From drop bars to Albastache to drop bars and back again
I am a reluctant road cyclist. When I got my Stooge Rambler a little over a year ago I thought it would be the only non-MTB I’d ever need. And while it certainly does hold its own on the road, I have always been intrigued by classic French all-road/randoneusses thanks to reading a whole lot of René Herse blog posts. Is it really possible to ride that long at that speed? Do narrower bars really help? I needed to scratch that itch.
Fast forward to earlier this year, when I’m in Mexico with my wife on vacation, trying my best to not spend any time on Facebook and certainly not spend any time looking for things to buy while I’m sitting on the beach in paradise. But what do I see on Facebook Marketplace? And it’s listed by a bud, too?!
lugs! low trail fork! thin tubes! it’s like someone shook up an edition of Bicycle Quarterly and this is what came out.
I hit up the seller and ask what the details are. He tells me that it’s a lugged rim brake 650b low trail frame with light thin-walled steel tubes. Clearance up to 48mm or 42mm with fenders. 132.5mm rear spacing so you can run 130mm or 135mm. And it was $200 for the frame, fork, headset, BB, stem, and brake hanger. How could I say no?
I immediately start amassing parts for it, but as cheaply as possible. Again, I am reluctantly trying this road biking thing. I find Velocity A23 rims on closeout and I buy overstock hubs from eBay. One friend blesses me with Nitto Noodle bars + a stem for cheap. Another internet friend blesses me with a cassette and Suntour Cyclone derailers/shifters. Another friend grabs me some René Herse Babyshoe Pass on a discount from a shop that’s going out of business. I also hit the front brake hanger with oven cleaner to deanodize it. All told this bike built up for a very reasonable price. It also ends up weighing around 24 pounds, complete with bottle cages, pedals, dynamo hub and light, and rando rack. Hard to argue with that— it’s definitely the lightest bike in my fleet!
here it is on its initial shakedown ride, with a derailer that doesn’t have enough capacity, and before I added the rando rack + bag.
On the first ride the low trail geometry was immediately noticeable. She’s wiggly! But I quickly come to love the feeling, especially once I add the rando bag and rando rack.
I end up taking it on a 92 mile 50/50 pavement/gravel ride up to Lexington and I’m blown away by how it performs. Yes, it planes, and it’s just so comfortable and fast. While I love my Stooge, it’s just not going to feel like this even with a 700x42 setup.
That bumpy windy 92 miler was the shakedown I needed to feel ready for the second half of RAGBRAI. RAGBRAI was 100º+ for 3 out of the 4 days I was there, so my rando bag was full of a massive bag of Skratch, pickles, jerky, gummy bears, sometimes beers, and a whole bunch of other sustenance to keep me alive on these 80+ mile days in the scorching Iowa heat. The bike handled beautifully with the heavy loaded rando bag up front. I also have found that due to its shorter ride height (thanks to the 650b stance) that it drafted brilliantly. On descents I was able to tuck behind the rando bag, thereby using it as a fairing, and thus carrying a ton of speed and distance up the following climbs. Believe the hype!
go Tigers
After RAGBRAI I decided I wanted some randonneur style handlebars and a shorter stem. I had come to love my Crust Towel Racks on my Stooge— the upsweep and backsweep is how I love drop bars. And I was hoping that I would be less stretched out in the hoods (if you look at the picture above I’m even a little stretched out on just the ramps). So I ordered some 420mm René Herse bars. They ended up getting lost in the mail, and all the RH crew was at Paris-Brest-Paris, so it ended up taking weeks for me to get my replacements. But for months I had these Nitto Albastache bars laying around that I bought from Russ at Path Less Pedaled, and I thought it was time to finally give them a shot while I waited for the René Herse bars.
about 45 miles into a 114 mile ride
I was immediately struck by how much sense these bars made. Out on the flats you’re in an upright position that still feels sporty and is not too wide (555mm center to center). It’s really nice for when you’re cruising around busy paths or in traffic. In the hooks you’re in a fairly aggressive position for descending, cornering, etc. And if you ride with your hands “puppy paw” style on the “hoods”, you’re in an extremely aero yet comfortable upright position— I originally had my hoods around 33cm apart if memory serves. Coupled with the geometry of the Randy Herse it made for the most comfortable yet sporty ripper I’ve ever tried.
