Frame Geometry and Goeland

Two web sites have caught my eye recently and are well worth sharing.

The first is Dave Mann's Bike Geometry Project. Dave says: "The goal of my bike geometry project is to collect as many road bike geometries as is practically possible and to make them available to others who might be interested. This project is being driven by a) my own curiosity on the subject and b) my hunch that most bike frames made today are variations of older designs."

He puts all frames into eight basic classes and aims to show how most bikes are simply variations on these designs. It's worth downloading Dave's spread sheet which is fascinating to study. And you can help the project by providing the geometries of your bikes.



I've always enjoyed EBykr's Bicycle Artistry site, but the current article on Goeland bikes really caught my attention. I was struck that Louis Moire, the man behind Goeland, had a vision for the company that is much like my vision for Velo Orange. Goeland bikes were often alternatives to the super expensive Herse and Singer bikes. By using outside builders and compromising on fancy details and some components, Louis Moire was able to build construteur bikes for, if not the masses, at least for a wider audience.

Be sure to read EByker's previous articles. Also look through the photographs; there are some wonderful details there. For example, notice how the old French bag in the photo on the right opens from the front, just like an Ostrich bag.