[Fignon's Barber]

I had always been a fan of Fignon, hence the moniker. Forget about the "stylish Parisian" stuff, I liked Fignon because he competed. Hard. Whether it was a grand tour or spring classic, he went for it.
After reading an article about how Cyfac's founder, Francis Quillon, had built all of fignon's bikes under other sponsor labels (gitane, raleigh for example), I came up with an idea: why not build a fignon tribute bike?
I contacted Eric at Cyfac, and four weeks later, the finished product arrived at my door. Incredibly quick turnaround for a custom, one off frameset. The whole process was great, we went back and forth with a few renderings, and came up with something that I think is quite special.
The frame is Cyfac Proxidium aluminium. I chose alum because it was light and had a modern look to it. Plus, there is a certain pro-ness associated with a well built aluminium bike.

As you can see, the paint is of the super U era. "le professeur" with the french tricolore on one side of the top tube, and signed by Mr. Quillon himself on the other side of the top tube. I can't get over the look of the welds. Nice.









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[merckxman]

Hats off to you and Eric...."outside of the box" bikes are fantastic. Like this one.

 

[charlox5]

wow that's a gorgeous bike.

 

[Cinelli 82220]

Chapeau! Fine bike.

Fignon was one guy who stood up to the Badger at his peak, and beat him.

 

[steel rider]

Very cool. Hats off to anything unique and wel done. Your ride is both.

 

[takmanjapan]

Nice! The color accents look good on the big tubing. I did something similar and made my own Super-U sticker set for my plain Ti Raleigh.

 

[orange_julius]

Damn, that frame is beautiful. Hats off to you for the idea of the frame! How will you build it? I am eager to see the finished bike and to hear your impression of it.

 

[PlatyPius]

That is amazing.
Eric is a great guy to deal with.

 

[spade2you]

Extremely cool.

 

[Fignon's Barber]

Damn, that frame is beautiful. Hats off to you for the idea of the frame! How will you build it? I am eager to see the finished bike and to hear your impression of it.

First off, thanks to all for the favorable comments. As for the build, its funny. I originally just wanted a simple aluminium frame for training, and was going to just transfer the chorus parts from a current training ride. But it morphed into something alittle more, so the training bike is up for auction and I think I will put a new record group on it.

 

[burgrat]

What a beautiful frame. Gotta love Le Professeur!

 

[PlatyPius]

First off, thanks to all for the favorable comments. As for the build, its funny. I originally just wanted a simple aluminium frame for training, and was going to just transfer the chorus parts from a current training ride. But it morphed into something alittle more, so the training bike is up for auction and I think I will put a new record group on it.

I'm not surprised. The Proxidium rides better than a lot of carbon frames I've ridden.

 

[JoelS]

That's lovely. For what it's worth, my steel Cyfac Life is an absolutely incredible frameset with an equally sublime ride.

 

[orange_julius]

First off, thanks to all for the favorable comments. As for the build, its funny. I originally just wanted a simple aluminium frame for training, and was going to just transfer the chorus parts from a current training ride. But it morphed into something alittle more, so the training bike is up for auction and I think I will put a new record group on it.

That's really great! The same thing happened to me when I was building my latest Cyfac the humble Zona. Initially it was supposed to be a winter bike, cheaper but well-made, so I won't even worry about cleaning it after each ride.

Maybe I'll leave it in the basement to save some space. I have a box of 10 speed Chorus for it anyway.

Then the idea came to me to make it for with fenders, racks for commuting or even rando, 28 tires. Then how about a custom classics tribute paint job?

Finally damn, a beautiful bike was born so clearly I had to buy it a new Record set, new wheels, new parts, white saddle, the whole treatment.

I hope you will be able to enjoy it soon!

 

[Ventruck]

Very tasteful.

 

[atpjunkie]

bravo
lovely ride
lovely sentiment from you and the mfr
bike is great and awesome choice on the frame material.

 

[Yamilo]

Holy shittt thats awesome right there. Love the colors!

 

[boneman]

Fantastic. So tasteful, well done!

 

[Fai Mao]

:}

That frame makes me smile

 

[bouge-bouge]

:}

That frame makes me smile

It made us smile making it! This is Eric with Cyfac. I came across a photo in our workshop showing a line of Super-U frames staged for pick-up by the team mechanics. It showed all of the frames for the team riders, Fignon, Riis (yes, he was on Fignon's 1989 TDF team), Thierry Marie, Pascal Simon...Charly Mottet, etc...That photo just stuck in my head and I was so glad when this client came along wanting something inspired by Fignon.

We've done another recent Fignon-focused project out of our new Cyfac Design Studios. It is a crank painted in the Renault-Elf team motif of Fignon's early years and features the title of Fignon's autobiography.

We love this unique touches and personalizations that renders the bike more than just a machine.

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