Vintage French randonneuer's and porteurs.

Was looking on Dave Moultons blog earlier today, and this caught my eye in relation to the Cyclo advert:

1687373461664.png

"The picture above is Italian cyclist Giuseppe Martano, seen here on his ride to 2nd place in the 1934 Tour de France.

Probably the first thing most will notice is that the bike has a single fixed sprocket. Gears were available at that time; however, Tour de France riders were restricted to a single speed at the whim of Tour organizer Henri Desgrange.

Desgrange felt that multiple gears were for bicycle tourists, and they took away from the purity of the sport of cycle racing. So riders had to struggle over the same mountain climbs the Tour currently goes over, with a single gear, on roads in far worse condition than today."


I guess this thread demonstrates that the Randonneur had some big developments, whereas strangely the racing side got stifled and went on a mad quest to make the racing bike as light as possible. The first rear derailleur authorised in the TdF was 1937. Front derailleur in 1946.
 
Woz said:
Was looking on Dave Moultons blog earlier today, and this caught my eye in relation to the Cyclo advert:

View attachment 751947

"The picture above is Italian cyclist Giuseppe Martano, seen here on his ride to 2nd place in the 1934 Tour de France.

Probably the first thing most will notice is that the bike has a single fixed sprocket. Gears were available at that time; however, Tour de France riders were restricted to a single speed at the whim of Tour organizer Henri Desgrange.

Desgrange felt that multiple gears were for bicycle tourists, and they took away from the purity of the sport of cycle racing. So riders had to struggle over the same mountain climbs the Tour currently goes over, with a single gear, on roads in far worse condition than today."


I guess this thread demonstrates that the Randonneur had some big developments, whereas strangely the racing side got stifled and went on a mad quest to make the racing bike as light as possible. The first rear derailleur authorised in the TdF was 1937. Front derailleur in 1946.
Click to expand...
A good blog.

quote-i-still-feel-that-variable-gears-are-only-for-people-over-forty-five-isn-t-it-better-he...jpeg
 
Woz said:
Was looking on Dave Moultons blog earlier today, and this caught my eye in relation to the Cyclo advert:

View attachment 751947

"The picture above is Italian cyclist Giuseppe Martano, seen here on his ride to 2nd place in the 1934 Tour de France.

Probably the first thing most will notice is that the bike has a single fixed sprocket. Gears were available at that time; however, Tour de France riders were restricted to a single speed at the whim of Tour organizer Henri Desgrange.

Desgrange felt that multiple gears were for bicycle tourists, and they took away from the purity of the sport of cycle racing. So riders had to struggle over the same mountain climbs the Tour currently goes over, with a single gear, on roads in far worse condition than today."


I guess this thread demonstrates that the Randonneur had some big developments, whereas strangely the racing side got stifled and went on a mad quest to make the racing bike as light as possible. The first rear derailleur authorised in the TdF was 1937. Front derailleur in 1946.
Click to expand...
Was talking just this weekend with people about how multiple gears were developed for "cyclotourists" in France because people had free time. Very hard to understand today how technical developments were deliberately kept out of racing. Although I thought they did have two cogs and could flip the wheel?

The Jo Routens I saw the same weekend was so technically advanced. It holds up even today as a technical achievement. To think people would take touring so seriously is inspiring and a great contrast to competition driven development.
 
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