We asked Director Kara Mulrooney to give us a glimpse into the creativity that went on behind the scenes during the filming of Le Tour de Tami.

Le Tour de Tami is a glittery, danceable short about tantalization and its consequences... The film was shot as part of a Bonus Checkpoint for the Riverwest 24 Hour Bike Race in Milwaukee, WI and features over 100 racers as actors.

My Gal Friday Films partner Susan Kerns and I are so grateful to "The 24" for the opportunity to make art with the Riverwest and cycling communities. The annual race is such an incredibly special community event, and it was an honor to be involved.

Le Tour is really, truly a process driven piece. We learned from race organizers that we'd have anywhere from zero to 50 racers every ten minutes, for a total of just 2 hours. We were also told firmly that racers would likely become uncooperative after 10 minutes - it is a race, for Heaven's sake:)

We were committed to making a narrative, rather than some chopped up video adventure, and decided that our location and main character would be key to that. TWO, the romantically themed bar designed and owned by Don Krause (who also owns the famous Art Bar next door), became a very important element. And Tami, our multi-lingual & multi-talented friend, agreed to help us out for the 2 hours.

The idea was to feature a saucy Frenchwoman who fancied cyclists, and to tell a story in three chapters: Chapter One, the lady performs to inspire their romantic interest, Chapter 2, they vie for her affection, and Chapter 3, she is overwhelmed by her zombie army of suitors. And really, our script was little more than that - we wanted the cyclists to contribute to the creative content in a major way.

Time was such a stringent constraint that I generally felt more like a pit crew boss than a director. Our Assistant Director and Coordinator were managing the participants on the outside (and getting chewed up by mosquitos, I guess, sheesh), so as soon as we finished with one group, they'd send in the next, and I would be like "OKAY! HERE'S THE SCENE! YOU'RE BRAGGING DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA ABOUT YOUR SKILLZ!, etc." Some racers became bashful, but for the most part, participants really got into the spirit of the piece. I wish we could have featured every single participant in the checkpoint, but in the final cut you only see about half of the racers who partook.

What I love about this "bike film" is that it's less a film about cyclists and the RW24 than it is a film by them. There's always high degree of collaboration in film, but in "Le Tour" the dialog, wardrobe, and choreography were all generated by the participants themselves.

Tate Bunker, the Director of Photography, was a huge creative contributor to the film - he made such pretty images under really kookoo conditions. Our Editor Adam Presti also did so much to create an interesting yet coherent film - there were definitely narrative gaps that he filled in through clever (and patient) editing. And our Composer Dania Luck, aka STACIAN, made the original song "Sunlight" for "Le Tour," and totally knocked it out of the park - hers was a funny and dire puzzle piece to create, and we're so grateful for her contribution.

Film Credits:

"Le Tour de Tami"
Directed by Kara Mulrooney

Written & Executive Produced by Susan Kerns & Kara Mulrooney, Gal Friday Films

Edited by Adam Presti

Director of Photography Tate Bunker

Composer STACIAN

Sound Mixer & Location Manager Rachael Horning

Assistant Director Sitora Takanaev

Production Coordinator Cara Ogburn

Wardrobe Ashley Coffey

Gaffer Lilly Czarnecki

Grip Li Wang

COG’s first introduction to the Gates Carbon Drive System was at the SSCXWC in Portland back in 2007. I remember Chris DiStefano riding around on a Spot bike equipped with the Carbon Drive System the day before the main race. The bike seemed obscure, yet interestingly simple. For the qualifying race Chris lent the bike and his racer number to pro racer Shannon Skerritt. His masquerade didn't last for long. Shortly after the race began, Shannon appeared walking with the bike and a snapped drive belt.

It was pretty easy to scoff and snicker at this new technology back then, though not discounting the power of a pro racer to achieve belt destruction. After this awkward introduction to the Gates Carbon Drive System, COG had little interest in following its progression.

In August, 2008 COG took a visit out to Trek HQ in Waterloo WI. A watershed moment occurred at the end of our tour when one of their engineers brought out a ridiculously light bike from their test lab running the Gates Carbon Drive System. We were simply stunned. The experience of riding that test bike has stayed with us to this day. COG departed wanting to know more about the Gates Carbon Drive.

