I was able to enjoy a first 25 mile ride on the Louis Pitard this morning.
(http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/simonpj/Louis+Pitard+1958+original+con d ition/)
I was very surprised to find that the 40mm wide 650b tyres didn¹t feel at all slow. (They are old Michelins rated at 40 psi which I was riding at 50 psi.) And they were wonderfully comfortable - making it much more relaxing to ride quickly through the poor and damaged road surfaces at the cyclists' edge of the road.
The bike felt incredibly stable - which actually meant that I found it easier to hustle through tight bends with poor road surfaces than more nimble bikes that are more prone to over-correcting.
It's not a light bike, but with the large Lefol mudguards, front rack, dynamo and lights and the large, heavy tyres it's not at all bad at 27.5 lbs. I wasn't aware of the weight - or the width of the tyres. The bike fel t happy at a fast pace - and my time for my regular 25 mile route was up ther e with what I do on 20 lb lightweights. Which admittedly may be more of a reflection on the fact that I don't go fast enough for differences between bikes to make much difference!
Probably the main revelation from the superficial impression of a first rid e was great shape of the randonneur bars - which have an unusually long run forward from the tops with an upward curve which sits very comfortably unde r the palms. This makes a very comfortable hand position and means that there's little need to ride on the brake hoods. Which made sense of the fac t that the bike as I found it had the brakes mounted quite low so that they were only accessible from the drops.
Having ridden the bike I'm now more inclined to have the rust on the top an d down tubes dealt with - even if that means sacrificing some or all of the original finish. It would be a great shame for the bike not to be in fully rideable condition.
Wyndham Pulman-Jones
Girton, Cambs., UK.