Diagonale

 what can I say?  perfect.

the lovely tubes

saw this in Brunny and had to stop
a really nice, unusual Dutch mixte
with lovely curves

the thing that really gets me though is the integrated rear rack

patina looks
accelerated
by human hand
but still somehow aesthetically appealing
not sure how much rust protection it's giving
but obviously the owner's not precious
which is an attitude I'm kind of jealous of

divine chain guard

never seen a twin top tube follow that kind of curve.

just lovely.

wish the other bike wasn't chained to it.

Supa Sport finished

finally done
frame bands, tubing spec decal
and chain-stay aerospaces.
complete as it will ever be


big pictures natch
click on them

TA water bottle holder

not only period correct and all that

but dashedly clever too.

I thought I couldn't have a bidon cage on my down tube

because of the competition from the Simplex Competition

in other words

the lever wouldn't work, would hit against the bottle

but look

sneaky indent in water bottle fits lever prefectly

How to stop a handlebar bag from wobbling

jam your toolbag onto the decaleur
especially good if you have an Ideale saddle
with no bag loops

in the past I kept me toolbag strapped to the inside of the seatstays
on top of the rear mudguard
this was fine but it made it hard to see
what gear I was in
and I occasionally hit it with my heel.

here it stays out of the way until needed.
mightn't work with rear opening handlebar bags
like Velo Orange and Giles Berthoud

Routens Randonneuse with white Grand Bois Hetres

just as the 

search engine optimised heading

says

replaced the old red pair after a rear brake block got diagonal

and chewed through the side-wall

!

that's problem with panniers

can't keep an eye on things.

white looks much better on this frame.

what's the difference
between a
randonneur and a randonneuse anyway?
one's a bloke and the other's a sheila?

beautiful small bike

seen outside a doctor's surgery

very nice moulton

campag centaur 10 speed 

miche sealed bearing hubs

brooks saddle

caradice saddle bag

me I'm a bargain hunter

but part of me admires

the determination

certainty 

and wealth

of someone

who just goes out and buys the bike

they want