Bertrand had known about our small company for several years: he lives in Beaumont itself, the small town in the south of Clermont-Ferrand that’s home to our workshop. It was a life project that made him take the leap: when he married his partner Morgane, they decided to treat themselves to two bikes for travelling, instead of going on a honeymoon.

While Morgane rides a Distance 45, Bertrand chose to personalise his bike from A to Z. Alongside travelling, Bertrand enjoys sporty, even competitive rides. So, we designed a versatile bike, just as at home loaded up for a few days on the road as it is stripped down at the start of a gravel race.

The frame was crafted from Colombus Omnicrom steel, an alloy developed in partnership between the Italian manufacturer and the Welding Institute in Paris. It's an excellent choice for this bike: steel allows the frame to be both very comfortable and responsive.

To protect from being snagged by a low branch or a root, the cables are routed internally, with a transition from the down tube to the chainstays at the bottom bracket.

A small carbon touch on this almost all-steel bike: the Adventure fork by Enve, an ideal choice for gravel use and it also allows for luggages to be fitted.

The choice of the Ekar GT groupset from Campagnolo was an obvious one for this versatile adventure and performance gravel bike. Efficient, with great braking feel and ease of use, it’s one of our favourite groupsets.

However, we made a small modification by swapping the original crankset for the POP from Ingrid. We like its instantly recognisable design and its simplicity, which fits well with Bertrand’s quest for purity.

And the weight savings from this change of crankset are also welcome!

A few details impart the distinctive Victoire touch to this frame. The saddle clamp is directly integrated into the seat stays, streamlining the bike’s silhouette. More simplicity and clean lines was our motto with this bike!

We brazed a slim stainless steel rod onto the head tube to protect the frame's paint from cable rubbing.

Finally, the laurel badge of victory is fixed to the front of the head tube. It’s the inalienable element of every Victoire bike, the signature of our craftsmanship.

For travelling, you need to be able to carry enough to be self-sufficient. However, some luggage racks aren’t really suited to sporty use, even when no bags are attached. That’s why we developed our own lightweight luggage solution at Victoire, which you may have seen on Victoire n°581, n°566, or even Victoire n°491 belonging to Julien, Victoire’s founder.

It makes it easy to attach bags and panniers without affecting the bike’s ride dynamics when it’s stripped down and ridden full speed over rough terrain.

Bertrand took inspiration from nature for his bike’s paintwork. He brought us a magazine featuring a glacier as his guide for the colours. Our painter Max undertook numerous tests and trials to find the right technique and colours to faithfully reproduce the glacier ice that is so dear to Bertrand’s heart.

This interlacing of different shades of blue is layered with various pearlescent varnishes to enhance depth and accentuate the reflections, just like a real glacier.

As this bike was a wedding present that Bertrand and Morgane gave to themselves, we marked the occasion with a golden wedding band on one of the seat stays.

As a neighbour, Bertrand came to collect his bike directly at our workshop in Beaumont. It was a great opportunity to chat with everyone who worked on his machine: Greg, Max and Antoine.

He then set off immediately, hitting the road (and the trails) to take his new bike for its first ride.

It’s a genuine pleasure to ride. You should never compare a Victoire with carbon bikes as it’s a different philosophy, but the bike’s performance and competitiveness are definitely there, especially over long efforts.

The custom build provides comfort from the very first pedal stroke, and the riding position lets you push through the more technical and fast sections. The bike is very stiff (thanks to the design and choice of tubes), and you feel safe on the descents.

Also, it has to be said that when you ride a Victoire, there’s no annoying noise: it’s very smooth and a joy to ride.