An American RRBer in Paris (Kingfish visits Irzouts and Kanar)

[kingfish254]

Queenfish and I are in Europe again for Christmastime. One of our stops this year was Paris, so I contacted some of our French RRBers (@irzouts , @kanar , @hickone, etc. ). Man, am I glad that I did!!!! The hospitality that I was shown was top notch!!

First, I was able to meet up with @irzouts . He invited me to come to his "Atelier" or workshop. It turned out to be part of an awesome artist collective workspace that is in some old railroad buildings. I was also able to meet Yann's lovely sweetheart Cornelia who is also an artist at the collective. After the tour we made it to his space and I got to see a lot of his previous builds. I even got to sit on "Coming Soon". It was awesome to visit with Yann and talk bikes over a few beers and to see his crazy works or rolling art.

I love his "Coming Soon" build. It really had a nice cruising geometry. He won COTY 2013 with this build. So many cool details on this wicked ride! He even used a ribbed soup can for some of the trim work like I did with VerBoten.

I also got to check out his donkey bike "Pontiac" from BO9. It felt comfortable to sit on. Sorry @LukeTheJoker , I didn't try to ride it.

He also had a cool old Stella

And these other sick builds in the shop.

 

[kingfish254]

Before leaving @irzouts shop we traded some bike swag

And I bought some cool parts from him too.

 

[user 135]

I have always wanted a old French chainguard. VO makes a new one, but it does not have the look.

 

[kingfish254]

The "Custom Brigade" bike club in Paris has monthly night cruises around Paris and elsewhere in Europe. They had to cancel last month's ride in respect to the people that died in the horrible attacks a few days before.

When I contacted the French RRBers they told me that they had a ride scheduled for Dec 11th and invited me to join them. @kanar helped me out tremendously by arranging a loaner bike for me from Dagze Oner and the Custom Brigade made the route more touristic since I was joining them.

I don't think you can get a much cooler starting point for a ride than right in front of Notre Dame cathedral. I just might have to name my next build Quasimodo. We didn't meet up until about 10pm and we rode 20km (15 miles) until around 2:30am. I think we had about 12-15 people riding.

After introductions and beer, I traded some bike swag with everyone.

Then these two Santas rode by on a Christmas Tree tall bike!!!

Dagze had these two that he made from scratch. He has some serious bike building skills for sure!

Here is his Rat Fink that he hooked me up with for the ride.

Here is @kanar 's wicked ride.

I really liked this custom. I forget his name, but this was his very first bike build. I'll post videos later, but it had the sickest riding profile around.

Felt Scythe chopper with Nexus8

Nirve Switchblade

Pink stretch with some cool details for the lady of our group.

Cool cruiser from one of the leaders of the ride.

 

[kingfish254]

One of the highlights of the ride for me was riding through the Louvre courtyard around the glass pyramids. Towards the end you can also see the Eiffel Tower beacon lights. Officially we should not have done this, so @kanar simply told me as we entered the courtyard "Go Fast!".

Here is the video I took.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

enviable.

 

[kingfish254]

We had to stop to fix a very "Big Floyd" flat so I took some more pics and got to ride @kanar 's wicked bike and try to look cool on it with the Louvre behind me in one pick and the Champs Elysees in another.

Kanar also had this cool pedal kickstand extension

Also as we were waiting on the flat repair, the Santa Christmas Tree Tall Bike came riding by and I was able to catch this video

 

[kingfish254]

The next amazing part of the ride was rounding a corner and coming up on this view of the Eiffel Tower. There were some musicians nearby so the video has a soundtrack as well.

Here is the video




We also took a group photo here.

 

[kingfish254]

I have some other great photos and videos, but they will have to wait until I have another lazy night on the vacation.

Huge shout out and thanks to @kanar and the Custom Brigade for providing such an incredible experience for this old bike guy!!!!!!

 

[Pookie42]

That's some cool vacation...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hammer mechanic]

Tres bien!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Simply awesome!

Luke.

 

[kanar]

I love his "Coming Soon" build. It really had a nice cruising geometry. He won COTY 2013 with this build. So many cool details on this wicked ride! He even used a ribbed soup can for some of the trim work like I did with VerBoten.

for sure !

I also got to check out his donkey bike "Pontiac" from BO9. It felt comfortable to sit on. Sorry @LukeTheJoker , I didn't try to ride it.

View attachment 14591 View attachment 14592

too bad ! very smoothy to ride after a thousand attempts !!!

