Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Bicycle Annually: Meerglas 650b Randonneur

Bicycle Annually: Meerglas 650b Randonneur

It seems there are a plethora of frame builders in Berlin, and Thomas Becker produces some of the city’s most elegant bikes. His firm, Meerglas, specializes in light tourers, racers, and randonneurs, like this one, built for a fan of Jan Heine’s Bicycle Quarterly.

Bicycle Annually: Meerglas 650b Randonneur

Thomas’ customer, Torsten, is a big rider with long arms, long legs, and a very short torso, but was supplied with a frame that fits perfectly and has a completely proportionate geometry — thanks to Thomas’ emphasis on bike fitting.

Bicycle Annually: Meerglas 650b Randonneur

As mentioned, Torsten is a fan of the Bicycle Quarterly aesthetic, so requested a traditional randonneur with accompanying accouterments such as hammered fenders, René Herse cranks, Compass brakes, a custom set of racks, and a Velogical rim dynamo.

Bicycle Annually: Meerglas 650b Randonneur

Thomas built a custom lever and braze-on to operate the dynamo and routed the entire cabling through the frame. To avoid tire-shadow, the front SON dynamo light was mounted high on the front rack — and he also made a custom set of lowrider racks.

Bicycle Annually: Meerglas 650b Randonneur

The frame is constructed from lugged and ovalized Reynolds 631 and 853 top and down tubes and a shimless 27.2 seatpost, a horizontal top tube, and a fastback seat cluster. The MX head tube lug had to be modified: it’s basically a double bi-laminate construction.

Bicycle Annually: Meerglas 650b Randonneur

Alan Moore fans might notice a Dr. Manhattan reference in the paint. This is but one example of Thomas’ work — a closer inspection will reveal a builder who has an inexorable passion for steel bicycle construction, a true keeper of the flame.

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Bicycle Annually: Meerglas 650b Randonneur