Thursday, February 23

CYFAC – A TOURING BIKE TO RIDE ACROSS FRANCE – COLUMBUS LIFE

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Cyfac has designed this touring bike for a lover of the "Diagonals de France". Made in France in the city of HOMMES Dept- 37 (Indre-et-Loire), it is a team passionate people who has developed this machine with a perfect balance between lightness, comfort and resistance. A tailor-made machine for a young 68-year-old enthusiast rider ready to travel across the territory.

CYFAC and touring bikes are a long story. The dedicated range is made up of 5 standard models (or made to measure upoon request). For cyclo-camping or a world-tour you can use the INTEGRAAL, the TREKKING PPK and the famous PARIS-PEKIN Replica. For lugs lovers, the VINTAGE is perfect for travelling the country with light furniture. Finally, the EVASION, made for "Diagonale" is the source of inspiration for the touring bike made steel which we are going to present hereafter.

It is not the first touring bike for its owner, he is a faithful of the handcrafter CYFAC. The previous one, still in function, is an INTEGRALL model rather intended for the cyclo-camping practice to rinde in autonomy and able to carry heavy loads.

For this steel touring machine, the specifications are somewhat different. His pilot no longer plans to drive in complete autonomy like before, but he will continue to enjoy riding along the roads and patch of France, no expedition out of the French territory is foreseen ... for the moment.

Of course this touring bike is made to measure to fit to the 1m67 of his pilot who from his 68 years old bet on comfort. Its morphology give him the choice to choose between a 700c or 650 wheels diameter. The biggest wheels size has been chosen by the pilot to reduce the compatibility worries, the spare parts for the wheels of 700, pneumatic, Tubes ... are much more common to find in bikes shops..

He wants a light touring bike made of steel to carry light furniture on racks placed at the front and the back of the frame. this bike is mainly designed for road use, riding on path is also considered as the road can be full of surprises. What does he plans to do with the bike : travel across France riding this fantastic CYFAC touring machine .... and especially by making "diagonales".

Small insert about what are "diagonales" of which you will find quite a lot of information here (only in French): http://diagonales.homelinux.net/adf/index.php?page=1&menu=1. Description from of the official website of the "Diagonales de France": DIAGONALES DE FRANCE are cycling tours which consist of linking, under conditions defined by the Diagonales regulation, two non-consecutive summits of the French Hexagon. A DIAGONALIST is a cyclist who has passed at least one Diagonale officially approved by the F.F.C.T.

The frame of this touring bike is entirely made of Columbus steel tubes. Cyfac works in partnership with the Italian steel maker for the production of steel frames, so it is natural to find only Columbus tubes on  frames produced by the French craftsman.

For this bespoke machine, the frame is made of Columbus LIFE steel tubes. For the front triangle the top-tube has an average diameter of 31,7mm with a shape of a water drop and Double Butted 0,65-0,45-0,65mm. The down tube ha a larger diameter because the stress is higher. Its diameter is on average 42 mm and its specific shape (coded AF - a diamond with rounded edges stretched upwards) stands the torsions ensued by the pedalling and the movement of the headtube. The saddle tube has a diameter of 28,6mm, allowing a 27.2mm seatpost.

The rear triangle is also made of Columbus Life steel tubes, seatstays have a diameter of 17mm and chainstays of 24mm. Dropouts are  QR 10x135 type. The rear brake is Postmount type for a native 160mm disc.

The fork is handmade by Cyfac. The steatube is 1 "1/8 not threaded with Thecno sleeves.

REAR VIEW

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FRONT VIEW

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About components, the groupset is the Shimano ULTEGRA 5800 mechanical. The crankset is a compact 50/34 teeth and the cassette is a road-wide model 11-32 teeth allowing to climb everywhere on the bike. The braking is mechanical with the wellkwnon SRAM Avid BB7 road coupled with Shimano Ultegra brake levers. The leather saddle is a Brooks B17 Narrow Imperial honey color with a narrow seat. The particularity of this version is the possibility to adjust the spacing of the pre-perforated flanks by tightening more or less a lace linking them. The matching handlebar comes from BRICK LANE BIKES.

To carry bags, the front rack is a TUBUS Ergo - and at the back we find a TUBUS LOGO EVEO. Wheels are ASTERION Wheels model Gravel Disc 700 equipped with Compass Stampede Pass Extra Light tires in 700c x32 to benefit from a good rolling on the asphalt while filtering the asperities of damaged roads and paths .

You have probably noticed it, no light on this touring bike, indeed its owner does not plan to travel by night.

CYFAC is an handcrafter who offers a wide range of standard or custom-made steel bikes. If you which to afford an handmade bike, the communication with the handcrafter is paramount. CYFAC plans many exchanges with you to design your dream frame or bike. Shipped around the world, you can contact the brand to get a quote in your currency and / or be put in touch with a Cyfac distributor in your country.

Site Internet CYFAC : http://cyfac.fr/
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/cyfac/