We’re back with Readers’ Rides after a couple of weeks’ hiatus, and today’s submission comes from Auguste Bicycles in Causse Méjean, the South of France, with a wild full suspension…
My name is Victor Duchêne, I design and manufacture steel bicycles on order, bespoke, one by one in my workshop located in the heart of the Causse Méjean, a 1200m high plateau in the south of France. For me a bicycle is a generator of stories, adventures and travel. So here is my story and here is my last build: the Causse Toujours.
Auguste Bikes was born in Brussels and grew up in London in a boutique in their name. The general idea was to take the best of yesterday and today, old hand-brazed steel frames, from 1920´s to 1980’s fitted with new brake systems and today’s high-performance transmissions.
After 5 happy years in London, 1,000 repairs of all kinds, 200 transformations and 70 bikes assembled piece by piece on demand, I decided to take even more freedom by making my own frames. I am moving the Auguste Handmade Shop. Destination France – Lozère 2020. The Atelier Auguste is born.
From road cycling to mountain biking, I love the diversity of projects that my clients bring to me. Everyone has their own way of riding, everyone has their own style, everyone has their own Auguste!
About the Causse Toujours. It’s a 29er full suspension mountain bike made of a mix steel tubes from Columbus and Dedacciai. All the parts were designed, cut, machined, and assembled in my workshop. I made this bike as the perfect bike for bikepacking in my workshop which is the least populated regions of France with less than 1 person per KM/square.
The Causse Méjean, a land of arid burned plains full of big rocks. And around the plateau, deep gorges of the river Tarn and Jonte with dense steep forests and very nice single-tracks.
The color of the frame was the closest color of the dirt and stones of the plateau. It took me a long time to design the geometry and the suspensions kinematics to find the sweet spot for anti-rise, anti-squat and pedal kickback.
The bike offer 130mm travel front and rear both 4 bar parallelogram suspension. I chose a leverage ratio of 3:1 on the front and 2.5:1 on the rear. Both equipped with the great “Intend Hover” air shocks (made in Germany).
For the equipment, I chose to go with silver components cause I love clear/pastel color frames built with polished components. The transmission is 12 speed with a massive and lightweight cassette (10-52t) from Ingrid (made in Italie). Derailleur, shifter and crank arms machined raw aluminum.
The “Causse Toujours” was designed to be self sufficient, I built the front wheel with a dynamo hub that generates the power to charge your phone/gps while lighting your way. Thanks to Son (made in Germany) and their prototype : the Ladelux. On the rear Aivee SL hub (made in France) associated with Velocity Blunt SS, both polished beautifully.
As a bikepacking bike is nothing without bags, I asked Clément from Tangente Atelier to make a set of Bespoked bags that match the sand dusty look of the bike.
We used a tough Tan Cordura and my broken pair of cherish boots to make cowboy details and reinforcement on the bags. We added some gris-gris and some holes to fit perfectly into the brazeons without interfering with suspensions movements.
The “Causse Toujours” it the most complex bike I made, but also the sweetest and the most Auguste of all the Auguste!
Thank you!
We’d like to thank all of you who submitted Readers Rides builds to be shared here at The Radavist. The response has been incredible and we have so many to share over the next few months. Feel free to submit your bike, listing details, components, and other information. You can also include a portrait of yourself with your bike and your Instagram account! Please, shoot landscape-orientation photos, not portrait. Thanks!