The Gates system seems to be making its way onto some really interesting bikes. One of these bikes is Trek's Carbon District. Right now it's the only Carbon Drive, full carbon frame in production. Immediately upon discovering this bike, COG reached out to acquire it from Trek for a road test review and for use as our team bike during 2010's Riverwest 24 hour bike race. Trek was receptive to this idea, but the Carbon District is an elusive and rare breed at Trek. There was only one available, sitting pretty in a photo studio somewhere in Pennsylvania.

The Trek Carbon District arrived at Trek HQ the day of the race. As luck would have it Breakaway Bicycle Courier had a driver dispatched to Madison en route back to Milwaukee at exactly the same time I received the call to "Come and get it!" An hour later the Carbon District was in Breakaway's dispatch office being severely ogled by the messenger staff.

Names like Death Star, Dark Horse, Lord of Darkness and Black Magic were thrown at it. The Carbon District is deserving of them all, sporting covert black on black graphics and sexy space-age curvatures. The bike is also dead silent when pedaling. Pure Ninja power.

After the initial shock and awe subsided, I became very interested in the rear dropout design. It was not at all clear to any of us how to take the rear wheel off. I called up Trek and someone familiar with the bike walked me through it over the phone. The task seemed easy enough...loosen three bolts on each side of the wheel, loosen and pull out the wheel skewer, then go for the eccentric bolt on each side of the wheel and turn until the guide pins match up. Pull the dropouts apart slightly and voila, the rear wheel is off!

Slightly fearing the unknown, our team did not attempt to remove the wheel at this time. I kept the information in my head and blasted off to the race registration.

Upon arriving I met the rest of the team and everyone gave the bike a quick run around the block. All systems go at this point. Captain Jake was the first rider up and after completing the first lap on the course, something became painfully obvious.

The stock gearing on the District Carbon is 55:22 using standard Gates front and rear pulleys. This works out to approximately 65.8 gear inches per pedal stroke. Jake came through the start/finish screaming: "It's too light!!! I can't keep up with them." Jake was referring to our competitors dropping into their big rings on the long flat and downhill sections. Okay, we'll just have to spin it out. The District Carbon was like no other bike I've ever experienced coming up the hills though. The frame is just incredibly stiff and almost gave the illusion of being pulled uphill.

The real tragedy of the race came upon our first rear flat slightly after midnight. It was very clear to me in my disoriented full race mode state that we should have taken the wheel off earlier to practice and prepare for such a disaster. We had no idea what to do! Thankfully our good friend and trusted wrench John Trusky came to the rescue. It only took us a mere 30 minutes to change a rear flat!!! That was the first time. The second, rear flat came one lap later on the cusp of a torrential rain storm. Another 30 minutes with Trusky's help and a fresh, 25c Conti tire swapped in for the stock 23c Bontrager and we were off again. From this point on the Carbon District was flawless and took us over 336 miles through the 24 hours of racing.

That was the tumultuous beginning of my love affair with Trek's District Carbon and the Gates Carbon Drive technology. Coming from riding steel track bikes for the last eight years, I'm all for simplicity. The carbon belt drive is simple, once set up properly. The District Carbon was designed specifically to accommodate the belt drive. Trek devoted countless hours to engineer the rear eccentric dropout. Now that I've spent more time and hundreds more miles on this bike, I can truly appreciate the work that went into it. There is a slight learning curve to removing the rear wheel, but once mastered, will reveal the genius of the design.

As previously mentioned, the Carbon District comes standard with a 22 rear pulley. This can easily be swapped out with a 20 which provides a much more realistic ratio, given that the OCLV carbon frame was meant to go fast. Yes, the District Carbon is the first bike I've ridden which actually becomes more stable that faster you ride and quite noticeably upon steep descents.

My life has forever changed through this experience with the Carbon District and the Gates Carbon Drive.

As if one carbon drive bike experience wasn't enough, it wasn't.

Earlier in the summer I received Spot Brand's new street/track frame which was awaiting Carbon Drive components. The Spot frame is at the other end of the spectrum from the Trek. To begin with, I've built the Spot up part by part, where the Trek came ready to roll, dialed to perfection. I had no idea the problems that lay before me to dial in the Carbon Drive from scratch.

