Between Maison Tamboite and Paris there’s a long-standing history, started in 1912, in the area of Porte Clichy, when bicycle was the favorite means of transportation of a Paris that still knew how to take the time to live. That’s a history nurtured by encounters with those prominent Parisian figures, whether from the music-all or the theater who, throughout the years, came to order their very own bespoke bicycle and that persists, as of today, in the boutique-workshop of a secret Parisian courtyard, with the making of haute-couture bicycles combining bespoke perfection to mechanical refinement.
With the models of its first collection, Henri, Dalou and Marcel, Maison Tamboite paid tribute to the City, and especially Paris, city of light, fashion’s capital, a city of creation and inspiration.
Paris attracts and seduces. People come from all over the world to wander along the Seine, exchange vows under the Pont des Arts or enjoy the charm of the city’s most picturesque markets and districts.
And yet, apart from these clichés, Paris is a city that constantly reinvents itself, surprises, develops, and combines the legacy of history with a modernity that may shock….. sometimes… at least at the beginning. The Eiffel Tower in its own time, Beaubourg, initially nicknamed ‘’the oil refinery’’, or Peï’s pyramid, jarring in the context of the Louvre, and yet celebrating this year its thirtieth birthday…
…with JR’s ephemeral complicity. Modernity.
There is a specific spirit of Paris that transcends time and era, a care and refinement that give each realization a grandeur that effectiveness alone could never justify. It’s where Paris charm lies; in this ‘’je ne sais quoi’’ that invariably contends a touch of style and elegance, a hint of wit.
Maison Tamboite feeds on such spirit, claims it and, through its creations, gives back something of this influence. Bicycles of its first collection are dedicated to urban cycling and therefore play a part in the emergence of a new mobility that benefits users as well as the environment. Yes, cycling remains the most energy efficient travel mode and yes, cycling is fully carbon-free. But there is something more to a Tamboite cycle. There’s another dimension to it, and that is the pleasure it provides.
It starts of-course with the pleasure of sheer visual beauty, when one discovers with delight the multiple refinements of the bike, from the carved lugs to the leather coated cables, the exclusive enameling colors, the patina of the seat or the shine of chromed parts. But such pleasure would not mean much if not sustained by the pleasure of riding.
One’s first finding is the incredible comfort of the journey.
Everything falls perfectly to hand. Supports are positioned in such a way that the body rests naturally in the proper position, neither too straight nor to bent. This adds to the careful selection of components among which a perfectly designed and realized saddle, or wells with wooden rims reinforced with carbon fiber. One’s next finding is the incredible sensation of a smooth and effortless ride.
The steel frame, as conceived by Maison Tamboite, provides for a mix of lightness and efficiency, which translates in motion at the first impulse on the pedal. It is just pure physics: the frame transfers the energy without any loss, which makes all the difference. No need to push too hard, your bicycle responds to your physical shape and choice of rhythm.
From cycling you’re expecting only the pleasure, and certainly not the pain.
You’re launched now, your mind freed from any practicalities, since you know to have the perfect tool. That’s when you can really enjoy the ride and discover the city, spot that remarkable art-deco façade with its botanical bas-relief, admire this perfectly symmetrical perspective that goes all the way up to the Sacré-Coeur…
An unloading delivery truck momentarily blocks an alley, you just have to slow down and thread your way around it….
in total control.
You ride in the busiest districts and sight your way above your head, as a path of light between the façades of the buildings. That’s when you notice this lightly pink color given by the sun on the upper part of the constructions, as a welcomed touch of sweetness … A little further, behind the partially opened door of a carriage entrance, you spot one of these typical Parisian courtyards. You have two minutes? You enter, holding your bicycle by the hand. In the silence of this unspoiled space, slightly antiquated, you are amused by the wonkiness of the pavement, and moved by the feeling of serenity provided by all those potted plants.
You are little bit at home and at the same time so far away….
But duty calls you and you’re gone again. One cycle path leeds to another, portions of streets shared with the other vehicles are used without apprehension (you quickly learned to live with them – and the reciprocal is also very true), and you are arrived at your destination, almost surprised.
Everything was organized. The route was scheduled and timmed. Everything went as planned. And then there was also the unexpected, what you caught glance, the beautiful, the new, the monuments, the shop windows and coffee terraces, all what the city has had to offer and that was lively, new, cosmopolitan and inspiring, and that made your ride a short journey.
With its bicycles as a sesame and as a guide, and the flame it declares for its city, Maison Tamboite Paris invites you to follow it, in the weeks and months to come, for a (re) discovery of this secret Paris that can’t fail to inspire.
