Great Lengths: Distance 60 29er
An exciting day for our French friends Victoire Cycles: Today they launched their new brand Distance, an extremely well-thought-out and designed series of ready-made bikes.…
The history of cycling in France is deeply intertwined with the country’s industrial past. Although the invention of the bicycle is credited to German forest scientist Karl von Drais, it was the French who truly popularized the vélocipède.
In the 1860s, the Michaux family, Parisian coach builders, developed a new drive mechanism, placing pedals and cranks on an enlarged wooden front wheel. Production at their factory led to the commercialization of bicycles as we know them today.
Other influential French bicycle manufacturers appeared in the decades that followed, such as Alcyon, Alex Singer, and Automoto. Peugeot, a company with a rich history dating back to 1882, also produced bicycles in France until the late 1980s—and won ten Tours de France between 1903 and 1983.
Lapierre and Look are other notable French manufacturers, and more recently, companies like Moustache and E-Mazing have become leaders in the production of electric bikes.
Read on to discover some of the less-travelled highways and byways of French cycling history, from stylish classics to obscure custom builds.
An exciting day for our French friends Victoire Cycles: Today they launched their new brand Distance, an extremely well-thought-out and designed series of ready-made bikes.…
Last weekend saw the NAHBS circus present the world’s finest and latest handmade bicycles — a perfect time to remember that these magnificent machines are…
France’s Victoire Cycles have been in the custom bike game for more than a few years now and each new frame is a further expression…
Early in June this year, Le Concours de Machines was held in Ambert, in the Auvergne region, for the first time since 1949. The event…
A little bit of magic died along with Ezra Caldwell of New York’s Fast Boy Cycles. He was a favorite frame builder for many of…
Clambering over rock beds and through snowfields on fully-packed fatbikes is all well and good, but surely nothing can compare with the glory of carousing…
When it comes to Italian handmade titanium bicycle frames, Passoni is a revered name. The same goes for Café du Cycliste when you’re talking about…
For France and, indeed, the rest of the world, the last month has been harrowing. In the wake of the worst attacks on Paris since…
Within a week, the Clermont-Ferrand workshop of Victoire Cycles had turned out two very different custom mountain bikes, for two very different customers. This is…
The Vergers Massif is an ancient section of rock that pokes out of the southeastern corner of France. By ‘poke’ we mean its highest point…
There’s always something new happening around the Victoire Cycles workshop. It’s located in the Auvergne region of France, in Clermont-Ferrand, home also to Bibendum and…
Just like the flavour of a wine will manifest the character of the land it was produced from, the work of custom frame builders exhibit…
Taking inspiration from a townie with double seat stays that Tom Donhou built a while back, Victoire Cycles constructed this gentleman’s bike with a similar…
The French will always have the last word on couture fashion and style — it’s safe to say they invented it. They are also known…
The 1992 edition of Milan-San Remo was finished in a most spectacular fashion by Sean Kelly aboard a Vitus 992. His descent down the Poggio…