What immediately caught my eye with the Spot bike is their use of True Temper OX Platinum tubing. It's the first modern steel tubing I've been in contact with, and there's a tangible difference coming from Reynolds 531. The first being: the bike is super light and stiff. Throw in true track geometry, combined with the Carbon Drive and you've got the most responsive, hair-trigger street weapon imaginable.

Back to setting up the Carbon Drive from scratch. It was no easy task as standard chain lines have no relevance to belt lines. One very critical point on a Carbon Drive bicycle is you must achieve a perfect (+- 1mm) belt line. This is especially true when setting up a fixed gear. The belt must go forward and backward just as smoothly. Thankfully Spot has plenty of experience with the belt drive, as they utilized the Kobe Slider Dropouts on this frame. Once proper belt tension and alignment are setup, this is a true set-it-and-forget-it system. There's never a need to adjust belt tension when removing the rear wheel.

There are a couple major hurdles involved setting up from scratch, but I'll save you a couple of week's worth of trial and error and skip to the solution...Phil Wood. Leave it to Phil's impeccable engineering and innovation. They have bridged a gaping hole in the Carbon Drive market. In all my calls to Gates and Spot, never was I told a third party developer existed for the Carbon Drive. Only by attending Interbike this year did COG discover what Phil Wood was up to. Their recent creations compliment the Spot/Carbon Drive system perfectly.

First, we'll start with Phil Wood's adjustable spindle bottom bracket. Essential for fine tuning the belt's line. Phil's bottom bracket allows up to 5mm of travel which is more than adequate to dial in a perfect belt line. Pair this with Phil Wood's new Carbon Drive specific 120 spaced ISO fixed/free large flange rear hub and you're now good to go. Flipping the wheel from fixed to freewheel maintains belt line perfection when matched with Spot's vertical sliding dropouts. Also, Phil Wood teamed up with White Industries to create what is arguably the most bomb-proof belt drive freewheel in existence at this moment. It's a stout handful at 505g, but when you subtract the weight of a standard chain, the set up is actually lighter in total grams than a traditional chain drive.

The more I ride the Carbon Drive system, the more I'm sold on it. Some of my many moments of enlightenment include the following: the first time I lubed the belt with clean, fresh water! When riding fixed or free, there is an absolute lack of "chain slack". It is the ultimate direct drive feeling. And I'm sure I won't miss the nostalgia of greasy pant cuffs, chain marks on calves and cleaning grease off chain drive components... A big thanks goes out to Gates, Spot and Trek for blazing a trail into the future with the Carbon Drive system. I'm a true believer!

Trek District Carbon

Spot Brand It looks like Spot discontinued the model in our review with the track geomentry, but they still have some killer bikes...

Phil Wood

Gates Carbon Drive

by John Trusky
photographs by Peter DiAntoni

In the the bigger world of craft frame builders, Dave Wages is likely not a name at the forefront of the public's thoughts. Not saying he doesn't deserve to be, but when compared with the many established builders he and his company, Ellis Cycles, are relative new comers, still designing, filing, sanding and brazing his frames in his cramped basement in Waterford, WI. Yes, the same town that gave birth to the venerable Schwinn Paramounts that are still being sought after today. His story begins at Serotta, carries through to Waterford Precision Cycles, and near 10 years later to his basement. He's soft spoken, lacking the braggadocio that one would expect to come with one who has at the last two NAHBS taken home a prize for Best Lugged Bike in 2009 and followed up with Best in Show in 2010. To that end, saying he has skills is rather redundant. Both winning bikes utilized Reynolds 953 stainless tubing, a tube set that is notorious for being difficult to work with, further showing his prowess in the shop.

When asked if frame building was something he wanted to get into from a young age, the answer is similar to a lot of people's. It began with being a bike geek and drawing frames up in notebooks, taking art classes in high school, some civil engineering classes and ceramic material science classes in college while riding, racing, and working in shops the whole time. Then a position opened up at Serotta in the QC/packing department, arguably the keystone from 'then' to 'now'. It was there that he met Dave Kirk, a builder he still looks up to and admires to this day. "He got me 80% of the way there. He took me aside and made me watch as he finished and prepped one side of a frame for paint and then had me duplicate his work on the other side. I still call him to this day if I have a question about something." After a decade in and out of Serotta Dave went on to work at Waterford Precision Cycles before jumping ship to chase his own dream. We sat down with him to find out some of what makes him tick, how he sees frame building, and the overall industry.

