brass on the fork dropouts and an ill-placed pump peg.  I gave them an old Silca Impero pump to match to the top tube color.  It took a while to get the frame back, but this was the result:

At this point, I had to decide on components.  I wanted a traditional-looking build, but I also made a few concessions for convenience.  I wouldn’t use integrated shifters, but instead would use Gevenalle Audax brake levers with Silver shifters mounted at the end.  I had been saving a pair of Dia Compe 610 centerpull brakes for a couple of years to use on a bike like this.  For the drivetrain, I decided on a Campagnolo Veloce 10-speed rear derailleur with a 10-speed Centaur cassette.  I went with a reproduction René Herse crankset from Compass Bicycles with a 46/30t double chainring.  For the hubs, I used a White Industries rear hub and a SONdelux generator front hub.  The frame was drilled for internal electrical wiring so I could run lights front and back without having exposed wires. 

Here’s the frame with a Stronglight A9 headset, Dia Compe quick release brake hanger, crankset installed, and the H+Son TB14 rims built up.  The tires are 28mm Compass Chinook Pass Extralights.

I tried to fit a Velo Orange randonneur rack to the frame with Honjo fenders and ran into a ton of problems.  The randonneur rack was beautiful, but ultimately I couldn’t make it work; the front fender kept running into the bottom of the rack and the rack kept interfering with the brake arms.

In the back, I was alarmed to find that the cassette didn’t have enough room near the dropout for the chain to run on the smallest cog.  This was later solved with a 1mm spacer on the end of the hub.

Around this time, I also had the good folks at The Bicycle Stand in Long Beach re-rake the fork from 45mm to 60mm.  The change was visually subtle, but should translate into a more stable front end when the bike is carrying a randonneur bag.  I also had them handle all of the internal wiring and install a different front rack that wouldn’t interfere with the brake or fender (a Nitto M18).

Once I got the bike back, I assembled all of the remaining components as quickly as possible.  After a few test rides and adjustments, I feel comfortable saying the bike is finished... for now.  The only things I’d like to add at this point are a randonneur bag, a headbadge, and decals for the Newvex lugs (Mr. Sachs was kind enough to mail me one) and Columbus Zona tubing I used.

Thanks to Dan and Ron at UBI; my classmates who inspired me; the painters at Cyclart; Evan, Nicole, Mac, Josh, and Dave at The Bicycle Stand; and all of the frame builders who do this for a living.  It was an eye-opening experience and I’m tremendously grateful that I was fortunate enough to have it.

If you are interested in classes at UBI, I can’t recommend them enough.  The classes can be expensive, but there are various scholarships that may be available through UBI partners.  It’s worth asking to see if you qualify for any.

Full build info: