27 June, 2014

Camargue Frames Gallop In

The long awaited Camargue frames have arrived. The Camargue is designed for those who ride mostly on unpaved, roads. It can carry a substantial load for long unsupported trips, yet handles very well even with no load at all. It can be ridden with traditional racks and panniers or bike packer style. Being a mid-trail design it works well with both front and rear loads.
Geometry is designed to handle like the much-praised Campeur, even with larger tires. This frame is not suspension corrected, allowing us to better fine tune handling. We have done a lot of testing on single track, gravel roads, dirt roads, and on smooth pavement. I even used mine as a commuter; it makes a great rugged city bike. This bike is incredibly versatile, so long as you like riding the big tires it's designed for.
In case you were wondering, it's named after an ancient breed of French horse famed for their calm temperament, agility, intelligence and stamina. Today they are used to herd cattle and for long distance riding. I wonder how our Camargue would be at herding cattle?

Here are some of the highlights and specs:
  • 4130 double butted chrome-moly frame and fork.
  • 1-1/8" fork with lovely French-style bend.
  • 700c (29er) wheel size on 55-61cm frames, 26" on the smaller sizes.
  • 135mm rear spacing.
  • Bi-plane fork crown.
  • Clearance for 1.9" (48mm) tires with fenders or 2.25" (57mm) tires without fenders (don't use fenders with "knobby" tires).
  • Canti brake bosses.
  • Seatstay cable stop.
  • Beefy horizontal dropouts, so you can use an internal gear hub.
  • Double eyelets front and rear for mounting fenders and racks.
  • Fender bosses under fork crown, at seat stay bridge, and at chainstay bridge for easy fender installation.
  • Three water bottle cage mounts, two on 47cm and 50 models.
  • Lowrider through bosses and seatstay rack eyelets.
  • Metal head badge.
  • Carmargue decals on top tube showing three ancient horses galloping. They are removable. 
  • The frame geometry chart can be found at this link.
  • A brief comparison of the frame and other VO frames can be found at this link.
If you want to read more about the Camargue previous posts are linked below:

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23 comments:

  1. dana the tall6/27/14, 4:17 PM

    How do you pronounce "Carmargue"?

    ReplyDelete
  2. VeloOrange6/27/14, 4:20 PM

    ​kaˈmaʁɡ or Ka' Marg

    ReplyDelete
  3. Matt6/27/14, 4:31 PM

    Are the 26" frames still orange?

    ReplyDelete
  4. VeloOrange6/27/14, 4:41 PM

    They are all green.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous6/27/14, 5:34 PM

    is the chainstay length to the back of the horizontal dropout?

    ReplyDelete
  6. john6/27/14, 6:34 PM

    I've been waiting for this one to arrive. Looks excellent. Did the tire clearances shrink since the prototypes? They were previously listed at 70mm w/o fenders:

    velo-orange.blogspot.com/2013/12/nude-frames.html

    john

    ReplyDelete
  7. VeloOrange6/27/14, 6:38 PM

    I think the chainstay length is to center of the slot.

    John, It's 70mm; we just like to be conservative with tire size recommendations. Need to leave room for mud buildup

    ReplyDelete
  8. john6/27/14, 7:03 PM

    Mud was why I asked. Thanks.

    John

    ReplyDelete
  9. jonathansmith686/28/14, 11:19 AM

    Any thoughts of releasing an "off-road" dropbar(kind of like the Salsa Woodchipper) in silver and 25.4mm or 26.0mm? Seems like most companies are just offering black and over-sized (31.8mm) options.

    -Jonathan

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  10. Wes Ewell6/28/14, 6:06 PM

    Do you still offer to install the headset for an extra price?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wes Ewell6/28/14, 9:12 PM

    I plan to use a Soma June Bug off-road drop bar on my Camargue. Like the Woodchipper it is black and 31.8mm. On my Surly I use a similar bend Soma Portola that is silver and 25.4mm. Click on my name to see a photo of both bars.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Mark Holm6/29/14, 12:46 PM

    Asking for curiosity, because I'm not in a position to buy a Camargue, right now. How is one intended to use the screws in the dropouts for setting axle position? Sub Topics: Getting the wheel true in the frame? Correct setting/position for derailers?

