And the winner is...

The Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier V2!!

or...

Read the entire story of the research, acquisition and assembly of my new Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier v2.

Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier V2 with braze-ons

After a somewhat painstaking consideration of the three most popular entry-level low trail 650b "randonneur" style bikes, I ultimately decided to purchase the second edition of the Velo Routier from Calgary's boutique Cycles Toussaint. The order has been placed, a couple of emails have been exchanged with Angus Cowan (one of the two partners running the company), and the bike is on its way. Now I just watch the CanPar/FedEx notifications and impatiently await the arrival.

Everything sounds better when you say it in French. Velo Routier. Ooo, la, la. It just rolls off the tongue, smooth and elegant. It basically translates as "road bike". Cycle Toussaint Velo Routier sounds so much better than All Saints Road Bike, don't you think?

Though there are many reasons for choosing this frame over the very worthy competitors, the primary reasons I went with the Velo Routier probably boiled down to these:

• Jan Heine's review of the V1 in Bicycle Quarterly was quite favorable, essentially implying that the Velo Routier is the reincarnation of the famous Kogswell Porteur/Randonneur he helped design back in the 2000s. If it's good enough for Jan, I'm hoping it's good enough for my first low-trail bike.
  
• I love the way center-pull brakes look and I really want to try them with dedicated brazed on bosses. I'm given to understand that direct mounted center pulls offer some of the best modulation in the business. I'm eager to test that assertion. 
• The Velo Routier is sold as a more or less complete bike* (see caveat below) while the Grand Randonneur (my second choice) and Polyvalent are sold only as framesets. I tinker a bit with bikes, see to it that the brakes work and futz with the gears to keep them from making too much noise, but the idea of figuring out which headset, bottom bracket and derailleurs fit on the bike is a bit daunting to me. I may not find the package ideal, but this way somebody has at least chosen a "starter" set of components on which I can build. And who knows, maybe the Toussaint guys have put together a package that will suit my needs perfectly. 
• Braze-ons, baby! Look at that seatstay bridge. And what a lovely brake cable stop. Pump pegs? Fuhgeddaboudit. Look, there are certainly more beautiful examples of the welding arts at the NAHBS, but on a production frame? I haven't see anything better. 

*At present the company isn't offering complete, assembled bikes. Presumably they don't have the labour to assemble them. But they are selling un-assembled bikes, providing all the necessary components in a do-it-yourself kit. They ship everything but pedals and a saddle. You do the assembly.

Velo Routier V2 DIY Build Kit

My intention is to build the bike as designed and see what works and what doesn't. If it's perfect, I'll go with it as-is. If not, I'll modify it until it suits me. I will probably start out with the Brooks Cambium C17 saddle and see if that works. I currently have it installed on the Fuji, which has primarily been used for fairly short rides. I haven't yet tried it as a long distance saddle. So we'll see how I like it. If that doesn't work out, I'll probably try the Specialized Avatar from the now defunct Madone or my trusty old Selle San Marco Era Pro. I'll go with "modern" pedals, moving my Speedplay Frogs from the carbon fiber super bike. Once I've had time to evaluate the standard build, I'll decide if I have to make changes. Having said that, here is a listing of stuff I may want to change.

What, me worry?

I've placed the order so I must feel confident that this is the bike for me, right? Oh that consumerism were so simple. It's an inexpensive mail order bike of a design that is new to me, with components I
have never laid eyes on. So no, I'm not entirely sure it's going to live up to expectations. Which is the exact reason I'm buying an entry-level bike, rather than having one custom tailored to my specifications. I can afford to have this one not work out and chalk it up to experience. I've done my homework as best I can and hopefully all will be well, but here are some of my concerns and lingering doubts.

