The touring bike is perhaps our favourite bike at Victoire. It allows you to go on trips lasting several days, independently, while travelling at a good pace in all weathers and on all types of terrain, without any discomfort or inconvenience that might spoil the trip.

Together with Alain, we designed a bike that was close to our hearts and reflected our values. We tried to source as many parts as possible from small businesses similar to ours: environmentally friendly, passionate about cycling, and whose managers and employees are, above all, keen cyclists. A bike made for cyclists, by cyclists.

The frame is made of XCr steel from Colombus, a stainless alloy that ensures greater durability.

As is often the case in such situations, we chose to leave the welds visible in several places on the frame, here at the joint between the top tube and the seat tube, as well as in the bottom bracket area. This allows you to admire the talent of our frame builders, particularly Matthieu, who made this frame.

V-brakes? In 2026? Are they serious at Victoire?

While it's true that disc brakes work well, that doesn't mean it was impossible to brake on a bicycle before the 2000s! And among rim brakes, the V-Brake system popularised by Shimano in 1996 on the XT and XTR ranges has many advantages. Braking power and modularity are on the agenda, as is ease of maintenance.

Alain wanted to be able to work on his bike easily, but didn't know how to bleed the brakes. So we suggested installing V-brakes, but not just any V-brakes! We chose Minimoto brakes from Paul Components, a small American brand that has been making its own mark since the 1980s.

Designed to be used with short-pull levers such as the Sram Rival levers fitted to Alain's Victoire, the Minimoto is perfect for gravel bikes as it is designed for use with tyres of around 45mm.

And in our purely subjective opinion, these are the most attractive V-brakes you can buy (as well as being extremely powerful)!

When going on a trip lasting several days, it is important to be able to carry luggage. We have therefore equipped Alain's bike with front and rear racks. These are made of stainless steel by our frame builders in our workshop in Beaumont, south of Clermont-Ferrand. The same is true of the fork and stem, which are also entirely handcrafted.

You may recognise our rear luggage rack solution, already seen on Victoire n°585, n°581 and even the bike belonging to Julien, the founder of Victoire. This rack was designed entirely in our workshop and offers unrivalled comfort when pedalling. Even when riding out of the saddle, you forget you are carrying a load and it does not interfere with the bike's balance.

We have attached panniers made by Gramm in Berlin to these luggage racks. This small family business handcrafts durable, waterproof panniers that are perfect for adventure. They come in a wide range of fabrics and colours, and we have chosen a sandy brown that matches the bike perfectly.

We would like to take this opportunity to salute Gramm's sister company, Fern Bicycles, which makes magnificent adventure bikes in Berlin.

In addition to luggage, a cyclist needs lights. We equipped Alain's bike with a powerful Sinewave, which has a USB port for charging phones and GPS devices.

The front and rear lights are powered by a SON dynamo, which is built directly into the front hub. No chance of running out of battery power or getting lost in the dark!

The crankset is a Garbaruk Gravel, made of aluminium and entirely machined in Poland. Extremely lightweight, it is also incredibly attractive and reliable, and perfectly complements the other components on Alain's Victoire, such as the Berthoud rear-view mirror, made in France. This small, long-established company is a true monument to the history of cycling in France, and we are proud to collaborate with them on a regular basis.

To complete this build, we chose a leather saddle, also made by Berthoud.

The drivetrain is provided by a SRAM GX Eagle, ideal for a touring bike. Finally, the only slight departure from the traditional approach for this bike is that the brake levers are made of carbon.

With such an avalanche of details, it is sometimes good to create a simple painting. Here, we wanted to place maximum importance on the soldering and finishing work, and Alain's Victoire is adorned with a simple, slightly metallic gradient covering the fork, stem and first third of the frame. The gold logos are exactly the same shade as the silver solder, creating a consistent visual effect. The whole thing is then covered with a varnish, patiently polished and then hand-buffed for a perfect shine and unrivalled ease of maintenance.