François's essential
François, cycliste roulant sur asphalte, désirait une monture sobre et sans compromis. Nous avons réalisé ensemble un Victoire sportif en inox qui se concentre sur l'essentiel, archétype de notre vision du vélo de route moderne à disques.
François, which is a cyclist riding on asphalt, desired a bike that would be sober and with no compromises. Together, we made a sportful disc brakes Victoire made of stainless steel that focus on the essential.
The Victoire n°472 is made of stainless steel Columbus XCR tubes. Those very thin tubes which presents exceptional mechanicals characteristics, allows the crafting of a light and reactive frame that cannot rust. Because of that, stainless steel is ideal for sportful bikes like the one of François.
Victoire 472's frame got all the cables and sheaths going in internal. This, besides of making the bike more pleasant to look, protects the cabling of the outside environment. Even if they're not systematic, the internal routings are very common on Victoire bikes.
The internal routings are simple to maintain. We will soon publish an article based on that subject to explain how those are made and to detail the maintenance process.
François fell for a silver Chris King headset, american supplier that provides reliable products that don't have to prove their reputation anymore. By the way, their headsets got a lifetime guarantee. For this reason, those are products we mount very often on Victoire projects.
For his drivetrain, François trusted Campagnolo, italian supplier with who we frequently work with. The Victoire 472 is therefore mounted with a Campagnolo 12 speeds Super Record group, reference figure of the road range made by our transalpine neighbours.
At the front, the double chainring has a 50 - 34 toothing. It is associated with a 11 - 32 cassette, thus offering a versatile ratio allowing to face some significant elevation profiles while still having the possibility of providing pedaling effort while going downhill.
As it is often the case for the Victoire projects, François's wheels have been mounted by hand in our workshop. Firstly, this allows to apply the best procedures to extend the gear lifetime. Secondly, it allows to create buildups that are specifically adapted to our customer's needs.
The Victoire 472, as all Victoire bikes now, has been painted by Julien in our workshop's paint room. The painting of François's Efficient needed to be sober and subtile. Frame, fork and stem where painted with a metallic marine blue that fully reveals itself once placed into the sunlight. The logos were made in negative to let the stainless steal appear, dialoguing with the Chris King silver headset.
The whole painting has been protected under a clear coat that was lustrated by hand.
To paint the fork and stem of the bike in addition to the frame gives a coherent and harmonious result. Here, the stem is a Fizik R1 and the fork is an Enve road disc. Both have been sanded down by hand with the help of sanding paper. Then, they were primed, painted and finally protected by a clear coat.
The handlebar, the saddle stem and the saddle are of Italian origin, provided by Fizik. They end a choice of european components, at the exception of the headset.
What an absolute treat this bike is! A real “Capo Lavoro”, as our Italian friends say. Tailored to my measurements, I have the feeling of being one with this great machine.
"I go out riding every weekend in Paris with my brother for outings of around 50 / 60Km. In addition, I do some great outings in the Alps or in Burgundy when I have the chance to do so ! I wanted to ride a bike made in France by hand for me, to my dimensions."
I heard about Victoire in Paris. Amateur of beautiful things and knowing that France was a land of cycle handcrafts, I decided to go for it.
We wish François some sweet rides at the bar of his Victoire, and we say see you soon to you for some new publications !
