This Alex Singer bike was built to withstand gravel trails 78-years-ago

Image of the Alex Singer bike against a plain white background, the frame is blue, saddle is pushed forward in an aggressive position and it features mudguards and lights — A 1947 minimalist marvel that remains a bike design tour de force

(Image credit: Future)

This 1947 Alex Singer was specially built to compete in Technical Trials – Concours de Machines – gruelling French competitions for bicycle constructeurs held intermittently throughout the 1930s and ’40s.

These punishing events pitted fully loaded bikes against one another over the roughest gravel tracks of the Massif Central. The routes stretched for 460km or more.

It was, however, the bikes, not the riders, that were being judged, fuelling fierce competition among the finest French constructeurs.

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Barra, Reyhand, Narcisse, René Herse, Jo Routens and Alex Singer defined the challenge – building the lightest bikes possible while ensuring they were durable enough to finish the course without issue.

What an astonishing achievement this 78-year-old Alex Singer team bike is, weighing just 9kg including rack, pedals, dynamo, lights, metal mudguards and chunky 650b-fit tyres. That rivals the weight of many modern mid-tier carbon gravel bikes.

“This bicycle represents the pinnacle of Alex Singer’s bicycle design,” says current owner Richard Hoddinott of vintage specialists Velo Pages. “It’s so understated, it’s striking.”

There are weight-saving details everywhere – note the skeletal front mech, unique rear derailleur ‘hanger’ and the novel cam-operated brakes – all made in-house. Alloy was chosen wherever possible over steel.

The exquisite Stronglight Diament Touriste L.V. 49 chainrings are a lesson in minimalism, as is the brazed, lugless frame, which is fashioned from Vitus tubing – it wouldn’t look amiss on a bike from the 1960s, ’70s or later.

Indeed, many of the bike innovations we take for granted today were shaped by Singer et al on the rough slopes of the Massif Central.

Simon spent his childhood living just a stone’s throw from the foot of Box Hill, so it’s no surprise he acquired a passion for cycling from an early age. He’s still drawn to hilly places, having cycled, climbed or skied his way across the Alps, Pyrenees, Andes, Atlas Mountains and the Watkins range in the Arctic.

Simon now writes for Cycling Weekly as a freelancer, having previously served as Tech Editor. He’s also an advanced (RYT 500) yoga teacher, which further fuels his fascination for the relationship between performance and recovery.

He lives with Jo, his yoga teacher wife, in the heart of the Cotswolds, with two rescue cats, five bikes and way too many yoga mats. He still believes he could have been a contender if only chocolate weren’t so moreish.