BQ 1 (Summer 2002)

Vol. 1, No. 1

Alex Singer Special

Our very first issue starts with some terrific content: It celebrates Alex Singer, the famous French constructeur. A six-page interview with Ernest Csuka, who had worked at Cycles Alex Singer since 1944 and taken over the shop in the 1960s, brings to live the post-war cycling culture of Paris, when a custom bicycle was coveted as something truly special.

We feature a beautiful classic Alex Singer Randonneuse with Nivex derailleur and many special parts, and take it on a 400 km brevet. Catalog and magazine drawings of Alex Singer bikes and parts, a description of Alex Singer’s patented bottom bracket and an overview of the equipment at the 1951 Paris-Brest-Paris round out this issue. Plus we predict that triples will soon be replaced by compact doubles…