Friday, July 27, 2018

Col du Galibier on a Cycles Routens Tandem


Routens tandem, ready to go.
Saint Michel de Maurienne. Our 'Cycles Routens' tandem - la 'belle machine',
ready to go, while...
... we enjoy second breakfast with coffee, pain au
chocolat and croissant aux amandes
Routens tandem, Col du Télégraphe.
A great view opens already after the first switchbacks.
Routens tandem, Col du Télégraphe.
First leg: Col du Télégraphe, time for early lunch.
Routens tandem, Col du Galibier.
On the long yet steep straights between Valloire and Plan Lachat.
Routens tandem, Col du Galibier.
The heat of the day rose faster than we could climb
to reach cooler elevations. Thanks to the many
water points along the route two large bottles were
sufficient for the two of us. 
Break at Plan Lachat.
Break at Plan Lachat with excellent blueberry cake
and panna cotta. We made another stop here on our
way down.
Routens tandem, Col du Galibier.
One of the last turns above Plan Lachat.
Routens tandem, Col du Galibier.
Its only about here that one can see the col for the first time.
Routens tandem, Col du Galibier.
Approaching the tunnel shortcutting the col for cars.
Routens tandem, Col du Galibier.
Unison. The stoker compartment is rather short compared to modern frames,
but we like the stability and the feeling of connectedness of this vintage
frame geometry.
Routens tandem, Col du Galibier.
The varied climb from Saint Michel de Maurienne alternates between tight
turns and long straights.
Routens tandem, Col du Galibier.
Summit picture of our Routens tandem on Col du Galibier.
Routens tandem, Col du Galibier.
Routens tandem in its natural habitat.
Vue sur la Meije.
The view on la Meije recalls memories of numerous mountaineering and ski
mountaineering excursions (here) in the Massif des Ecrins. 
La Barre des Ecrins.
La Barre des Ecrins.
Descent. The old brake systems are reassuringly capable: the Maxi-Car rear
drum takes a lot of heat load and the overall speed in check, while  the
MAFAC Racer center pull brakes provide good control in the turns.
Routens tandem, Col du Galibier.
Hairpin turns above Plan Lachat.
Routens tandem, Col du Télégraphe.
Back on Col du Télégraphe. The last little
ascent from Valloire is already forgotten.

Col du Galibier from Saint Michel de Maurienne, map.
Col du Galibier from Saint Michel de Maurienne, map. 
Col du Galibier from Saint Michel de Maurienne, elevation profile.
Col du Galibier from Saint Michel de Maurienne, elevation profile.
More information on the climb on cols-cyclisme: Galibier depuis Saint Michel de Maurienne


Sunday, July 15, 2018

Tandem restoration tidbits: cable guide

One of the first things I did after taking possession of our tandems was a restoration of the cockpit areas that had been changed by the previous owners. Both, the Peugeot and the Routens came  equipped with three brake systems: two rim brakes and a rear drum brake.
Mafac tandem twin brake lever
Vintage tandems often come equipped with three brake
systems and the rim brakes on a twin lever.
I decided to restore them in the original configuration with the two rim brakes operated from a twin lever on one side, and the drum from a conventional lever on the other side.
Peugeot Tandem, Mafac brake lever, B&M EYC
Peugeot with 3 brake systems. With non-aero brake levers of the time this
would make for busy air space with all the noodles, if there was no cable
guide.
With the non-aero levers of the time, this makes for busy air space with all the 'noodles'. When looking for ideas on how to organize the cable routing I got inspired by the Specialites T.A. brake cable guide (Velobase).

