Inspite of the adverse comments about this splendid frame from Jan and Alex , Nathan's Philippe has just won my vote for Best Frame of 2009..so far. I just cannot reconcile my opinion of the frame with their's..and here's wh y.
Jan has criticised the "elegance and function" of the Philippe, and I would concede that at first glance the bike, per se, is not presnted to it's bes t advantage ie. the nose of the saddle is sloping downwards - never an at tractive feature - the bars are tilted backwards - as often found on a teen ager's "racer"..and the brake levers are in the wrong place. Oh..and the br ake cables appear too long. If Nathan took ten minutes to correct these err ors, would that make the bike more elegant and better?
IMHO I think that Jan and Alex are letting their ownership of their stables of Herse and Singers..and their investment both past and future, cloud the ir judgement. Clearly the three of us are approaching this Philippe from to tally different vantage points..they are collectors and investors, as well as active cyclists, and I am a cyclist, a collector for some thirty years , and a frame-builder with over fifty years experience. . We have widely di ffering perspectives on the merits, value, and place in the hierarchy of co nstructeur frames of the Philippe.
I do not think that Philippe, when he built this frame, was trying to creat e a randonneur model, reminiscent of the "grande epoque" of Reyhand, Routen s, early Singers, Charrels and the like, I reckon that he set out to build a fast day-bike - known as a cyclo-sportif, and occasional light toure r. I do not think for a minute that the angular racks, fore and aft, were built by Philippe, but were after market purchases. No builder capable of producing a well-constructed frame like the Philippe would have made t hose racks at the same time as the frame. The Philippe wreaks of pride in i ts workmanship.. The racks don't even seem to be the same colour as the fra me.
The characteristics that Jan and Alex treasure in their constructeur bike s are the same as those features that make any frame elegant at the first g lance eg a well-balanced and well proportioned design, elegantly raked fork blades, a low bracket height, correct angles..once theese are factored into a frame, and assuming a high level of craftsmanship/skill with file a nd torch, all the rest are tweaks and pieces of individual ingenuity in sol ving design problems for joining the tubes and attaching the accessories.su ch as gears, brakes, guards and carriers/panniers.
The most notable characteristics of the constructeur genre of randonneur fr ames are long sweeping front fork blades that taper to small diameters at t heir tips, low bracket heights and long relatively steeply raked chainstays that taper to fine diameters. Slim diameter pencil seat-stays also add to the elegant appearance. However when such fine stays and blades are no l onger available it becomes more difficult to achieve the same degree of ele gance albeit that the fine overall proportions and balance can be retained. Peter Kohler's fast-looking Berthoud cyclo-sportif frame exemplifies this blend of balance, proportion, and elegance
Jan stated that he assumed that the Philippe cost less than Herse and Singe r frames. and implied that it must, therefore, be of lower quality.Does hig h cost automatically equate with better quality? I think not..but there is a case to be made for thinking it should do. ..or is there?
The word genuis has been used on occasion to describe the work of certain c onstructeurs, but I consider it is misapplied. Leonardo da Vinci was a genius.....constructeurs such as Herse, Singer, Charrel, Philippe etc etc are just very skilled consummate craftsmen who happen to have flair,considerable ingenuity, problem-solving skills, enquiring minds, a fo rm- follows- function approach to frame design....and a passion for thei r trade.
If anyone reading this contribution has either a Herse or a Singer frame th at has a 58 cms seat-tube, centre to centre , I would be grateful if they w ould email me off-List with the centre-to-centre length of the top tube.
Norris Lockley....Settle UK