Is there a frame that you want to make that no one's come to you about?

I've sorta been tempted to build a time trial bike. I was always obsessed with the funny bikes when they first started coming out in the 80's. It was just a clean design, purposeful.

I agree. There was just a look to them like a hot rod, a clean aesthetic.

Yeah, though we know now it wasn't the best way to accomplish the end goals. I think that there are a lot of different builders out there who are just trying to do some crazy things and add some fancy doodads to their bikes. I hope that even when I do a fancy bike that it's a purposeful design, that it's integral to the bike.

Have you ever done fillet brazing?

We used to do a lot of it at Serotta. That's where I learned the whole process, and I maybe did one or two bikes at Waterford. At Serotta, when we had bikes that were really large, they just outgrew the lug set. And even some really small bikes. It simplifies some aspects, but then you have all the finishing work to take care of.

How about the black art of TIG welding?

I did a little bit at Serotta. To me TIG welding and brazing are very much right brain/left brain. With brazing your moving the torch around all the time and adding wire but with TIG welding you're holding really steady and adding the wire in. I get the feeling I could do it if I spent the time at it, but it just never really appealed to me the same way brazing does.

Do you see a place for any of the new standards that have come around, your BB30 or 1 1/8 steerers, in your frame design?

I kind of have the luxury of being able to take the wait and see approach, to see what standards are going to end up as the standards. With BB30, I could do it, but I'd have to get a mill, and the design would have to provide a real benefit over what's already out there. You know, there's this thing where everyone thinks stiffer is better in all aspects of bike design, and that's just not true for a bike that you're going to be out on for four or five hours at a time. The 1 1/8 thing is interesting as there just aren't a lot of lugs out there designed for it, but it makes a lot of sense especially in cases of really big guys. In a lot of cases you can actually make the fork lighter due to the steerer tube having a thinner well.

What's your favorite tube set to work with?

All the new tube sets are much harder (surface hardness)... If I had my choice I'd build a bunch of bikes out of the old Columbus SLX tubing. It's so forgiving, super easy to file...it was just so much easier to build with. You didn't have to be as exact because you just go back and cold set it. Nowadays, the steel is harder so you have to get it right, you can't just go back at it without worrying about rippling something. You know I think the whole thing with the steel bike revival is that people started pulling these old road bikes out of the shed and converting them to fixed-gear or single speeds and discovered how nice these old bikes ride. They just don't beat you up.

What builders out there do you respect?

Mostly the guys that have been out there before me. Dave [Kirk], he's been super helpful. And Peter Weigel, he's just amazing and immaculate, and he's the most approachable guy. If you met him you wouldn't even think he's this amazing frame builder because he doesn't put on any airs. I hopefully will be able to keep up with him on that.

That's interesting. I think most everyone we've talked to has mentioned him.

Peter's the most laid back and super supportive of the guys that are doing the right thing and for the right reasons. That's what the young guys need. They don't need to figure out what little doodad they're going to put on their bikes to differentiate themselves. They need to know how to design a bike that's solid and straight. There's a reason bikes are designed the way they are, because they work. When you start getting too far out into some of the funky designs, they just don't function properly.

I look at some of those [funky] builders, and think that it's fantastic they have the skills to do this, and the nut job tendency to actually do it. I look at most frame builders the same way. I mean, there aren't a lot of you out there that are making a solid living solely off of building...

Yeah right now I'm working two days a week at Ben's, but I think the fact that I started off four months after the start of the biggest recession in 50 years didn't help much. But the fact that I'm still here...

And bringing back two NAHBS awards...

I can't complain about that at all. But getting back to what you were saying about being at the fringes, I look at the bikes that are being ridden in the Tour de France and the guy who goes out and plunks down the eight grand on one of those, he's not being well served by that bike. You know, it's great that he has a 15lb bike, but what's the point if it hurts him too much to ride the thing more than 15 miles? That's what's being marketed to these guys.

I think most of the major companies are trying to address that, with the taller head tubes and slacker angles.

Yeah, but every company tries to slam the tire into the seat tube and then run triples on it. So you can't run a tire larger than say a 23 or 25, and now the bike also has cross-chaining problems too, because they wanted a tight chainstay.

What other problems do you see?

