Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Yellow Jo Routens Touring/Camping bicycle

At the Copake bicycle swap meet, there was an inaugural bicycle ride(see earlier post). A fellow Classic Rendezvous member showed up with this beautiful Jo Routens bicycle to ride. It is rather difficult to find one this large and it is interesting to see how the builder dealt with the size of the frame, by gusseting the lugs, to help stiffen and strengthen the frame. It must have been a 1940s-1950s model, with the use of the Le Chat style front derailleur. This french bicycle is outfitted with the obligatory Cyclo rear derailleur, Stronglight cranks and headset, Mafac brakes(happen to be the tandem model), and of course, an alloy rail Ideale saddle. It was built for 650b wheels, common among french camping and touring model bicycles.
I love the routing of the rear brake cable through the seattube. This is done usually by slotting the seatpost so the cable can run through the seattube unobstructed.

A history of Jo Routens can be found here.


(click on pictures to enlarge)









6 comments:

Peter Hamtramck said...

Wow, what a fabulous bicycle, thanks for posting it. And thanks for commenting on the slotted seat post, I've been wondering how that "through the tube" cable routing worked. Any idea if there was a functional reason for that design? Was it just a style thing?

bikeville said...

it does give the brake cable routing a smoother, direct line, rather than being routed around the seattube. it does look coolish too.

Peter Hamtramck said...

I see. Thanks!

Robert said...

Although they work similarly, that's a Routens front derailleur, not a Le Chat.

bikeville said...

Robert,
I stand corrected, thanks. I will amend the post, upon closer inspection the le Chat is indeed different.
thanks

Anonymous said...

The rear cantilever brakes are mounted forward facing, hence the cable routing. This setup leaves more space for bags in the back.