Yes, Cycles Toussaint is alive and well. The business risk of blogging, aside from getting trolled is that if you don’t post regularly, people may start to wonder if you are out of business! So finally I have got off my donut padded duff to make the first post for 2014 (yes in February).
What’s new?
For 2014 we are standing pat with the Velo Routier and Citie models. We have plenty of 60cm frames and bicycle in stock but are starting running low on 51 and 54 cm bicycles. We won’t be re-ordering until this fall and are considering a deep “French” blue this time around.
We have new stock of microShift 10 speed bar ends shifters that have been selling well. We are looking at getting Velocity to make us our own 650b wheel set for spring.
Three new shops have been added our dealer list:
- Blackwell Cycles https://www.facebook.com/blackwellcycle
- Dream Cycle in Vancouver B.C. http://dream-cycle.com/
- Free Range Cycles in Seattle, WA http://www.freerangecycles.com/
We are working on 2 new frames for early 2015 delivery … they will be Reynolds 931 Stainless, one will be a 650B rando frame with similar geometry as the Velo Routier and the other will be a 700C road frame with slack angles, relative low BB for a smooth, stable ride and clearance for fenders with wide-ish tires (32mm). More on them on future posts.
Ride Your Journey 
Hi guys – I just bought the Lg frame you sent Kathleen at Free Range Cycles in Seattle. I was looking at the Soma GR, and Rawland Stag as an entry into the 650b low trail universe. My other bikes are Rivendells, and I plan to replace my A. Homer Hilsen on rando duty with the Velo Routier. I’m glad you are alive and well – I understand trying to work a full-time gig, do a side project, and try to blog. Not enough time in the day. (www.stonehog.com).
I have a few questions about the Velo. What racks will work on the front? Any recommendations? I see you have a small front rack on Evan’s bike that attaches to the fender and the fork braze-ons – what is that? It seems like a nice alternative to mounting a Nitto Mark’s rack to the fork crown and trying to bend out around the brakes.
It sounds like the pump may be a no-go. I really like the pump peg on the seat stay arrangement, but it sounds like the Zefal that came with the bike has to have the hose removed to work in the pegs. Do you just keep the hose in a bag or are we doing something wrong?
Good luck, guys – the world needs more unique steel bikes. I’ll have the only Velo Routier in Seattle (that I know of) so that will be special for a while 🙂 I will post my blog review when I get a few miles under the belt.
Brian Hanson
Seattle, Wa
Hi Brian. We sell a stainless steel rack that fits the fork crown bosses. It’s construction quality is not the same a Nitto-made rack but is quite good nevertheless and at a much lower price point. It bolts up directly to the fork crown and fork blades mounting points. It sits a bit high for some people’s liking but it was the closest we could get given production volume quantities for a one size fits all situation in our case. The rack pictured on my personal bicycle is the same rack that I modified to mount directly to the fender top. I cut off the two arms that attach to the fork crown and ground the welds smooth. I then cold bent the fork blade arms to fit. The rack comes with fittings on the underside which I bolted to the top of the front fender with leather washers. If you decide to attempt this mod, we will send you a replace rack free if you mess it up, but just one 🙂
As for the Zefal pump, yes the only way it fits is with the hose removed. Admittedly a bit a kludgy. We sell the Giyo GM-03 alloy frame pump which fit the pegs but has a more “modern” look.
Thanks for your support … swimming against the carbon fibre composite tide is an expression of eccentricity that requires special kind of insanity!
Ordered last night 🙂 I may try the saw method depending on where the bag sits. I really like the idea of anchoring it to the fender.
Evan – I got the rack and have about 50 miles on the Velo. Love it so far! Here’s a write up. I have also heard from Kathleen that there were several other folks that came in and asked about the frame after I picked it up 🙂
http://stonehog.com/2014/03/03/initial-velo-routier-notes/
We’re sooooo jealous looking at photos of your VR perched out with the sun shining. It was -30C this weekend and has just “warmed up” to -25C Thanks for the thoughtful and detailed review of our frame Brian. Looking forward to more feedback to be incorporated for our next batch of frames.