Carbon forks. Seems most companies are just using one or maybe two different offsets on their forks and then changing the head angles. So the people on the ends of the size spectrum get these bikes that don't handle as well as they could. Especially shorter people. I think they more often end up on a bike that's just too stiff most of the time.

Yeah, I've bumped into that when helping friends build up bikes.

I can understand, but even some of the small builders only offer one or two rakes for their forks. Anytime I get a bike built for a shorter person and they ride it, they freak out on how the bike doesn't feel like it has them sitting too forward or too far back and also that it doesn't feel like it's trying to throw them to the ground.

What was the most challenging bike for you to build?

I think the 29er I just finished. It was a lot of handwork, working with the bilaminate sockets. That or any of the [Reynolds] 953 bikes. Stainless is just hard to work with. It doesn't soak up heat the same way, and it seems like the braze happens at a higher temperature, so you're always flirting with the edge that the flux is working without burning it. And stainless bikes, any flaw will be visible. It's not something that can just get covered up by paint.

Ok, what was the bike that just got you all jazzed up about?

You know it's funny there are just some bikes I'll get a groove on. I like simple road bikes or track bikes. There aren't a lot of braze-ons or cables, and I always sweat the little details because I feel that those bikes are the purest form of the artistry of building bikes because they are so clean. You can always tell when I'm working on one of those bikes because there won't be any real in between pictures on my blog.

Do you have a favorite bike you've made?

I don't know, it just keeps changing. I guess right now it'd be the white bike (see centerfold) partially because it's mine and also because this was the bike I was always dreaming of and drawing when I was in high school. So I guess I'd say that one, but there are some others that I've thought have been pretty damn cool.

Any shout-outs, thanks, pats on the back?

Probably the top guy would be Dave Kirk. I hate to keep saying his name because he is a competitor but I wouldn't be where I am today without him taking the time with me back then, Or Ben [Serotta] and Richard [Schwinn], they've been really helpful. And Ben's Cycle...I mean I started a business right at the start of a recession, and they've been super supportive of Ellis Cycles since its beginning.

Visit the Ellis Cycles website

by Teisuke Morimoto
photographs by Yohei Morita
translated by Yuki Mogaki

People Consider Nagasawa a legendary bike builder. People respect him, fear him and some even try to avoid him. His eyes are almost sharp enough to cut everyone he faces in half without mercy, no one can stand his stares.

There are many legends coloring Nagasawa's career. After graduating from college, he went to Italy in 1970. Being a trainee at Pogliaghi, then spent the next six years at De Rosa learning from "the old man." One day Ugo De Rosa ordered young Nagasawa to build a frame for Eddy Merckx. Nagasawa asked how? De Rosa replied "like an offering to the God."
Unfortunately, we do not know if this anecdote is the fact or not. Nevertheless, Nagasawa does not like to talk about the past; he is still an active, top-ranked frame builder to this day.

"You got to ride your bike like you ride your wife."
That's Nagasawa's favorite phrase. "Hey! We got Toraya's Yokan!" in joy of receiving our gift, the Japanese sweets, he was yelling at his wife nearby. For years they had correspondence between Italy and Japan, and finally got married when he came back from Italy.

In 1976, Nagasawa met with Koichi Nakano, who had just graduated from Keirin School a year before. In '77, these two started working together, which their combined efforts created a cycling legend; 10 consecutive world Championship sprint titles. This V-10 was the result of industry teamwork, Araya rims, Kashima saddles, Nitto stems and Hitachi rugs. Many parts were developed and produced in collaboration with these domestic manufacturers, and Nagasawa was acting as a hub to liven up the whole industry. This was a time before the Plaza Accord. The Yen was still weak, and the Japanese bicycle industry was getting on the economic boom. Many companies put lots of effort to back up the new superstar Nakano and reaped the benefits. Ironically, another industry leader Shimano was not the part of this team effort.

Nagasawa brought a revolution to Keirin frame building as well. At the time, a regular seat post diameter was 26.8mm; but since Nagasawa introduced single butted tubing, 27.0mm and 27.2mm became the standard for the Keirin. Nagasawa also introduced the skeleton with a near vertical seat tube with Nakano's frames.

