Touring ready 26" steel bike / Model: "La Grande Voyageuse Classique" / Manufacturer: Histoire Bike (France)
I met Jean at work (a non profit organisation that supports and promotes cycling as a mean of transport in Brussels). He worked with us for a few months on a specific project. Besides his excellent work and his great sense of humor, Jean is an experienced bicycle tourer. I got to learn about his trips around the world and his touring bike that immediately caught my eye.
The brand of his bike is Histoire Bike, a small (but not tiny) French manufacturer specialized in all sorts of touring bikes. As any small and specialized manufacturer of the upper-middle and high end, they aren’t on the cheap side of the bicycle spectrum, but the bikes are solid and made with much attention to details. Let’s see what Jean has to say about it !
Why did you choose this bike ?
I chose Histoire Bike because I like that they assemble the bike on-demand. This service allowed me to pick the options I wanted. I also like that this brand is small but has a loyal following of touring enthusiasts, specially in France. The cherry on the cake: the steel frame allows the use of rim brakes or disc brakes! It's quite rare in the cycling world. The result: an 'evolutionary' bike that can go from a solid beast for adventure to a bike for everyday life.
After buying this bike, my head was full of envisioned travel trips around the world. One idea was : to cross Africa by bike, from Brussels to Johannesburg on my own. So I did not choose "La Grande Voyageuse Classique" at random. I find this bike particularly well made and it gives off robustness, a quality you need when you are on small roads far away from home. Unfortunately, that dream stayed in my head only, due to the outbreak of Covid-19. The small roads of Africa will have to wait a little longer. However, the desire to see the world on this bike has not declined a bit!
Jean is not only a bike tourer but a photographer and blogger, I highly suggest you visit his blog route60.org where you’ll find plenty of very well written posts (in French, dutch and english) beautiful photos and videos. Thanks Jean for contributing to Bicycle Picnic !
