Many of the features pioneered by the constructeurs, as well as the parts used by them, "trickled down" to mass-produced machines.
Whether cantilever brakes, aluminum cranks, aluminum rims, triple chainrings, front racks (to a smaller extent low-riders, as those didn't really trickle down) and many others - they first were seen on constructeur machines in the 1930s and 1940s. Even fat 650B tires - the mass producers were pushing skinny tires even in the 1920s!
Would we still be riding on steel cranks without the technical trials? I doubt it, but it is a fact that after the randonneurs showed the light and "fragile" cranks lasted even on tandems, the racers began to use them.
Finally, it is hard to underestimate the effect of the magazine Le Cycle on the bicycle trade in France. In every issue, there were lots of Rebour drawings of features on the constructeur bikes. And because every maker wanted to make their bike stand out next to the other guy's, they incorporated features of the constructeurs where they could do so cheaply. Those at the helm of Peugeot, Motobecane, Automoto et al. during the 1940s and 1950s were very much aware what Herse, Singer et al. were doing...
Yes, the buyers didn't realize where the features of their mass-produced bikes originated, but they appreciated them all the same. Just like hardly anybody today cares where overhead cams in car engines come from, but they do want the fuel efficiency, power or whatever they provide!
--
Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles
140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.mindspring.com/
> So if the great constructeurs essentially defined the design
> parameters for this type of bicycle then they are ultimately
> some of the greatest contributors to "French Bicycle Culture".
> Best regards,
> Fred Rednor - got my mojo workin' tonight
> in Arlington, Virginia