Duralumin History & Use in Bicycle Building

Durable but lightweight materials have appealed to bicycle builders since the beginning of bicycle time. From steel alloys to aluminum alloys to carbon composites, the nexus of these two build qualities is something of a holy grail among materials engineers. That’s because durable and lightweight translate to fast and expensive in most every language worldwide….

Idéale Saddles: Behind the Leather Curtain

Idéale saddles are among the least understood classic bicycle components given their standout prominence and frequent exorbitant value. The dizzying array of models produced under the Idéale marque continues vexing even the most ardent collectors, who seem to enjoy the punishment received when combining obscurity of fact with broad product offerings and potential stratospheric price…

Caminade: The Circle of Cycle

Hearing it might shock the average rider of your swoopy, parrot-painted Italiano-alluminio wonderbike, but many such bikes are actually way, way old skool. In fact they’re so old skool they still spell it “olde school.” Aluminum frames? Octagonal tubes? Coupled bikes that disassemble with a few twists of a wrench for easy traveling? How about…