A Hanseatic Autumn Trip with the Peugeot Tandem

04/10 Hamburg (Aumühle S-Bahn) Timmendorf: 80 km

link to route on google maps

Niendorf

05/10 Timmendorf Rostock: 120 km

link to route on Google maps

Priwall

View on the baltic sea.

Klütz.

Route to Wismar

Wismar

Wismar

Wismar

View on the baltic sea

Wind turbines, a common sight in northern Germany.

06/10 Rostock Schwerin: 80 km

link to route on Google maps

Satow

Neukloster

Schwerin Castle

07/10 Schwerin Hamburg (Aumühle S-Bahn): 90 km

link to route on Google maps

Alley

Autumn

Schaalsee

Elbe-Lübbe Canal

Sahms

Col du Galibier on a Cycles Routens Tandem

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

A great view opens already after the first switchbacks.

First leg: Col du Télégraphe, time for early lunch.

On the long yet steep straights between Valloire and Plan Lachat.

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 with excellent blueberry cake
and panna cotta. We made another stop here on our
way down.

One of the last turns above Plan Lachat.

Its only about here that one can see the col for the first time.

Approaching the tunnel shortcutting the col for cars.

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.

The varied climb from Saint Michel de Maurienne alternates between tight
turns and long straights.

Summit picture of our Routens tandem on Col du Galibier.

Routens tandem in its natural habitat.

The view on la Meije recalls memories of numerous mountaineering and ski
mountaineering excursions (here) in the Massif 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.

Hairpin turns above Plan Lachat.

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, elevation profile.

More information on the climb on cols-cyclisme: Galibier depuis Saint Michel de Maurienne

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.

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 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).

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:

DIY cable guide. The shape was inspired by the stem-bolt-
mounted Specialites T.A. cable guides.

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.

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.

Routens: JPR handlebar, Belleri stem, Specialites T.A. - style DIY cable guide.

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.

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).

Tandem restoration tidbits: headlight mount for the Peugeot TM 8

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Cycles Routens Tandem

Since our first tandem experience and some memorable rides in the Vercors and Chartreuse mountains with a rental from Métrovélo in Grenoble last summer we were hooked.  Already during our holiday we scoured the internet for an affordable used bike made for two. We managed to locate a nice Peugeot TM8 Ladyback in Hannover that we picked up while still on our way home.

Tandem Routens sur fond de Grenoble et la chaine de Belledonne.

The Peugeot needed some work to get back in shape for longer excursions, and when browsing the web to source parts and learn more about tandems in general, we came across this beautiful Routens for sale at Cycles & Go. Although we had little hope it was still available, and we didn't really need a second tandem, we dropped a mail ...

Le Routens avant la restauration des postes de pilotage. Cadre à double
triangulation, derailleur avant côté capitaine et transmission par chaine
longue. Photo par Cycles & Go.

Le velo dans le 'magasin' Cycles & Go à Fontaine. Photo par Cycles & Go.

... and were lucky. After my first visit, Cycles & Go were kind enough to reserve the bike, replace some damaged components, and change the rear cassette from 14-26 to 14-28. They agreed to keep the bike for a while until we definitively could take possession of it during our next holiday in the region, and I was able to recover a few parts for restoration.

Cintre course JPR a l'avant, cintre plat ('Moon Bar) a l'arrière, guidoline en
cotton Tressostar protégée par 4 couches de vernis shellac clair.

Détails de la restauration de la potence et du cintre course. Sonnette Crane
Bell montée directement sur la potence Belleri qui a été modifie avec un
passage de cable pour le frein avant et un support cabe style T.A. pour les
cables du frein tambour et le frein M.A.F.A.C. arrière.

We had decided, that the handlebars, seat-posts and saddles needed some adjustement for a proper fit and a bit of attention for better looks. Clear shellaced tressostar cotton bar tape, a hole in the stem for the front brake cable, T.A. style diy cable guide, and a shiny Crane bell definitely improved the overall appearance.

Tandem Routens sur fond de Chartreuse.

Re- mounting the parts, and the first few small excursions in the foothills of Belledonne and on the plateau du Vercors confirmed both, a nice a ride, but also that a second french tandem meant opening another can of worms. That said, I have to admit that I actually do enjoy the hours spent in the workshop understanding 'french bicycle idiosyncrasies' combined with the particularities of tandem components when the weather does not allow any outside activity.

Freins (et leviers) MAFAC, tête de fourche Routens-esque. Le jeux de
direction n'arrête pas a nous poser des petits soucis. On trouvera la raison et
la solution.

Moyeux avant et arrière Maxi-Car. Le frein tambour arrière est assez efficace
pour contrôler la vitesse dans des longues descentes frequentes dans la region.

Eclairage 'vintage' Cibié, Soubitez, Cibié.

The bicycle is equipped with a range of nice french components: MAFAC brake levers, MAFAC Racer front and rear brakes mounted on braze-ons, Specialités T.A. tandem crankset, JPR pedals, Huret derailleurs, Maxi-Car tandem front hub, Maxi-Car drum brake in the rear, Mavic and Super Champion rims,  JPR handlebar, aluminum fenders, Cibié lights.

Sur le plateau du Vercors, vue sur la Moucherolle.

But despite the nice looks, Routens decals, and being partially equipped with what used to be high end components - there is some nagging doubt about the frame: the presence of JPR components places the bike in the era of Jean-Paul (rather than Jo) Routens, the fork resembles a Peugeot or Motobecane tandem fork at least as well as the ones with the famous biplane crowns, and the finish of the seat stays and twin laterals reminds the bike boom tandems more than a fine custom frame. At least some of the tubes are seamed, and with close to 23 kg, the bicycle is overall a bit on the heavy side. Could it be that the frame was subcontracted, and the bike 'only' assembled by Cycles Routens?

La passagère avec nôtre tandem devant les Trois
Pucelles.

In the end, this observation doesn't take anything away from our enjoyment, and we decided right away to take the bike on tour at the next best occasion - but this is another story.

Quand il pleut dehors nous voyageons dans les souvenirs.

Around Grenoble 'Cycles Routens' is still a household name and while tandems rarely fail to prompt cheerful comments, its even nicer to hear an "Oh! Le joli Routens ..." and to engage in a short conversation about beautiful bikes made in the region.