[CR]Buying a Singer

(Example: Framebuilders:Tony Beek)

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References: <20021003190001.70131.44571.Mailman@phred.org> <a05010408b9c26999b6dd@[165.121.42.239]>
To: Brandon Ives <monkeylad@mac.com>
From: "Jan Heine" <heine@mindspring.com>
Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Buying a Singer
Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 19:30:42 -0700

M. Csuka is 74 or 75, and he doesn't make many bikes any longer - 15-20 a year, he says. So he chooses his customers. Half of the bikes seem to go to Japan, where people know exactly what they want, and are willing to pay for it.

That said, I have been able to order a bike or two each year for friends and acquaintances. These bikes are imported through Il Vecchio in Seattle for insurance and other reasons. Cost for a fully spec'd randonneur is about $ 5000-6000, depending on the exchange rate (which is getting less favorable all the time). That is for a complete bike, and includes a front and rear custom rack, a fillet-brazed stem with your name on the "bouchon," fenders, etc. About 1/4 of the total is for assembly. It takes days to assemble a bike like that, unlike a racing bike, where one afternoon is enough to bolt on the bits. (Nothing against racing bikes, they are wonderful!)

A racing Singer would be a lot cheaper, and you might be able to get a frame/fork kit only. On a randonneur, you can't. Singer says he breaks even on the frame, loses money on the racks and stem, and makes money on the components and assembly.

The price I quote includes figuring out what you want, which components, etc. Some components are harder and harder to find - Japanese customers provide their own. This includes classic lights, and anything older than about 1970. Obviously, you can find JOS lights on e-bay and send them to Singer, if you want a 1950s bike. It can be done, and it is being done for Japanese customers. Unfortunately, lately, Maxi-Car hubs also are impossible to find. I know Singer has a very small stock, but once they are gone... There are a lot of things to a randonneur (for example, bar-end shifters don't work with the handlebar bag, and the French feel that if the bike handles well, it isn't a problem to take a hand or two off the bars once in a while...), so it takes a while to figure it all out.

Delivery time is very variable - sometimes as little as 4 months, but we've waited a year, too.

You could get on a plane to Paris and save a little - if M. Csuka builds one for you. He has been known to tell people that he doesn't make bikes any longer... And he usually has little patience if you don't know the details of randonneur bikes.

In case you wondered, my real job is technical writing and translations. I do this on the side, not to make money, but to keep the craft alive. The same applies to the newsletter... although that might break even with a few more subscribers (not counting my time, of course). So does Il Vecchio - he makes a lot more on a new De Rosa than on a Singer order!

If all this sounds good, contact me. We have one more on order, so another could be ordered soon. (I don't dare to have more than 2 orders in at a time.)

Finally, the lugs. Csuka said in the interview in Vintage Bicycle Quarterly that the lugs just were popular because they were elegant. Today, he makes the lugs by hand from tube sections welded together. You can't buy these lugs any longer. No idea who made them. I asked Csuka, but either he didn't remember or didn't want to say.

And finally, finally, I, too, think Singers are on par with Herse. More functional, no features that don't do much to enhance the function (like the concealed cables). Very fine lines. Wonderful ride. My favorites of all bikes.

C'est tout.

Jan Heine, Seattle
>
>Ok, the indoctrination is complete and I'm starting to think Alex
>Singer's are at least as interesting as Rene Herse's. The Paris
>show pics were the last straw added to make the flames of desire
>burn from "want" to "need." A touring Singer is now on the "must
>have" list, maybe I'll have to get Mitzi one as her Ph.D. graduation
>present. So here are a few questions for the Singer scholars: What
>are those lugs they use? I've seen them on Herse's too, they have
>such a nice fluid look. How much would a new custom Singer cost?
>Why don't they build tandems any more?
>enjoy,
>Brandon"monkeyman"Ives
>SB, CA
>
>PS: If you search on Google for -Levallois Alex Singer- you'll also
>get Screamin' Jay Hawkins' bio. Just one more reason to like Singer
>bikes.
>--
> ++++++++++++++
>"Nobody can do everything, but if everybody
>did something everything would get done."
>--Gil Scott-Heron--
> ++++++++++++++
>Elfie and Monkeyboy's Wurld uv Wunder
><http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~mkirklan/>
> ++++++++++++++