BF C&Vers,
I've been on a bit of a cycling journey of sorts these past few years. Moving to Paris wasn't the cycling heaven I had expected, and I found the urban terrain much less welcoming than the easily navigable and relatively safe bike lanes and trails in the DC area. As I mentioned in another post, combined with a new job that kept me on the road about 3 months out of the year my first two years here, the riding for me dropped off to almost nothing. I basically returned to running for the more time-efficient fitness benefits, then COVID hit and Paris became one of the most locked-down cities on the planet. I started doing longer trainer rides in the apartment to alleviate some of the boredom, and when we had a brief break between lockdowns in summer 2020 headed outdoors. I was just starting to regain some fitness and passion for the sport when I had a bad collision that took me out of it for months, and into another long lockdown period. All the above really harshed my cycling vibe.
At the start of this year I had a friend from work and her husband who got into cycling,and then into vintage bikes. Helping them out sparked my interest again, and that eventually led to a visit to Singer Cycles, the only place in Paris where I knew they'd be able to get the kind of parts and work their Dardenne bikes (see my recent post on these lovely rides) deserved. After that visit I couldn't get the bikes there out of my head.
I knew of AS Cycles from Bicycle Quarterly articles back in the early 2000s. I visited the shop once on a trip from Luxembourg during my last European assignment:
My first visit, almost ten years ago
The bikes and shop stayed with me after that. I hadn't met Olivier on that trip, but seeing the bikes was enough to make a real impact on me. Seeing them in person is much more impressive than photos. You can read about Olivier, son of Ernest Csuka and one of the original builders at the shop online. There's plenty of info out there, but one of the best is here:
Alex Singer article
On that trip this summer he let me ride one of the randonneur bikes that he'd built for a local gentleman to do the PBP. It was only around the block and in street clothes, but it was enough to get the wheels turning. You can't judge a bike (especially one built for someone else) by a ten minute ride, but you can feel the way a frame moves and handles bumps and potholes. A few hard pedal strokes let me see how it responded to power input. I'm not a professional by any stretch, but I have ridden my share of nice bikes. This was special.
So, I joined a French gentleman there one August morning (the French all take vacation in August, only one club member was present that day) for a 70km or so ride out of Paris. He was nice enough to not go on ahead as my low fitness and injury issues took their toll. It was the longest ride I'd done since the accident, and it took a week to recover from it. But...it showed promise...
My C'Dale Slate across the street at 7 AM, shop windows soaped over because just about everything in Paris closes in August, AS included.
Spool forward a couple of months and I found myself back at the shop, discussing the possibilities with Olivier one Saturday. It was a conversation about bikes, French culture, riding in Paris, and life. He wasn't trying to sell me a bike, and I wasn't pushing for any sort of answers about frames or prices. I'd said earlier I'd happily buy the bike I'd ridden on my last time at the shop, which he quickly dismissed as ridiculous. He builds bikes for individuals, and buying a bike made for someone else was as outlandish an idea as buying a suit tailored for another. As we talked the discussion turned to what sort of riding I intend to do, and what I would use a bike from them for. At some fuzzy point it became a talk about the bike he was going to build for me. I made a (substantial) down payment and that was a far as the crude subject of money went.
Some bikes on the floor, this one ready for shipping to a lucky customer in the U.S.
Rack detail.
This gentleman came in to discuss a routine repair
We went upstairs at the shop to share a congratulatory drink of one of his favorites:
So, I went back to my apartment that afternoon with a Singer on order. No, I don't know what it's going to cost, or how long it's going to take. Neither of those is the point. I have a bike from Alex Singer Cycles on order, and for now that's enough.