CONCOURS DES MACHINES 2023 AVALANCHE BIKE - “ LE PARIS-BREST-PARIS, but not only …”
MANUFACTURING DATE: August 2023 -
CYCLIST: Female, 1m 63
PRESENTATION: Our pilot is called Anaïs. She contacted us with the aim of starting the Paris-Brest-Paris, but as part of the machine competition. Having discovered the event 4 years ago, when the edition of the CDM had already taken place during this legendary race. Anaïs already rides a lot. It is part of the Audax Parisian club, and has already validated the majority of patents in 2022.
His main practice is long distance road racing. His bike therefore had to reflect this practice for the most part, but not only within the framework of this year's theme. Anaïs also wants to practice gravel, but also travel with her bike.
As with each Avalanche bike, the geometry was created to measure, following a postural study carried out together in the workshop. We chose Columbus HSS Spirit steel, a material offering comfort because it absorbs part of the vibrations, while maintaining rigidity, responsiveness and lightness. The tube sections were chosen taking into account the small size of our driver. The diameters are not the largest so as not to have a too rigid frame.
The choice of the truss fork allows you to gain comfort, by filtering vibrations during the long kilometers ridden by Anaïs, but also during gravel practice. Its parallelogram structure also provides very good resistance to disc braking, especially if the bike is loaded when traveling. The Fork was designed partly in stainless steel 3D printing then with Columbus stays, allowing very good quality mechanical resistance, as well as a contained weight.
The different 3D prints designed and designed specifically for this machine allow us to combine Anaïs' different practices within the same bike, to fit tires up to 45mm, but also to route as many cables and hoses as possible. , electrical wires internally, as cleanly as possible. The design of these parts also allows us to work on a coherent design on the entire bike, to keep a fluid and harmonious line between the frame and the fork. The stem, also homemade, is made from 2 bases, allowing the line and design of the Truss to be followed.
For this bike we thought about how to protect the lamps, when the wheels need to be removed during transport. The rear lamp is protected within the structure of the bracket. Thanks to a folding front rack, the lamp but also the rack can be easily raised to save space and secure these elements. The lighting is carefully integrated from the hub into the rack, then in certain parts of the fork, in order to power the lamps and the USB charger. For train travel, but also for maintenance, the electrical cables come out between the socket and the down tube, with removable terminals allowing the fork to be removed, without having to remove all the electrical wiring. It’s a little more visible, a little less magical of course, but much more functional.
We have specifically manufactured a pair of mudguards, quite enveloping, in carbon fiber, to gain in lightness but also in modernity.
In addition to the work done on the line of the bike and on the design of the 3D parts, we worked on the painting in the workshop, as we do on every Avalanche bike. Anaïs did not have very strict specifications, apart from the wish for a green and glittery bike. We therefore relied on his few desires and constraints, and imagined the next step: We suggested that he work around a main graphic, clearly visible, on the frame, but not covering the entire bike. A landscape graphic was imagined, drawn and applied to the top of the top tube, in a nod to the Paris-Brest route. The idea is then to illustrate the journey, the crossing of different landscapes, while making a subtle nod to the departure and arrival at the sea. Finally, the formal language of drawn landscape has been taken up to create a series of patterns, covering a large part of the frame, but in a subtle way, in tone on tone.
