Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Keep It In The Family: Auguste Handmade Peugeot

Keep It In The Family: Auguste Handmade Peugeot

Last weekend saw the NAHBS circus present the world’s finest and latest handmade bicycles — a perfect time to remember that these magnificent machines are built to last for generations. This 1952 Peugeot was reconfigured by London’s Auguste Handmade workshop in a completely fresh light.

Keep It In The Family: Auguste Handmade Peugeot

Victor Duchêne established Auguste Handmade in 2012 with the dream of giving these older bikes a new lease on life, proving that they are not only still very reliable, but can be reimagined to perform — and look — as good as the day they were first assembled.

Keep It In The Family: Auguste Handmade Peugeot

In 2015 Victor, a multi-talented artist with a unique vision converted an old shop front in Central London’s Hoxton Street into a proper workspace, complete with a coffee shop, aided by a small team of mates and his girlfriend Léa Barré, a bespoke fashion designer.

Keep It In The Family: Auguste Handmade Peugeot

Auguste Handmade provides a full restoration service and also offers consultations for new custom builds. With an extensive inventory of classic and contemporary components on hand, an old favorite can easily be brought back to its former glory.

Keep It In The Family: Auguste Handmade Peugeot

Victor named the shop after his grandfather, who was a carpenter, just like Victor’s dad, and this sixty-year-old Peugeot actually belonged to his other grandfather who worked at the Peugeot factory in the east of France.

Keep It In The Family: Auguste Handmade Peugeot

Victor traveled upon the original bike for many years in the various cities he lived in, from Besançon and Paris to Brussels and, finally, London. When it came time for a restoration he had Sebastien Klein of Brevet Cycles build him a new fork.

Keep It In The Family: Auguste Handmade Peugeot

Alistair McLean from Fat Creations clear-coated the forks and Victor built a new set of wheels from a pair of Pacenti Brevet 650b rims with a Hope rear hub and Son 28 dynamo front hub. The original Mafac Raid brakes were retained, but a new SRAM XX1 MTB 1×11 drivetrain was installed.

Keep It In The Family: Auguste Handmade Peugeot

A vintage pair of hammered fenders were also instated, along with a new pair of Nitto Moustache bars and Brooks saddle. It just goes to show what can be achieved with a bit of imagination, vision and technical ingenuity.

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Keep It In The Family: Auguste Handmade Peugeot