Varonha Frameworks 853

[avecReynolds531]

This was a happy labour of love, over a few years of planning, saving and finding the right parts: a special birthday gift for my wife.

It's part fillet brazed, part lugged Reynolds 853 - some of the detailing is just beautiful (the stainless steel cut out from the head badge is silver soldered to the seat tube, the fork crown & low curve, that seat cluster with sleeve & stainless steel top eyes).

...26 inch wheels, a 26/40 double chain set running 10 speed Campagnolo. Velo Orange Grand Cru calipers stop the bike fantastically well. With Berthoud saddle & stainless steel mudguards, plus some Nitto finishing kit.

Our many thanks & appreciation to Winston Vaz for the exquisite frame, Mario Vaz for the custom paint, JRA providing a very light wheelset and Herbert Cycles for the great build.

...couldn't have asked for more with the end result; how well proportioned the bike turned out (it looks in real life as if it's been shrunk) & how well it performs.

 

[Spiderweb]

Wow!
Beautiful❤

 

[raleighnut]

Very Nice

 

[tom73]

 

[avecReynolds531]

Thanks for the kind comments - much appreciated.
The bike becomes a way of life & it's tough to think that people are losing their livelihoods just now.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Thats lovely

 

[Gunk]

That is stunning, I love the finish and detailing, almost too nice to ride.

 

[avecReynolds531]

Thanks Gunk, much appreciated.

It's slowly dawned that the only indicator of the scale of this bike is the bottle cage in the first photo.

 

[Sillyoldman]

Wowee what a beauty

 

[avecReynolds531]

Thanks Sillyoldman, much appreciated.

A further photo of the bike: fork crown design - initials hand cut from stainless steel.

 

[Drago]

That's lovely. It's the tasteful target right on the bullseye.

 

[avecReynolds531]

Thanks Drago, much appreciated.

 

[Tom B]

I'm not normally into this sort of this, but that's beautiful.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I do like those fork blades. The way the curve is concentrated at the bottom end makes them look proper old school. That's what you call real attention to detail, and it looks in-period with the fillet brazing. More modern steel forks tend to have a bigger radius curve over more of the blade.

 

[avecReynolds531]

Thanks Tom B and Skipdiver John - much appreciated.

The idea was for a light fast bike with an old school feel: horizontal top tube, 26 inch wheels, metal mudguards, a front centre that would mean no toe overlap (after the headache of small road bike frames and 700c had caused fright & road rash), and a fork with a flat topped crown with that low curve.

I had seen a lot of old French roadster bikes from time over there. A family member still had their 1940s Peugeot mixte - like a work of art.
There was something about the forks on those old bikes.

We knew Winston had extensive experience of building small frames previously with Roberts & had complete confidence in the choices of dimensions, tubing, and geometry. I got the wheels and mudguards first, and the frame clearances were built around them. We were pretty stunned seeing the finished fork for the first time- it seemed exactly the idea we had in our heads. A nice piece of history; it was Bill Hurlow's fork raker that shaped the fork.

There's an excellent Varonha thread over at LFGSS - https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/255909/

A few frame photos before painting:

...My wife loves the bike so we couldn't have asked for anything more...