Gérard's starry sky
Gérard owns a titanium road bike, which he uses on sporty outings over hilly terrain. However, he wanted to buy a new bike, with durability as the main direction. Gérard wanted to buy his “last bike”, a machine that could accompany him forever. The choice of steel as the frame material came naturally, and our previous achievements convinced him to contact us to build the Victoire n°554, a modern, fast road bike.
Already the owner of another road bike, Gérard's wish was that his new mount would give him at least as good a feeling. It was also an opportunity to equip himself with more modern components, taking advantage of the latest improvements in transmissions, brakes and wheels.
Committed to both the performance and aesthetics of his project, Gérard placed his trust in us to create a beautiful object, as efficient as it is attractive to look at.
We used Colombus XCr steel for the frame, the stainless alloy from our Italian partner.
Although slightly more difficult to work with than conventional steel, it offers even greater durability thanks to its resistance to rust.
It also does not need the opaque anti-rust coating we apply to our conventional steel frames to protect them. This means we can keep the silver soldering seams visible, especially in the bottom bracket area. In this way, the expert work of our framers is highlighted. Here you can admire Marco's expertise. Our framers spend many hours polishing the welds to perfection.
At Gérard's request, we equipped his bike with a Shimano Dura-Ace 12-speed groupset.
Widely used in the professional peloton, this is the Japanese manufacturer's top-of-the-range gearing. Gears change quickly and smoothly, to kick-start every hill break on the rough rides that Gérard loves.
Several details make this frame instantly recognizable as a Victoire.
The seat tube clamp is directly integrated into the seat stays to lighten the aesthetics. What's more, we apply the Columbus logo to the fork, even after painting. We're proud to work with this Italian artisan company, and despite the customizations we make to their components, we make a point of highlighting them on every one of our creations.
Finally, as always, we affix our medallion to the head tube. It represents the laurels of victory, the symbol of our small company. We hope it will help Gérard conquer the mountain passes he'll be tackling with his new machine.
Gérard wanted a painting that evoked the colors of a late summer evening.
So we opted for a midnight-blue to sky-blue gradient, enhanced by sequins and geometric motifs on the top tube. As a nod to Gérard's attachment to craftsmanship, we kept the color of the raw steel on the bottom of the frame and seat tube.
We've also painted the Normandy coat of arms and the Occitan cross on the inside of the fork. These two discreet details recall Gérard's origins, making his bike even more personal.
Whether it's the dimensions of the bike, the shape of the tubes, the welds, the fittings and, of course, the paintwork with all its little details (gradations, logos, etc.), everything is perfect. When I arrived at the Cartel Cycles & Café store, the first time I saw the bike really moved me: it was even prettier than what my imagination had come up with in its image bank of bikes. A quick tour around Clermont to say hello to the technical teams quickly confirmed my choice of craftsmanship for this project... and of course, we can talk about luxury craftsmen.
Since then, I've had the opportunity to enjoy my bike on my usual roads, which are rather hilly, and the word that immediately comes to mind is: happiness!
What a pleasure to ride such a bike, the image of being one with the machine takes on its full meaning; there's no movement lost to compensate for anything, everything is perfectly adapted, fluid, natural and... comfortable. And, at the risk of repeating what many of your customers have already written, at the end of the ride the comfort of the bike invites you to prolong the present moment. To sum up, I'm very proud of this bike, and I hope to be riding it for a long time to come. Thanks to Cycles Victoire for making it possible.
