Randonneurs are actually touring bikes. The French origin of the term means traveller; when bicycles were still predominantly either heavy steel steeds or at best competition vehicles for early racing events, the randonneur was the first form of touring bike a good 150 years ago with a pannier rack, mudguards against bad weather, lights for riding in the dark and curved racing handlebars for a variety of different hand positions on the road.
To this day, there is something special about these bikes due to their elegance, versatility and long-distance capability. But times are changing and technology is constantly advancing, especially in the bicycle sector. Our test field of 10 randonneur bikes is a good example of the unusual methods that bicycle manufacturers resort to when the possibilities grow.
Tradition steel frame
Frame material, for example: Four of the test bikes come with traditional steel frames. A smart choice, because robustness and durability play just as important a role on a touring or long-distance bike as the flexibility of the material, which, if used wisely, can generate riding comfort. Ease of repair on the road may also be an argument in its favour.
And then there is the traditional aspect: steel is reminiscent of the times when this material was unrivalled in bicycle construction. Frame builder Norwid inserts high-quality CroMo tubes into sockets and solders them by hand. This allows him to build his Skagerrak to measure, and the result proves him right: you sit centrally and in the middle of the bike, the handling is harmonious and simply perfect. Surly also uses steel, and the filigree fork with its long pre-bend even has visible suspension. Poison and Tout Terrain have their CroMo frames welded, which means less effort and more efficient production. Here, the tube diameters are larger in order to achieve greater stiffness and thus riding safety with a longer service life. Bulls and Velotraum rely on aluminium, with wider tyres for comfort: The tubeless 57-millimetre tyres on the Velotraum turn the randonneur into a new vehicle: not only rolling comfort, damping and agility can be increased in this way. The range of use is also radically increased, as the low-profile MTB tyres not only run safely and smoothly on asphalt, but also on natural and gravel roads.
Even rather exotic and expensive materials such as titanium and carbon find their fans: Hilite, a Swiss supplier specialising in customised production, has been processing titanium in customised frames for years. Hilite now works with standard titanium frames, which greatly reduce the cost price. Here, too, the trend towards wider tyres is widening the playing field. Spikes in winter or tread tyres for forest road tours fit in the frame and carbon fork, each with stiffened thru axles and squeak-resistant discs. The mail-order company Rose takes the most radical approach: the frame, fork and seat post of the Xeon Cross are made of highly developed carbon, which reduces the weight and at the same time raises stiffness and damping to a high level.
A second significant trend is wider tyres - which is directly related to the adjustment of clearance heights on the frame and fork, bottom bracket height, available mudguard widths and - of course - new tyre models. New rubber compounds and manufacturing techniques are making bicycle tyres lighter and lighter. We were particularly surprised at how close the Velotraum, for example, with its massive 27.5-inch MTB tyres comes to more classic concepts such as those from Tout Terrain or Norwid with 28-inch, slightly wider racing tyres (32 millimetres) in terms of wheel acceleration, rotational forces and steering agility.
New seat position and ergonomics
While the traditional seating position on a randonneur is usually long and stretched, with a slightly longer head tube and higher cockpit than on a road bike, we now find a large number of variations on this sporty and aerodynamically favourable principle. From the explicitly relaxed handlebar height of the Velotraum, which is at saddle level, to the strictly racing position on the Rose Xeon, where there is a whopping 10 centimetres difference between the seat and grip level, every sporty cyclist is sure to find a randonneur concept that suits them. We have summarised the sometimes problematic issue of unsuitable seat and grip widths due to inharmoniously matched handlebar, stem and shifter lengths separately in the box on the right.
Conclusion:
Thanks to modern influences such as gravel bikes, the variety in the randonneur category has grown immensely in terms of tyre dimensions and wheel sizes, disc brakes, thru axles and modern frame materials. Anyone who appreciates the wide range of grips and the more favourable aerodynamics of a randonneur handlebar on a bike tour or weekend ride doesn't just have to spend their long hours in the saddle on asphalt these days. The playing field has become wider and more versatile. Even for longer everyday journeys to the office or an extended Sunday ride through fields, woods and meadows, you can now find a high-quality, sophisticated randonneur bike across all price ranges between 1700 and 5000 euros (and above).
The complete article was published in Trekkingbike issue 6/2017.