Many Keirin riders are constantly visiting Nagasawa to order their frames and often end up listening to him preaching about his peculiar way. If a rider talked about his vision for the ideal frame and tries to specify the measurement for top tube length and seat post angle, Nagasawa would burst and say, "well you tell me this pipe and that pipe, but I am against the current trends and stuff. Fushimi, Kojima, they all got very rigid, steady, unorthodox pipes. Make the frame rigid, then even if you have heavy gearing stepping on it hard, it just won't flex, it just holds tightly right there, and you have to know by now, that is better. Stop questioning bullshit about this pipe that pipe, you don't ride pipes! Pipes are the problem child of this whole thing!"

In fact, even Koichi Nakano never had a chance to learn the actual measurement for his own frame.

Generally Nagasawa's frames are considered heavy and rigid. It is said that only when you learn and manage to ride these frames well, you get good race results. But that does not mean that Nagasawa would abandon you and would not teach you anything; he actually asks riders about their family members, and teach them how to train themselves in order to survive as Keirin riders until their youngest family member grows to become an adult. When he talks to the racers that way, Nagasawa looks gentle.

Keirin riders are not just ordering another frames at Nagasawa. By listening to every minute details about what components would be used in finished bike, he actually designs whole bike structure. Nagasawa does not like people having illusions about his frames. He knows it is the daily practice that brings good results.

"It's a timing thing, you might manage to ride well on that day. I hate guys saying I got a good result, a bad result, because of my frame."

Nagasawa usually starts his frame building in the evening in his basement workshop. No holiday, 365 days. He and his son Takashi, the two of them work silently, from dusk till dawn. Contrary to what one might expect, it is nothing like boot camp. Nagasawa gives gentle advice while Takashi absorbs obediently. Just calmness, just father and son.

Not only a frame builder, but he is an expert frame repairer on top of that. Everything he builds are treated as if they are his children. Top tube exchange, dent fix, filing off on the beaten up end pieces, putting more effort than building a new frameset. If unable to fix, the frames become still life art objects in one corner of the workshop. Head tubes chopped off to make up penholders on the desk, they would never be thrown away.

Nagasawa's frames are one of the most popular NJS frames on the street worldwide, and there's a reason for it. "Pista racers were built for track usage, so if you use them on the street it would be crumbled here and there. If an American guy rides a frame built for a Japanese Keirin racer, it would be broken within one year. My frames are only a bit strong," said Nagasawa. In fact they are much stronger compared to other NJS frames, so that they just withstand the daily usage on the street. He also repairs any frame came out of accident. That's because it is his child. He does not want to do any repair at all, it's just too much work. But when a wounded child came home, who would abandon it? On the day of our visit to the workshop, he was actually repairing the frame sent from NYC. It's expensive, but repaired frames are all dressed in new paint jobs, good as new. In fact, Nagasawa describes it "same as new."

Currently it is very difficult to order a new frame at Nagasawa except for Keirin racers. But if you were lucky enough to get a chance to visit his workshop, the gift you bring to him would not be anything else but Yokan from Toraya. He said, it actually makes a fine combination with Sake.

by Elvire Toulorge
photographs by Nicolas Joly

It was a morning of November, 2009 when the grand nephew of Alex Singer, Olivier Csuka opened the door to his bike shop, Alex Singer in Levallois, within the inner suburbs of Paris. We admire the bikes lined up in the showcase, whether for racing, leisure or cyclotourism, they all bare the brand Alex Singer: Colors, chrome, gallows, shellac finishes. All of which make the particular aesthetic of an Alex Singer bicycle.

The pictures on the walls, the books, the jerseys and the water bottles branded "Alex Singer"; the memoirs of the Singer house are scattered throughout the store. Before entering the work studio, we are in a small room in which various bike parts are stored, sprockets, trays, hangers and as many treasures that fascinate us. Once in the work studio, just look up to admire the dozens of frames and wheels hanging next to each other. While waiting for Olivier, we set eyes on every corner of the room in search of treasures that are hidden here, it is the whole history of cycling that is felt in these few square meters. We are at the heart of the myth Alex Singer, a myth of artisanal perfection. These tools, clamps, tubes, straws, which served decades of Alex Singer bike history.

