Taryn's vine
Taryn contacted us following the delivery of Victoire n°501 to her friend John, a regular customer since he now also owns a single-speed Victoire. Taryn is an experienced cyclist who enjoys long rides on roads and white paths. She wanted us to build her future bike, not only for the comfort of custom fit, but also for the aesthetics of our creations. Taryn regularly travels to France with her husband to visit our beautiful vineyards. We took advantage of one of her wine-growing trips to carry out the postural study and design the Victoire n°543 with her.
The Victoire n°543 is primarily designed for road use. Taryn wanted a high-performance bike for long rides. We designed a geometry that would give Taryn a comfortable riding position to avoid fatigue and pain after several hours on the saddle. The bike is light, efficient and pleasant to ride.
As is often the case with our single-plate road bikes, we chose the Ekar groupset from Italian manufacturer Campagnolo. It's primarily designed for gravel use, but its weight and efficiency make it a very relevant choice even for use on tarmac.
With thirteen sprockets and a wide choice of cassettes, you can select a gear ratio to suit your riding style.
An avid rider, Taryn chose the perfect wheels for her purpose: Bora WTO. The frame was designed for a maximum width of 32mm: if Taryn wanted a comfortable bike, she was also looking for formidable efficiency on the asphalt roads of Portland, Oregon (USA), where she lives.
Taryn wanted a comfortable bike with French origins. The choice of a Berthoud saddle was a natural one: handcrafted in France in a magnificent workshop near Mâcon in Burgundy, this leather saddle offers excellent comfort for long rides. Its design softens the bike's road look, giving it a timeless appeal.
As a hint to Taryn's American origins, we selected Whisky components. Together with the French and Italian parts, this bike sums up Taryn's approach as a whole: her origins and her travels.
Taryn trusted us with the paintwork. Her only instructions were to design a red bike with a little glitter.
We were inspired by her trips to France to visit the vineyards, and chose a hue reminiscent of red wine. As the frame is made of stainless steel, we were also able to keep certain parts visible.
The red top tube is decorated with geometric patterns. The glitter Taryn wanted was applied to the lower fork and stem cap. Around the bottom bracket and cassette area, a gradient is used to change from red to the natural color of the stainless steel.
The seat tube is sleeved at the junction with the top tube. This aesthetic choice creates texture in this area. This is achieved by brazing on an insert that creates a transition between the two tubes.
I have loved cycling for a very long time and had never considered having a custom made bike until my friend, who had a bicycle made by Victoire, encouraged me to have one made for myself. He introduced us to the Victoire website and we were drawn to a classic road bike that Julien had made for his wife. I then learned more about Victoire’s process and was impressed by the detail and craftsmanship. I visited the Victoire shop for my fitting and was able to see firsthand this high quality product. I have ridden bikes for many years but over the last several years, had been taking it more seriously and building up my stamina and strength. I was also getting to know more about bicycles and realizing that I was getting to the level where I would notice the difference and benefit from a hand made bicycle. I am a classic road cyclist and a purist at heart, so I knew from the beginning that I wanted a custom bicycle that matched my style. I don’t have a lot of technical knowledge but felt comfortable putting myself in Julien’s hands as he created the perfect bike for me. He drafted a design that showed the components and best reflected what we discussed together and the direction never changed from beginning to end. Julien was able to deliver my bike to the U.S. because he was in town for a show. We had the opportunity to spend time together, which in addition to time spent together in France, gave me greater appreciation for his thoughtfulness and personable nature. He truly cared about making me a unique and highly personal bicycle and wanted to make sure that it was exactly as I wanted. After much anticipation, my first view of the bike was thrilling and my first ride gave me the feeling of being in love. It felt so personal, since it fit only me and it was a mixture of exhilaration with a sense that I was simply gliding. After a few more rides, I’ve gotten to know my bicycle and our love relationship has grown. Because the bike fits me so well, I have better endurance and my body is working more efficiently. This is the early phase, but I know that my love for my beautiful Victoire bicycle will only deepen and grow even sweeter over many more years to come.
