Is that the medium Achorn saddle bag?

Yes, and it's a great size for this purpose (commuting). Today I had it packed with a spare tube, tools, an electric pump (I'm lazy), a case for my glasses, a clean T-shirt and undies. I could probably fit a few other small items if needed, but this is all I bring to work.

The front rack is really what ties this build together for me. I have to schlep my laptop back and forth every day. I've used a rear rack and pannier, but I wanted something different. A backpack works but feels cumbersome. The Porteur rack just happened to be almost the exact dimensions of the padded laptop sleeve I've been using for 15 years.

Thought that was an insulated pizza bag instead of a laptop bag on that porteur rack, which would definitely warrant the straps to protect from dislodging the precious cargo.

Damn that bike looks even better now!

What a great looking bike. Well done. Love the continued use of triple cranks in the commuter sphere, as I use a similar setup (48-34-28). Lovely bicycle.

This is 45-38-28 now, with 11-34 in the back. Honestly, I really don't need the big ring, but I really like triples.

So, the proper Velo Orange rail was waiting for me when I got home. That was quite a surprise. The shop (Carson City Bike Shop) had emailed me Tuesday morning to say that they'd ship the rail that day. I assumed since this was after-the-sale service that they'd send it by the least expensive means possible, and having gotten no tracking number reinforced that expectation. Instead, they sent it by Priority Mail, which is pretty quick from Nevada to Oregon. Chapeau, Carson City Bike Shop!

The Velo Orange rail weighs 210 grams, compared to 80 grams for my DIY rail (that's more than 4.5 ounces if you're scoring at home, or even if you're alone). The VO rail is considerably prettier than mine though, so on it went. Pictures tomorrow, maybe.

Perhaps a bit off topic:

And it comes with the Sheldon Brown approved rear triangle spreading tools, it would appear.

That's 10 times what I paid for my 1972 Grand Record frame, though this one does appear to be in considerably better condition. If I were passing through Walla Walla I'd be tempted.

Some of the real old grand records had plain steel forks, I know I have one. Nice frameset though. I paid about 80 for it because I wanted the stronglight crankset on it.

Phew, that was lucky! You might have had to buy another laptop bag. 😉

It is a relly nice build, Andy. Thanks for sharing.

Maybe tomorrow, maybe a year later... Anyway, here's an update. I've made a few refinements recently.

One change was necessitated by the fact that after a bit of use the tires expanded slightly, to the point that no matter how much I fiddled with it I couldn't keep the little rubber hairs on the side of the tire from brushing the chainstays. So, back to the Atelier it went for a little more indimplination. After the second round of squishing the chainstays, @gugie recommended a very small amount of reinforcement for extra stability. A new decal met the precise specification.



It's still a tight fit. I think I'll drop back to 650x38 when these wear out.

I also did a bit of work at lettering.com to create some additional decals for the top tube.



That pic came out a bit out of focus, but I figure most of us won't notice.

The other major change I made recently was a new set of brakes. Even after hitting the Tektro R559s with a file a few times, I was never quite comfortable with the clearance between the brake pads and the tire. Happily, Gugie was willing to let me tap into his stash of RAIDs to solve the problem. These are really the proper brake for a French bike like this anyway.



Finally, since I promised a year ago that I would share pictures with the VO rail, here they are. As I tell Mrs. K, if a man says he's going to do a thing, he'll do it. There's no need to remind him every six months. As an added bonus, here it is with the Velo Orange Transporteur bag.

That's awesome Andy. I found the 559s just a hair short on my jubile as well. I have blue lug dropper pads on the back and a super old aluminum side pull on the front that came off an old three speed. Works pretty well with good pads. Plus, 42s fit but with very little clearance. I think mine is older than yours but these are way cool bikes no matter!

This one is from 1978. My other Grand Jubilé is from 1975 and 42s fit fine with fenders on that one.

I'm drop bars all the way, but when I have to choose something else these Postino bars are top choice. Started with Jitensha bars (Nitto B2522AA) but the Postinos are cheaper. These are on my wife's bike and her sister's bike.

For levers though, I think the Tektro FL750s look fantastic for a city bike. Both the previous mentioned bikes have those as well.

Pretty neat match of the font on your GJ MB Edition.

I think mine is 75 or 76. Man you have a lot of nice bikes.

I strongly favor drop bars too. The thing I like about the Postino bars is that they really encourage me to ride with a more relaxed attitude. (People who ride with me may think I don't need any such encouragement, but trust me, I'm usually trying to ride faster.)

I have been thinking about replacing the brake levers, and the FL750s are on my short list. The VO City Levers look nice, but I can't help but suspect they're flexing and maybe have a suboptimal pull ratio, as the braking response is a bit less than I'd like.

I was really pleased with that. Lettering.com offers a pretty good selection of fonts. There were two or three I would have been happy with, but this one -- particularly the 'a' and the 'n' -- seemed spot on.

This beautifully optimistically priced bumble bee is mine, lol. I didn’t get any bites. That’s good, Its almost together. It looks great.

I put enduro tires and Araya rims to gold label Normandy hubs. I have the chain, and a 14-28 freewheel. The cranks are off an old Raleigh, so they’ll be English thread

Andy, that's a really sweet looking ride. The only flaw I can find in it is that it isn't one of the Nervex-lugged frames that Moto used on their GJs and GRs in the mid-'70s.