Olivier joins us in the studio and tells his story, a story that begins with a serious fall when he was four years old. In 1968, Olivier rode a small bike, a fixed-gear without stabilizers and without any brakes, and finished his race in a rusty fence. He seriously injured his hand and caught gangrene. He laughs, telling us that his "first recollection of the bike is having injections in the butt." The comparison might be easy, but we are joking about the current state of professional cycling. The hand healed, Olivier is back in the saddle and dreams of becoming a world champion in cycling. He trains, wins many races and works in conjunction with his father Ernest Csuka Singer in the shop. In the beginning, he was repairing bikes and building wheels; a job that was charged "1 franc" at the time! Only later did he begin the work of manufacturing frames. Olivier learned from his father, Ernest Csuka (the husband of the niece of Alex Singer). Today, he is solely in charge of the bike shop, he is the only one to manufacture the Singer bikes. Olivier perpetuates the myth that has built since 1938, when Alex Singer moved as a manufacturer of cycles to Levallois.

Born in Budapest in 1905 and arriving in France in 1923, Alex Singer began very early in cycling competition. After a professional career, he devoted himself to touring and was dedicated to manufacturing cycles. He designed a bike exclusively for touring. The house Alex Singer was prosperous as cycling in France was growing, as was demand for the product. Alex Singer built a solid reputation on the market. He developed many innovations with the help of Ernest Csuka, making bikes of impeccable technical quality. If they are so popular, it is not only for their aesthetic, but also because they are adapted to the practice and morphology (individuality) of each client. Aesthetics do not replace technique. Alex Singer has developed a range of tailor-made cycles at the outset of their activity. This know-how is perpetuated under our eyes, while Olivier builds the frame of a bicycle which when completed, will be sent to Japan. The amount of work is however not what it was in the golden era of cycling, the great boom which occurred in the 1970s. There were 13 bicycle shops in Levallois and three competition clubs. Today there is only one club left which idles for a lack of riders.

The market cycle has evolved and the French industry is failing. Quite the craft system is ailing. Olivier deplores the standardization of products developed by manufacturers and the disappearance of many references. To illustrate his point, Oliver shows us two catalogs of Campagnolo. The first one is dated from 1974 and the second from 2009. The 1974 catalog is divided into several groups (slopes, common, great sport, etc.) and the products offered are detailed up with a reference piece. There were no standards then. Seat posts, brackets and other parts existed in a very wide spectrum. In comparison, the 2009 catalogue there is only one group. The products are sold in whole groups and not by pieces. If we take the hubs, they are no longer sold at retail; they are sold incorporated into a wheel built in its entirety. This situation is not unique to Campagnolo. Instead they're an example of one among many. Olivier also regrets trade relations with manufacturers. It is very difficult to order small quantities of tubing, parts and products of interest. In France, sales representatives are rare and craftsmen are struggling to escape this logic of large scale distribution. Increasingly, Olivier purchases from Taiwan, where he can place small orders of quality parts. If he needs only five wheels or ten hangers, it is more advantageous for him to purchase from Taiwan. In addition, he deplores the degradation of the French local craftsmen. Once the assembled frames and forks arrive for paint and chrome, again Olivier faces difficulties. The artisans are not as many as before and housing standards and anti-pollution regulations are drastic. All this affects Olivier's work; today around twenty bikes come out of the workshop each year.

This sad fact established, we are back to Alex Singer bicycles and frame manufacturing. Olivier thinks of a bicycle in its entirety, this is the reason why he does not consider himself as a "frame builder" but as "cycle manufacturer." Each bike must fit the morphology, but also the type of cycling. He recalls many types of bicycles as practical and to support his statements, he shows us all the bikes he owns, one for each use. Olivier teaches us to understand the qualities of a bike depend on its use. We then talk about the phenomenon of fixed-gear in major world capitals. Olivier is surprised by the use of these bicycles, given that very few fixed-gear riders practice track racing. We must reconsider the use of track frames, the trend of the fixed-gear comes from the United States, a country where the bicycle industry was poorly developed and where the practice was mainly track. Thus couriers and other enthusiasts have been primarily using track frames, and we all followed.

Olivier's experience fascinates us. Before leaving we discuss the future home of Alex Singer, we can not imagine the workshop closing. The transmission of knowledge is a difficult issue and it seems that nobody comes to him to learn the business of bicycle manufacturer. Olivier does have an apprentice working with him, and even if he produces no frame work yet, we hope that the Alex Singer shop and work will live through time...