Stem mounted Specialites T.A. -style DIY cable guide
Cable guide on the Routens tandem. From left to right: Maxi-
Car drum brake, Mafac Racer front center pull, Mafac Racer
rear center pull.
I anyway had already considered to drill the stem to double as brake cable hanger and to do away with the flexy original ones mounted under the headset nut. Combining the two ideas led to the following solution:
Stem mounted Specialites T.A. -style DIY cable guide
DIY cable guide. The shape was inspired by the stem-bolt-
mounted Specialites T.A. cable guides.
Stem mounted Specialites T.A. -style DIY cable guide
Peugeot from the riders perspective. A stainless steel bolt
from the hardware store was modified to a domes shape and
polished to blend into the classic ensemble.
The stem was modified with a stepped bore (at 17 degrees, so that the cable runs parallel to the head tube) to act as brake cable hanger, a M5 tapped hole for the cable guide stem plate, and another M5 tapped hole for the Crane bell.
Stem mounted Specialites T.A. -style DIY cable guide, Crane bell
Cockpit of our Routens Tandem: Belleri stem JPR handlebar, Specialites T.A.
- style DIY cable guide, Crane bell. The stem was drilled in three places:
(i) to act as front brake cable hanger, (ii) to fix the cable guide, and (iii) to
mount the bell.
To mount the cable guide to the stem, stainless steel bolts from the hardware store were modified to a domed shape and given a high polish finish to blend into the classic look of the ensemble.
Belleri stem JPR handlebar, Crane bell, stem mounted cable guide
Routens: JPR handlebar, Belleri stem, Specialites T.A. - style DIY cable guide.
BLB stem, Guidons Philippe Atax Professional handlebar, cable guide, Crane bell
Peugeot: BLB Stem, 'Guidons Philippe Atax Professionel' handlebar, DIY
Cable guide. From left to right: rear cantilever, front cantilever, Atom rear
hub brake.
As a last little detail, the two brake cable housings coming from the twin brake lever were tied with stainless steel wire, in order to keep them organized without recurring to cable ties.
twin brake cable routing
The brake cable housings coming from the twin lever were tied with stainless
stel wire, in order to keep them organized without recurring to cable ties.

If you would like to receive the pdf pattern for a jigsaw exercise or a dxf for laser cutting, drop me a line (contact).

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Tandem restoration tidbits: headlight mount for the Peugeot TM 8


B&M, Busch und Müller EYC
Fender mounted headlight. Modern interpretation of the original.

Our Peugeot Tandem came with a replacement front fender and had lost its original fender mounted headlight in the process. And while I don't really miss the glow of a conventional bulb powered by a bottle generator from a practical point of view, I do like the esthetics of those french fender mounted lights.

Peugeot tandem TM8
Interim solution. The affordable and quite capaple Busch and Müller Eyro
took over until new fenders were purchased, a generator wheel was laced and
a suitable led light selected.
For the creative restoration I was thus looking for a modern solution uniting the original spirit with the performance of modern led lights. Besides the obvious candidates with a classical look (Edelux and IQ-XS), I liked the shape of the EYC which could be taken for a descendant of the aleady modern looking fender mounted lights of the eighties.

Peugeot tandem TM8, B&M EYC
The Busch and Müller is a little gem and fits nicely in the overall esthetics
after some modifications and with an appropriate mount.
And the realization that the upper body shell of the EYC is made from alloy and could be stripped and polished makes it a little gem in my eyes. I felt that the 'EYC' logo was looking too busy and filed it away when stripping the paint. The shell fortunately polished well and came out looking gorgeous.

Fender mount for B&M EYC
Evolution of the light mount from first draft to final shape. I wanted to create
a modern interpretation of those vintage light mounts from folded sheet metal.

What was still lacking is a light and secure mount. There is a commercial solution available from Velo Lumino (here) but I wanted to create a modern interpretation of those vintage light mounts created from folded sheet metal.

B&M, Busch und Müller EYC, fender mount, Gilles Berthoud Fender
Front and back view. The light holder is riveted with 4 mm plain rivets. The
burly edge of the EYC nicely mirrors that of the Gilles Berthoud fender.

The holder is securely mounted to the Gilles Berthoud Fender with 4 mm plain alu rivets, which have a low profile on the underside and won't rattle loose. As much as I like 'french fender cuts' I left the Gilles Berthoud fender untouched as the burly edge of the light nicely mirrors that of the fender.

B&M, Busch und Müller EYC, fender mount, Gilles Berthoud Fender
Front view. In the background the quite efficient Weinmann brakes.
The mounting position turns out perfect, as the light has no chance to cast busy shadows from its vantage point. The illumination of the EYC is very even, and the moderate total output compared to the top of the line models has the benefit that its easier to accommodate to dim objects in the surroundings.

B&M, Busch und Müller EYC, fender mount, Gilles Berthoud Fender


If you would like to receive the pdf pattern for a jigsaw exercise or a dxf for laser cutting, drop me a line (contact).