This lovely bicycle is a 58cm Routens “cyclosportif” with a Simplex Super LJ group set. It’s one of the finest machines I’ve had the privilege of restoring, although it needed very little actual work to restore. A “cyclosportif” is sort of like the French equivalent to “sport touring” where a bike may have fenders and a handlebar bag, but is not meant to carry panniers. Read on for more info on this classic steed and its famous namesake.
Every bicycle enthusiast has a certain bike that's their "holy grail" – that perfect combination of builder, vintage, design, and of course rarity that makes it both sought-after and difficult, if not nearly impossible, to find. Recently, I finally found mine: a 1970's vintage Zunow randonneur.
The Zunow brand, founded in 1965 by Japanese master builder Takeru Kageyama, is better known for his wilder road and time-trial designs like my Z-1. But Kageyama's earlier efforts were often in the style of the French touring and randonneuring bicycle that were popular in Japan through the 1960's and 1970's. Japanese brands like Toei, ALPS, Holks, Zunow, and Watanabe built beautiful and refined interpretations of the French designs, making use of a mix of French and Japanese components. Read more… Continue reading
The Surly Long Haul Trucker is considered one of the best modern, non-custom touring bicycles on the market these days. Introduced in 2004, it quickly became the “go-to” bike for riders looking for a reliable, no-nonsense machine for long, multi-day travels. It can also do double duty as a solid commuter or errand-runner around town, perfect for hauling camping gear or groceries.
This one is a 2009 model in their beige “Truckaccino” color, size 52 with 26″ wheels. I scored it off of Craigslist from a guy who won it in a radio contest and then never rode it. It came stock with a set of Ortlieb panniers and Blackburn racks. Since I’ve never been one to leave a stock build alone, I changed almost all of the components out.
Highlights of the build include a Gilles Berthoud “Aspin” touring saddle, Schmidt SON28 Classic generator hub with Supernova E3 light, BioLogic Reecharge system for the iPhone 4, Schwalbe Marathon tires, Deore XT derailleurs, Suntour Command shifters, Tubus racks, and a LOOK ErgoStem. More details and picture gallery after the jump…
The RB-T was designed by Grant Petersen to be a “sport-touring” bicycle, a fore-runner of today’s hybrid bikes. It’s intended to fill a number of roles, from putting in long rides on the road to tearing up off road trails, to weekend touring loaded with gear. It does all of these things quite well, and has a classic style that harks back to the French randonneur / audax bicycles of the 1950’s and 60’s.
This particular example was found on eBay in dusty but barely used condition. It’s a 1992 model, shown in the Bridgestone catalog here. I cleaned it up and added a lot of new parts. Like most of the Grant Petersen-era Bridgestones, the stock parts group on the RB-T is a well-thought out mix of reliable but affordable components. It’s hard to “upgrade” a Bridgestone, but I replaced the brakes, handlebars, and saddle with my own selections, chosen for comfort and style. Also, it needed racks and a new fork with the appropriate eyelets to mount them on in order to be truly tour-worthy. The result was a classy, easy-riding machine that gets a lot of compliments. Read on for details on the restoration and build.