While setup with Albastache bars and a basket (you can’t use a rando bag with Albastache bars unfortunately) some friends hit me up about doing a 114 mile ride. Naturally the ride had a pretty decent headwind for a long portion of it, which meant I spent most of the ride on the “hoods”. It was extremely comfortable and added a noticeable aerodynamic gain. The low trail geometry just keeps the wheel pointing forward and not flopping to the side, so you don’t need wide bars to muscle the front wheel. Also the Wald 1392 basket was great, and even carried home my dinner leftovers for 60ish miles, unscathed.
The René Herse randonneur bars eventually showed up, so I popped off the Albastache bars + stem + brake levers + cables + brake cable hangers, and mounted up the René Herse bars + Tektro levers with their own set of cables and brake cable hangers. I figured it would be a pretty easy to hot swap the bar/stem/lever combo when I felt like it.
Fast forward to the last week or so. One of my internet friends sends me a picture of a 1979 Centurion Pro-Tour in my size asking if I want it. I don’t need it at all, but it’s chrome and takes direct mount center pulls. It’s a beloved and super rare bike, and the price is even cheaper than the Randy Herse was.
I also have this nagging feeling that I miss the Randy Herse with Albastache bars. Then I check my Feedly RSS reader, and I see Meriwether Cycles writing about his MW-1: A tribute to the XO-1. This reminds me of just how how sick the Bridgestone XO-1 is. I then start reading as much as possible about the Rivendell All-Rounder. It dawns on me: while this is completely unnecessary and we barely have room for it, I need to move all of the randonneur parts over to the Centurion and let the Randy Herse live its cafe racer all-rounder XO-1 inspired dreams.
So without further ado, here’s the current version of the Randy Herse!
I decided to go for the flat bar grips + Velo Orange flat bar lever vibe this go around. Not because I didn’t like it with the Cane Creek drop bar levers, but simply because of vanity— it’s hard to argue that it doesn’t look better with the VO levers. I can always put the Cane Creek drop bar levers back on. But there’s also a practical use: when I’m out on the flats it’s usually because there’s more people or cars around and I want my head up and on a swivel. Therefore it’s nicer to have the best braking ergonomics in that position. I can still get up on the hooks and the “hood” position (despite having no “hoods” anymore) when the headwinds blow. It seems to be the best of all worlds.
It’s also the return of the Wald 1392 basket. I love my recently profiled Specialized Hard Rock Clydesdale basket bike, but this bike weighs at least 10 pounds less. It also rides a whole lot sportier. The bike is a bit of a love letter classic René Herse randoneusses, as well as Grant Petersen’s all-around-bike ethos.
So it’s perfect for city miles, country miles, various dirt surfaces, mild singletrack underbiking (I’m legitimately afraid of my 190# self cracking the frame if I go too hard off road with it though), and some hike-a-bike. Maybe this wheelset will end up on the Centurion and I’ll try something new with 48mm or Soma Cazaderos on this bike.
All told I am so incredibly grateful this bike entered my life. It’s literally 1/1, and it taught this crusty mountain biker how much fun all-road riding can be.
Stay tuned for the Centurion randonneuse build…
Full bike check:
Frame + Fork: custom built 54cm lugged steel 650b rim brake 100mm/132.5mm spacing
Headset: Ultegra
Handlebars: Nitto x Rivendell Albastache
Stem: Nitto Technomic 60mm
Wheels: Velocity A23 hoops, Shimano 130mm rear hub, Shimano dynamo front hub, DT Swiss Comp 2.0-1.8 spokes, brass nipples
Tires: René Herse Babyshoe Pass standard casing
Cranks: Spa Cycles 165mm w/ 44 and 26t chainrings
Cassette: I think it’s an old Shimano XTR 9 speed 11-32
Derailer: old Shimano 105
Brake levers: Velo Orange
Brakes: Tektro Oryx + Kool Stop Pads + Dia Compe cable hangers
Shifter: various Suntour and Shimano downtube shifters
Grips: Oury
Fenders: Velo Orange
Rack: René Herse Randonneur
Basket: Wald 1392
Pedals: MKS Grip Monarch
Saddle: Brooks C17 carved
Light: Busch + Mueller IQ-XS