And these other sick builds in the shop.
View attachment 14594

View attachment 14596

Screamer Nicoletta build :
http://www.custombrigad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=11593&hilit=nicoletta

Draisienne Steampunk :
http://www.custombrigad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=6045

And I bought some cool parts from him too.
View attachment 14598

hoooooooooo ! those cool lights ! lucky you !!!

The "Custom Brigade" bike club in Paris has monthly night cruises around Paris and elsewhere in Europe. They had to cancel last month's ride in respect to the people that died in the horrible attacks a few days before.

The Cruise in Paris was the same evening than the terrorist attacks. We heard some police sirens everywhere, so we checked the online news. And we learned what happened in Paris at the same time... we decided to leave the city to stay safe at home. Sad evening...

After introductions and beer, I traded some bike swag with everyone.
View attachment 14602

Haha ! beer, the friendly connection feel free to share the stickers

I really liked this custom. I forget his name, but this was his very first bike build. I'll post videos later, but it had the sickest riding profile around.

View attachment 14607

If I remember, it's just "Bobber"
http://www.custombrigad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=11912&hilit=bobber

View attachment 14615

Kanar also had this cool pedal kickstand extension

View attachment 14614

Thanks for this pic ! It is really cool !!!!
about the kickstand, it's not my idea, it comes from Bruno LeRat, Psikocycle BC

 

[Fv2]

Looks like an awesome vacation

 

[B607]

You're like Marco Polo, Kingfish. A real traveler. Looks like you are having a great time. Gary

 

[horsefarmer]

for sure !






too bad ! very smoothy to ride after a thousand attempts !!!





Screamer Nicoletta build :
http://www.custombrigad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=11593&hilit=nicoletta

Draisienne Steampunk :
http://www.custombrigad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=6045



hoooooooooo ! those cool lights ! lucky you !!!



The Cruise in Paris was the same evening than the terrorist attacks. We heard some police sirens everywhere, so we checked the online news. And we learned what happened in Paris at the same time... we decided to leave the city to stay safe at home. Sad evening...


Haha ! beer, the friendly connection feel free to share the stickers




If I remember, it's just "Bobber"
http://www.custombrigad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=11912&hilit=bobber




Thanks for this pic ! It is really cool !!!!
about the kickstand, it's not my idea, it comes from Bruno LeRat, Psikocycle BC

I thought I'd let everyone know if your looking at the custombrigad web pages and using google chrome browser a "checkerboard" icon pops up next to the star for bookmarking a page if you click on it it translates the page from French to English.

 

[kanar]

Thanks !
But it's also time to try to learn french haha !

 

[kingfish254]

That's some cool vacation...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like an awesome vacation

You're like Marco Polo, Kingfish. A real traveler. Looks like you are having a great time. Gary

It has been another great vacation so far. We have always enjoyed travel all over the world and this is actually our 8th Christmas in Europe. We have one more stop (Nurnberg) on this trip after already seeing Vienna, Austria - Bratislava, Slovakia - Ljubljana and Lake Bled, Slovenia - Paris, France - Luxembourg City, Luxembourg - Rothenburg, Wurzburg, and Bamberg, Germany.

Merry Christmas - Frohe Wiehnachten - Vesele Vianoce - Vesel Bozic - Joyeux Noel - Schei Kreschtdeeg

 

[deven_science]

I have never seen Draisienne Steampunk! Beautiful builds. Irzouts always impresses me with his clever use of non-bike parts.

 

[kingfish254]

for sure !






too bad ! very smoothy to ride after a thousand attempts !!!





Screamer Nicoletta build :
http://www.custombrigad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=11593&hilit=nicoletta

Draisienne Steampunk :
http://www.custombrigad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=6045



hoooooooooo ! those cool lights ! lucky you !!!



The Cruise in Paris was the same evening than the terrorist attacks. We heard some police sirens everywhere, so we checked the online news. And we learned what happened in Paris at the same time... we decided to leave the city to stay safe at home. Sad evening...


Haha ! beer, the friendly connection feel free to share the stickers




If I remember, it's just "Bobber"
http://www.custombrigad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=11912&hilit=bobber




Thanks for this pic ! It is really cool !!!!
about the kickstand, it's not my idea, it comes from Bruno LeRat, Psikocycle BC

Thanks again for the awesome ride my friend! Also, thanks for adding links for the different builds. I can't wait to follow them once I get back to the States. The Custom Brigade rocks!