Reviews of the Dia Compe 750 brakes have been mixed, with Jan Heine particularly referring to them in his Bicycle Quarterly "first ride" review as "mushy". I have found the same issue with the Gran Compe 610s I have on the Fuji, though they are mounted to the fork with a back plate and rear bolt rather than directly to the fork bosses. Should Jan's assessment prove true, I have a set of 1974 Mafac "Racers" I can scavenge from an old Urago a buddy passed down to me. Based on what I've read on the forums they should fit and I think they're pretty close to the vaunted Mafac "Raid" brakes that Jan loves so much.

The drive train is a MicroSHIFT 10 speed friction set-up, with bar-end shifters powering a lowish (46/30) double up front and a super wide (11/36!) chainring in the rear. I'm really hoping it works out because I increasingly need that wide range for climbing. Remember, I'm transitioning from typical Shimano Ultegra 50/34, 11/28 brifters, so the change could be significant. I've got Suntour down-tube shifters on the Fuji, and it's mostly fine once I get used to it; I'm looking forward to trying the bar-ends where shifting should theoretically involve a bit less awkward reaching.

Courtesy Lovely Bicycle

My biggest worry about bar-end shifters is about the swoopy cable routing and the front-mounted bag. Builds I've seen online have looked extremely kludgy and inelegant. If I can't make that work to my satisfaction I may go to mounting shifters on the down-tube which makes everything a lot simpler. Or I may even be dorky enough to try a stem-mounted solution, which frankly makes a ton of sense to me, despite being almost unheard of since the bike boom. We'll have to see.

Speaking of front mounted bags, the Velo Routier has a bit of an issue with front racks. The first version of the frame came with a custom-designed rack that was an obvious last-minute kluge (Evan admitted as much in the BQ review). To get around the brazed on center-pull brake arms, the rack struts rose steeply from their connections on the fork crowns. This leaves the rack's platform hovering way too high over the fender, which both looks stupid and probably compromises performance by having the weight of the handlebar bag higher than necessary. I'll do a little measuring when the bike gets here and see if I can make a Velo Orange rack work with the brakes. Just eye-balling it, I'm guessing it's possible and I'm not the first to try, so...

VO Randonneur Front Rack

Some folks on the forums (fora! okay, I'll stop doing this now) have noted that the Kalloy KL-100 Alloy quill stem and handlebars are a bit flexy, so I'll have to see how that works out. I can bring over the Nitto stem from the Fuji and there's a really neat looking Pivo stem on the aforementioned Urago that might work. But I may just have to replace the handlebars with a new set, possibly some Nitto B132 Randonneurs or the equivalent from Velo Orange. I'll have to see once they get here.

The low gearing in the front causes some anxiety too, but most of the 650b's are set up with the 46 tooth chain ring, so maybe it's the right thing. I'm coming from 52/42/30 and 50/34 chainrings, so the thought of losing four or more teeth on the top end causes me just a bit of pause. But I'm open to the possibility that this will be a positive transition to a slightly less stressful way of riding, less concerned with top performance and more aligned with comfort and distance. I just hope the stuff isn't junk. I rode some MicroSHIFT brifters on a vintage aluminum Pinarello Galileo on a trip to Italy a few years ago and they worked just fine. So, that gives me some slight comfort. Fingers crossed.

The VR is currently winging its way across the North American continent!

Join us for the next episode of MondoBlahBlah, when the Velo Routier arrives!!!

Supple-mentary Readin'
In the mean time, see what others have been saying about the Velo Routier.

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/04/18/cycles-toussaint-fast-comfortable-and-bit-bling
https://rideyourjourney.com/2015/02/23/velo-routier-frame-v-2/
http://www.brooklynrandonneur.com/2015/08/
http://www.brooklynrandonneur.com/2016/03/cycles-toussaint-velo-routier-v2-ride.html
https://stonehog.com/2014/03/03/initial-velo-routier-notes/
https://stonehog.com/2016/01/06/trail-riding/
https://stonehog.com/2015/12/23/new-toussaints/
http://www.cycleexif.com/cycles-toussaint