AZORCH

Is anyone familiar with these terms? I've recently acquired a vintage Peugeot and in researching the bike, it appears - at least from the catalogs - to be a France-only distribution (i.e., it does not appear in USA, UK, NL, or Canadian catalogs.) The model is a "Touraine," named for a geographic area in France, and can only be found in two French catalogs from 1987 and 1989. The reason I'm posting to this forum, in addition to the C&V forum where I spend most of my time, is that the Touraine is listed in the catalog in sections subtitled, respectively, "1/2 Course Randonee" and "Demi-Course Randonnee." I'm not familiar with those terms, and the very little French I do understand, makes it clear that the eight (!!!) models listed in this section of the French catalog, are related to Randonneuring (because the word features prominently in the text and subheads and section titles.) It's winter here, and I'm bored, and would like to get to the bottom of this tiny, tiny mystery - can anyone over here shed a little light on what these phrased mean? Thanks.

unterhausen

given the usual marketing exaggeration, that probably means they are good for 30 miles. There is a half-course Randonee, which is now called a "Populaire," 60 miles. Peugeot may not have really been that concerned with randonneuring per se, I believe that is the French term for going out on a bike ride (or hike for that matter).

seenloitering

"Demi" literally means 1/2 in French so the two labels have identical literal meanings - though sometimes demi is used to mean small, as in demitasse (a little cup). In spite of being Canadian and living in Montreal for a time, my French isn't very good. I'll run it by a couple French cyclists I know and come back if they have any ideas.

Maybe there is something to the different spellings of randonee. I think randonee (without the accent) is considered the anglicized version of randonnee (two n's, with the accent), but don't quote me on it. If that is the case though, the two names might just be appealing to French and English audiences.

AZORCH

Unterhausen your explanation makes perfect sense to me. I wasn't thinking about marketing "hype" and taking the language (probably) too literally.

Seenlooitering, I appreciate your insight also. My daughter, with five years of junior high and high school French to her credit, told me the same thing. What I find confusing is how in the 1987 brochure, Peugeot classifies four models as 1/2 Course Randonnee and four different models as Demi-Course. In 1989, the lineup is all Demi-Course. They also identify four further models as "Randonneur" (Cyclo, Vincennes, Anjou, and Dauphine.)

You know, this is all pretty much academic really, but it's an interesting little intellectual research assignment for myself while I wait for my Chiefs team to flounder their way through their first playoff game in years. Thanks for the input.

unterhausen

they probably had to be fairly specific in their marketing language in France. In the U.S., up until recently at least, most bicycle consumers didn't really know anything about bicycles or what they would use a bike for. In France they probably had to say what they really intended the bike to be used for or risk insulting the consumer.

Seems that I vaguely remember "Demi Course" as a fairly common label or model name for French bikes. It probably has connotations that are not adequately conveyed by literal translations. Something along the lines of "recreational cycling."

thebulls

Seems like the difference between a "Demi-Randonneur" and a "Randonneur" would be that the latter is a higher-end, full-on randonneuring bike, while the former has some sort of compromises (most likely lower-end tubing or parts) that would be inappropriate for a full-on randonneuring bike. So it's only good enough for a "half-on" randonneuring bike.

Nick