Author Archives: angusicowan

Mea Culpa and Looking Forward

Posted on by
Reply

We hope you are well and safe in these COVID conditions.

We are in the process of setting up a brand new location in  London. Angus has moved to the UK with his family.  We are excited about the opportunity to expand our enterprise there.  We are also planning a new bike for a 2022 release.

However, we must apologise for the delays in our responses and orders over the past 120-180 days. We have slipped in our customer service at Cycles Toussaint. We admit we have been slow with shipping and could be better communicators. But, it most cases we have tried to make amends in some way or another. For example, waiving shipping charges in situations.

Demand has been high with COVID. We are running into a few issues as we grow including enough inventory for the demand, running two locations and even just nail down internal communications with new processes. The funny thing – this often involves family and good friends in the business- so no one can hide:)  Our intent is always good. But, we have made mistakes. We are not shy to say so.  But, we are excited about the future at Cycles Toussaint.

And we can’t forget our current social venture. Cycles Toussaint provides our very own designed and engineered trishaw bicycle that is durable, simple to ride and easy to service called Ami. The global interest has been amazing. Lead by Jane and Mike, the goal of our venture is to make it simple and easy to have passengers of all ages and capabilities experience the “wind in their hair”.  A portion of the cost of each trishaw is forwarded to Cycling Without Age to support the growth of this wonderful movement.

Historically, our business lives has always put the customer first. For some context, Evan, Jane, Mike and I have built a number of people first businesses in our day to day professional life. But, cycling is our passion and in our blood.  Cycling is not a numbers game to us like those big brands. It’s also multi- generational. Angus’ Great Uncle Cecil literally caught a death of a cold cycling incessantly from John O’Groats to Lands’ End in the pouring rain of 1936. Angus’ eldest son is currently a professional cyclist and his youngest son is nipping at his heels. Evan was a champion track rider (Pre-EPO;). But put aside the racing, we just enjoy the journey on our bikes and breathing in the global cycling culture from Asia to Europe and beyond. Our goal is to turn the industry on its ear. Our dream is that our customers would one day pass on their Toussaint as an heirloom to the next generation in their family. We always think about providing distinct bikes with a high personal value to our customers, with good thoughtful design-engineering and sold at a very a reasonable price.  We are on our own journey as a little company growing, succeeding and sometimes making mistakes. But, that journey is in progress and we are excited about what lays ahead.

Thank you for your consideration and patience. We appreciate that your time is valuable.  Please feel free to reach out with any further questions or concerns.

Angus, Evan, Mike and Jane

My Velo Routier 1.0 Build

Posted on by
Reply

I purchased this frame almost a year ago direct from you guys and have been slowly accumulating parts. I finished the build a few months ago and have been riding it hard since. 

For the past few years I have been looking for the one bicycle that would satisfy 90% of the riding I do: commuting, long distance riding/randonneuring, gravel and forest service road riding. One day I happened to see your Velo Routier in an issue of Bicycle Quarterly. It finally clicked that this was my ticket to the low-trail world of Alex Singer and Rene Herse without spending my life savings. Sure enough, its a bomb proof adventure machine with a surprising amount of speed. 

I built it up with the stock Cycles Toussaint crankset (I love that there is no branding) and headset, added some Nitto and Velo Orange components, eBay Ultegra derailleurs, Gevenalle cyclocross frankenshifters, and of course Mafac “Raid” center pull brakes. The 50mm VO Snakeskin fenders were a squeeze, but I have had no issues with tire-fender clearance on a multitude of gravel and dirt surfaces. I do wish I could put larger fenders on the frame so I had more wrap-around (I guess that is called the 2.0). The wheels are Velocity Synergy (O/C rear) laced to a Shutter Precision front and Ultegra rear shod with Compass Babyshoe Pass 42mm tires.

For the quintessential rando bag I ordered a custom bag from Treetop Bags in Chicago, Illinois. These bags are not very well known and are very affordable, while still being hand-crafted. I wanted a rack that sat lower than the stock Cycles Toussaint rack so I could direct-mount the fender. I didn’t want to have a custom rack made and took a risk on the Compass CP1 center-pull rack after some not-so-precise on screen measurements. The rack stays ended up being only 3mm off and I was able to get the fit with a cheap tubing bender. The decaleur is made from a P-clamp, U-bolt, and paint stir stick inside the bag for lateral support. At $10 it’s a fraction of the cost of a production decaleur and just as sturdy and light. 

