Woody, Matthieu's prototype
Woody is a prototype that we produced and presented during the Concours De Machines 2017, in Ambert. This bike was made for several purposes. The first was to test new technical solutions as part of the future launch of our "Ready to Roll" Distance bike brand, while the second was to develop new options for our Victoire frames and forks.
Woody is the name that Matthieu Lifschitz, also known as Manivelle.cc, gave to this prototype which he became the owner. In 2016, during our discussions with Matthieu on the graphic overhaul of Victoire's visual identity, the subject of a new bike dedicated to adventure was trotting in the back of his mind. After some discussions and with the project of a new brand on our side, the idea of making a prototype driven by Matthieu on these different events was a superb opportunity for us to test new things and put them to the test during a minimum season.
The frame was made of stainless steel. Victoire uses braze-soldering to assemble all of its bikes. Here we were able to test the advantages and disadvantages of TIG welding for possible use on Distance bikes. Finally, this manufacturing process was not retained because the time saved on production compared to our usual know-how was negligible.
This frame uses a tapered head tube allowing the use of a top tube with a thinner diameter and therefore to be able to play on the comfort of the frame. To fit this socket we had to use two different Chris King headsets: the upper part is a 1 '' 1/8 No Threadset headset while the lower part is that of the Inset 8 model (semi integrated) adapting to the tapered fork pivot in 1 '' 1/4.
The transmission is the Rival 22 model from SRAM, only the crankset was selected at Praxis with the Zayante and its 48x32 chainrings in order to obtain a ratio of 1 using an 11x32 cassette. The objective was for us to test the Praxis crankset which turns out to be a very good alternative to the 50x34 or 52x36 offered by Sram.
For the wheels, Matthieu uses two pairs :
The first is intended for road and long distance adventure, it is a pair of 700c wheels radiated by hand in our workshop. The assembly is carried out on Mavic Open pro UST Disc aluminum rims. Matthieu needed to be able to be electrically autonomous on his journeys: we therefore tried the Shutter Precision dynamo front hub. This wheelset is fitted with René Herse Barlow pass (700x38c) tires mounted in tubeless. The second pair of wheels is intended for off-road adventure with a 650B pair from 2-11 Cycles. On this pair, we can find the René Herse Pumpkin Ridge tires (650Bx42), also mounted in tubeless.
The rear hub is coming from Hope.
The fork comes from Columbus with the Futura Gravel carbon model. It accepts a 700x40c tire fitment as well as the possibility of using mudguards.
We wanted to try to add inserts on the side part on this fork. Our desire was to be able to offer different loading configurations on a carbon fork. At that time, few carbon forks with this load modulability option existed on the market. The result was not up to our expectations, so we decided to make a steel fork with these options. The steel fork is a fitting model we manufactured with reinforced Reynolds legs allowing the use of disc braking. We noticed a lack of rigidity on the stainless steel sleeves used during the Concours de Machines 2016. This new fork was manufactured using the so-called crank eyelet configuration to allow the use of all the loading systems that seems useful to us for a modern and modular hiker: the front rack, the side panniers and the Many Thing Cage. This fork was then declined and adapted at Victoire in order to meet each of your expectations and consider all the possibilities.
The luggage racks were initially Tubus or a Surly front rack. Finally Matthieu worked in collaboration with Helmut Equipment, our partner, and now drives only with this luggage which does not require any luggage rack.
