Re: [CR]The Crit Bike...also clarification of terms on Touring and Randonneuring bikes

In-Reply-To: <002401c92fc5$221b7f60$66527e20$@net>
References: <002401c92fc5$221b7f60$66527e20$@net>
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:05:38 -0700
To: "Tom Sanders" <tesanders@comcast.net>, <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]The Crit Bike...also clarification of terms on Touring and Randonneuring bikes

At 3:26 PM -0400 10/16/08, Tom Sanders wrote:
>Now a question that has been nagging me. Is a Randonneur bike merely a
>touring bike intended to carry less load?

A touring bike is designed for comfort and load-carrying first, and speed second.

A randonneur bike is designed for speed first and load carrying second. It is also designed for riding long distances, and it must have lights, so it can be ridden at night. It often has fenders, because those reduce the risk of DNF due to all kinds of problems in case it rains. (See the survey of PBP equipment at http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/samples.html

A racing bike also is designed for speed first, but most current racing bikes are not intended for riding long distances.

So the randonneur bike is much closer to a racing bike in concept, even though it may look more like a touring bike.

When you compare Fausto Coppi's Bianchi from the 1949 Tour de France (which he won) with a 1950s randonneur bike from Rene Herse or Alex Singer, you find many similarities in geometry and tubing spec.

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com