Alex Singer

[Steve Hampsten]

Anybody catch this over at Ebykr?: http://www.ebykr.com/

I like this quote:
"So in effect, Cycles Alex Singer, a small shop founded toward the end of the first great bike boom, is the inspiration for a new generation of high quality bicycles that will populate the roads and trails of the next great bike boom. It remains fitting genuine Alex Singers will continue having a position at the lead of this effort entering the new millenium."

So maybe this type of bike isn't as dead and buried as some would think? Jan Heine is happy to help you buy an Alex Singer, btw, just as Douglas Brooks might urge you to buy a Mariposa. These guys won't be around forever but I imagine other constructeurs (if I may be permitted to use the term) will come along.

[e-RICHIE]

we were there 2 years ago.
if i had the money, i would have dropped it right there,
and i'm an elitist racer snob atmo. my wife is fluent in
french, and they were aware i was in the industry, so
i got to see some details that might not typically be part
of the courtship in a typical retail sale.
the shop reeks of history yo. there is nothing like it here
in the states. within 10 metres of the storefront you start
wondering if eisenhower is still in office.

[Fixed]

bro nice stuff i like the 1938 tdf foto . i like that paint bro .we may be riding bikes like that to work, school , shopping . i.m.h.o. useful bikes that have tradition . thanks for link bro

[jerk]

the jerk was in his shop when he went to europe last january. the place was like a time warp....and not one that made the jerk feel particularyly weirded out, out of place or the expected alternative, full of religious like awe and reverence. this guy was just doing what he did really well, probably better than anyone else in the world. he knew it, the jerk knew it, and mrs. jerk wanted to know why we were in another bike shop....but at least this one seemed to make real bikes that didn't look all "lumpy" and "fat"
the jerk didn't really have any good answers; but there was something particularly noble in csuska's shop that he couldn't put a finger on.....it wasn't gallic spite that normally permeates the realm of a frenchman who is at the top of his field or is hopelessly deluded that he is; it was removed from that. it was a time warp; but everything clicked and belonged.; which is probably why it was neither an awkward nor emotional place.

jerk

[Grant McLean]

There definitely is something satisfying about talking to someone who
has a firm grasp on exactly what it is they know, and don't know.

g

[dbrk]

The great Ernest Csuka in his shop.

dbrk

[coylifut]

cool read, thanks for sharing

[dbrk]

For pictures from inside the Singer shop, look here:

http://www.mupson.com/files/galleries.php?galname=Alex_Singer

Our own trip to the shop was nothing short of revelatory. My wife Aimee left the Louvre early so we could make the visit. It was just as wondrous to a fella like me...

I'm lucky enough to own three Singers. Ya'll can see them this summer if you come to the Ramble in the Finger Lakes.

dbrk

[shinomaster]

What is the adress for his shop? I'll send my old man there when he is in France next time, which is always soon.

[dbrk]

What is the adress for his shop? I'll send my old man there when he is in France next time, which is always soon.

Alex Singer Cycles 53 rue Victor Hugo, 92300 LEVALLOIS-PERRET, which is really a bit outside of Paris on the northwest side. Take the metro to the end of the Paris line and it's just a few blocks.

And here's a picture of one of my bikes.

dbrk

[gone]

Anybody catch this over at Ebykr?: http://www.ebykr.com/


Quoting from the same article (bold text mine)

But single bikes, primarily randonneusses, continue growing in the shop, though are not particularly easy to acquire. Production output is kept to around fifty and never over 100 bicycles each year, with averages settling at just 78 machines. Prices are in the high five figures. Customers never complain and often buy again.

This surely must be a typo? $90,000+ for a bicycle?

[slowgoing]

I had the same question. I assumed it must be in some other currency like French francs, and the article was translated into English. Still, how much do they run?

[dbrk]

A Singer will the full monty (fenders, lights, racks, and delivery) costs less than...well, less than some high end frames and forks folks here are accustomed to buying. Figure between 6-8K USD nowadays. That price on the website must be in French Francs, which are even more obsolete as these useless, dowdy, old bicycles.

dbrk
who wishes he were better at being factitious...