I wanted dynamo powered lights front and back. But, I am not a fan of the zip tie method for wiring stock frames, especially with a taillight. It looks tacky and unfinished. To “hide” the wire, I glued it to the inside of the rear fender with automotive grade black silicone. I then ran it through the chainstay bridge hole on the fender and secured the wire to the BB cable guide with a washer. Next, I ran the front derailleur cable and the tailight wire through some shrink tubing up along the down tube (I stole the idea, works great) and then in and out of the front fender to the headlight. For the dynamo wiring I fished the wire through the rack boss on top of the fork crown, down through the blade, and out the vent hole. Unless you are looking for it, the wiring is all but invisible! 

I attached some pictures as well. Thanks for the awesome ride! 

Cheers,

Jay 

Tacoma, Washington

Processed with VSCOcam with g3 preset

Fenders and Tire Clearance

Posted on by
2

We’ve had some questions about fenders and tire clearance so thought we would write a quick blog post. There is an ongoing debate “out there” about the balance between safety, tire clearance and aesthetics. Lower clearance between the tire and the fender looks slick but the chance of a piece of debris lodging between the two increases. We have set up the Velo Routier with a the higher clearance but with an eye to good aesthetics. Our current bikes come equipped with 38mm Pacenti Pari Moto 650B tires under 46mm wide fenders. The clearance between fender and tire is approximately 10mm. The tires also have no problems fitting between the chain stays. We have had enquiries about fitting 42mm Grand Bois Hetre 650B tires. These tires will fit. We have tested a set on the Velo Routier on the country back roads of Alberta Rockies without problems. The clearance will only be about 5mm under the 46mm fender. A 50mm fender would probably be better for clearance but it would be a very tight fit on our bikes. See the attached photos. Please feel free to send us your pictures if you ride our bikes with 50mm fenders. As we finalize our 2015 design in the next couple of weeks, we are considering “squishing” the chainstay a touch more. The final decision will be based on practicality, ridability and safety. Enjoy the journey, Angus.

IMG_20150125_211752

IMG_20150125_211625-2

 

My first weekend with a Velo Routier

Posted on by
Reply

I headed to Walla Walla, Washington in late April with my son. My son was competing in the Tour of Walla Walla Stage Race. This annual race presented by Allegro Cycle draws hundreds of riders from the U.S. Northwest and Canada. Walla Wall is located a few hours drive south west of Spokane. As one gets closer, the green rolling terrain appears to be stripped directly from a Microsoft Desktop Background.   After all of those years of staring at my PC, it now seems crazy not to think that the background was based on an actual location. All the towns in the Walla Walla area are wonderfully cared. The downtown Walla Walla core is alive with café’s, restaurants, boutiques as well as Whitman College. Apparently, there are over 100 vineyards in the surrounding area. Walla Walla like many US towns has big box stores that encircle the town. But, Walla Walla has not been hollowed out by their presence and have kept the downtown core vibrant.

I had never ridden a Velo Routier before this weekend or taken it out in public. It really seemed to be a conversation starter at the Tour stages and stand out in the crowd.  The Velo Routier always brought smiles to people’s faces. I received compliments across the spectrum. Even a few of the pro riders asked to check it out. The bike seems to have a timeless quality as folks would ask “Is it new?” and “Is it old?”. Watching the Time Trial (TT) start, the character and lines of the Velo Routier seemed juxtaposed against the robotic, heartless, singular tasked carbon TT bikes waiting in a line for their start times.

Riding the bike feels casual and comfortable. But don’t be fooled as this bike can get you smartly to your destination whether running errands or touring across secondary roads. It is a smooth ride on gravel, rough pavement and even the occasional bumpy field for a short cut.

My one complaint is that the bike always seemed to keep drawing me closer to any establishment that provided food and/or drink. Here are some great places to try if you are in the area:

  • Breakfast at the Maple Counter Cafe
  • French Macarons along with Assame Black Tea at the Walla Walla Bread Company
  • Paris-Brest Pastry at the Colville Street Patisserie. (Never before have my eyes closed and rolled into the back of my head on a first bite)
  • Dinner at the Whoopemup Hollow Café in Waitsburg, Washington

Safe Travels, Angus Cowan

IMG_20140419_082235IMG_20140420_095639IMG_20140420_162303IMG_20140420_164711On Campus @ Whitman College