Wishful Shopping - Rene Herse Randonneuse

While I don't need another bicycle I've been air shopping for Alex Singers and Rene Herse randonnee frames via ebay. Here's a beautiful 1975 randonneuring bike from the Rene Herse workshop.  If you're a pure road cyclist and you've never seen a Rene Herse, check out all the bike's unique, rando specific features: custom front rack, integrated lighting system, polished mafac racer brakes, full metal fenders, maxicar hubs, etc.  In the event of a zombie apocalypse, a Rene Herse randonnee would make the perfect getaway rig. 

 

  

If you're interested in reading a history of the Rene Herse workshop, check out this handsome new tome by Compass Press.

ARCHIVAL BUGS OUT!

As Hurricane Irene nears my apartment in New York, I'm once again longing to be back home in temperate Oregon, where the only natural disasters we fear are the rare earthquakes and volcanos.

That said, we've always believed here at Archival that the apocalypse is an excellent opportunity to hone your packing skills. The contents of my Bug-Out Bag is one of my favorite subjects to ponder during a sleepless night, far better than counting sheep. Even Mayor Bloomberg is talking about them!

These images taken from the Flickr group "What's in your B.O.B. (Bug-Out Bag)."

Stay safe out there, folks.

Archival Bicycles: Brevet Bikes

Chromed Canadian custom by rider/builder Nigel Press

On Friday, I head up to The Dalles, Oregon, to participate in the Oregon Randonneur's Oregon Blue Mountains 1000k brevet. If all goes well, this will be my last brevet on The Pencil, my trusty Rivendell road bike. In September--or so--I'll be taking delivery of a custom randonnee frame by Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles (details to follow).

Since I'm a slow randonneuse, I rarely spend time with other riders or their bikes (save for Pal Peg and her newly built Tony Pereira). I try to grab reference shots at the beginning of brevets or during rest controls. As I've already documented, I adore randonneuring bikes for their visual elegance, purpose built design, uber-durability and post-apocalyptic use value. I also love that a brevet bike is visually incomplete without a well made, canvas duck front handlebar bag.

Here are a few of my sample brevet bike snaps.

PBP Ancien, Duane Wright, and his vintage Peugeot

Beautiful custom bike by rider/builder Corey Thomspon

Steve Rex custom at start of SIR 4 Passes 600k

Steve Rex custom front rack

Peg's Pereira (rare flat repair)

Tournesol after SIR Bremerton 400k

Jack's vintage 650b Grand Jubile Motobecane

Amy P's Rivendell Rambouillet (in ghoulish a.m. hotel light)

Tom's custom Coho

Robin P's Waterford custom (mark down for minimalist baggage)

Sara's Velo-Orange Randonneuse (early Johnny Coast prototype)

Trusty Pencil on 3 Capes 300k

Via Pillpat

Shopping from the past: Hunting World Trousers

It's not often that you get follow through on shopping from the past. Hunting World NYC closed its doors in 2008, and currently seems to sell only in duty-free airport shops in East Asia. However, if, like us, you're still shopping from Hunting World and need a safari tuxedo, eBay seller cowboywest currently has a sizeable stock of NOS trousers and jackets. The seller, bless him, provides excellent measurements on the auction pages, and I ordered a pair of pants based on my shaky tape measure figures. The trousers are terrific - a nice mid-weight gabardine, quality details, hand-finished buttonholes, and not too baggy in the seat. Since we're always stocking up on quality provisions for the apocalypse, I promptly ordered two more pair and a pair for Lesli - at $20 a pair, you really can't lose.

-100% cotton
-Made in China (Surprised? Us too).
-Seven belt loops (earns top marks from Tom)
-Hand-finished buttonholes
-Frenched outer side seams, butted inner seam (for ease of tailoring)
-Allowance for taking in or letting out waistband
-Double front closure (helps fly to lay flat)
-Top-opening front pockets
-Sits just above waist
-Fitted in seat, straight leg
-1975 price: $85 ($330 adjusted for inflation!)
-Buy It Now for $26 shipped from cowboywest.


Now we're lobbying for other eBay sellers to continue this trend of offering dream products for reasonable buy-it-now prices. I'm hanging up a horseshoe in hopes of finding a few dead stock sweaters, in a wide range of colors and sizes, from Montgomery Ward c. 1947.

Archival Knitwear: Devold of Norway

Steamer Crew

A Fisherman at home

Devold Blue Marine sweater w/zip

Devold Blue Marine sweater w/crew neck

Devold Nansen sweater w/high neck

Devold Islender Sweater

I love the look of SNS Herning knitwear, but if you need economical Scandinavian woolens for your ice-cap expedition, try Devold of Norway.

I've been using Devold Aquaduct baselayers for cycling for years. In colder conditions, and in the rain, I wear mattress layers of Devold plus a light wind vest. I'd rather get damp than overheat in a fully sleeved shell. Aquaduct knits can also be worn off the bike as a spread-collar type top layer in the style of Alexander of Fanny and Alexander (Bergman 1982).

For arctic conditions, I recommend one of Devold's Blue Marine (Blaatroie) sweaters. Worn by North Sea fisherman in some past era, blue marine sweaters are knit from pure new wool using tightly knit worsted yarns. The sweaters are super durable (non-pilling) and work well for wear under waxed cotton jackets or vests. What I like best about the Blue Marine series is that they retain their original historical styling save for the patriotic addition of a Norwegian flag patches. That being said, here's an example of a Devold nautical model I would not purchase from the past:

Devold Blue Marine w/zip and pockets

While I prefer shopping from the 19th century, Devold is offering a few "modern" tech woolens I might try. I'm a little unsure about the overarching look of the "Optimum" hoodie but I do like its use of a knit grid pattern and thumb loop holes. The optimum might make a nice addition to my post-apocalyptic layering system:

Optimum Hoodie