    Also, those screws sticking out the back look awfully exposed and damage prone, as well as a bit ugly. Are they only needed for setup?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kyle6/29/14, 6:33 PM

    Are you going to sell some 700c x 60mm fenders? The only viable option today is Berthoud.


    ReplyDelete
  14. VeloOrange6/30/14, 10:17 AM

    We have thought about off road drop bar, but I'm not sure if we'll do it. There are already enough out there and I actually prefer the Rando bars.

    We do still install headsets.

    The dropout screws are like those on almost any frame made back in the day. They are simply stops to ensure wheel alignment when changing wheels quickly, like in a race. You don't really need them.

    We have the new 63mm fenders that are perfect for the Camargue.

    ReplyDelete
  15. A6/30/14, 3:23 PM

    I've done some pretty rugged touring on a frame with the screws in the dropouts (which seem to be pretty common on horizontal dropouts) and an igh, I never thought anything about their appearance but I was glad they were there when I had a flat rear tire out miles from anything and I didn't have to worry about wheel alignment or chain tension, just drop in and go.

    The camargues look great!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wes Ewell6/30/14, 4:38 PM

    How do I ask for headset installation when I order the frame?

    Correction to my last post: the Soma Portola bar is 26mm and available in two widths.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous7/1/14, 6:56 AM

    Looks awesome! Nice work. Disk version with vertical dropouts and a slightly longer top tube for swept bars such as Milanos or Nitto Bullmooses would get my order. Canti's just don't cut it off road in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous7/1/14, 10:09 AM

    Re- anon 6:56- so all of us that survived the 80's and 90's with canti brakes off road were just lucky??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7/1/14, 6:18 PM

      Actually, I think it's those of us that began riding with V's and discs that are lucky.
      I ride canti's with drop bars and 42 tires on unsealed roads, but with 2.2 knobbies on singletrack I just don't think they have enough power. It's the difference between recklessly flying along and nervously checking my speed.

      Delete
  19. VeloOrange7/1/14, 12:54 PM

    Wes, We put a link in the frame listing to get the headset installed. Or just ask in the comments.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous7/2/14, 10:14 AM

    re: disks vs. cantis/Vs -- I suspect that few potential buyers of this frame think of being "rad" or "shredding" when they envision riding this bike, so "flying recklessly along" is probably not even appealing to them. For the intended use, off-road touring, there are some of us who want the simplicity of cantis and that is why this frame is a nice alternative to the Fargos and other bikes of that ilk.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous7/2/14, 11:42 AM

    Just took delivery today of the smallest frame size (47cm) to build up for my better half. Beautiful frame and can't wait to get it rollin'. She wanted a trail-ready touring bike (for local trails combined with some weekend "farm-hopping" to stock-up on fresh produce... & hopefully some overnight bike camping!) Choices are rather limited for quality extra-small production frames of this type and we narrowed it to the Camargue vs. Salsa's Vaya. Although completely different in several ways, they both had an extra small size combined with 26inch wheels and similar clearances (standover and tire.)
    The technical stuff was left to me but she made the final call. I couldn't be happier with her selection and really look forward to building this. Thanks VO for a great product and service!

    And FYI for anyone else looking at the 47cm - although clearance is tight between the rear brake cable hanger and seatpost binder, VO was clever enough to include a neat little noodle to make cable routing easier! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Eric Daume7/7/14, 8:56 PM

    I put up build details and many pictures of my 62cm frame on my blog:

    http://bikingtoplay.blogspot.com/2014/07/velo-orange-camargue-introduction.html

    ReplyDelete