Campeur

01/16/2026

I rode RAGBRAI LII in Iowa this past July as a "bagger," carrying all my gear on the bike and the Campeur lived up to its billing as a comfortable, stable touring machine. In fact, the ~35 pounds I carried in the four Ortlieb panniers and dry pack atop the rear rack made very little difference in the handling of the bike, while the PDW Power Stance kickstand seemed purpose-built for the Campeur, making stops in crowded towns that much more convenient. I posted a lengthy write-up of my experience elsewhere for those who are interested (will post links in the comments) but, suffice to say, RAGBRAI should be on your list if you haven't already ridden across Iowa. -- Mark Drury

10/07/2023

I rode RAGBRAI L in Iowa this past July on the Campeur and suffice to say it was the perfect bicycle for this 527-mile jaunt over seven days, most of which was on paved roads (uneven at times) though there was one two-mile gravel section where the Campeur also shone. The heat, distances and crowds (50th anniversary) made this year's event particularly tough but I plan to do the ride again if/when it passes through Ainsworth, IA, where my mother was born and raised. Definitely worth adding to your bucket list if you haven't already done https://ragbrai.com/. — Mark Drury

10/27/2020

I clearly missed the memo but it appears the Campeur frame has been discontinued by Velo Orange, with little or no public notice far as I can tell. This makes me very sad but I suppose the frame wasn't selling (or will be replaced by a similar model soon):

The Campeur, as the name suggests, is a touring frame for paved, or unpaved, roads. It can carry a substantial load for long unsupported trips, yet handles beautifully even with no load. In fact, it makes an excellent city bike or gravel racer. Here are some of the highlights and specs: Frameset mat...

06/02/2020

Excellent deal on a nicely-spec'd 59 cm Campeur in road-riding trim--definitely worth a look if you're in the Bay Area or northern California (I don't know the bike or the owner):

Original Price Payed for Brand New Frame, Components, Tools, & Labor: $3163 Frameset; 59cm top...

09/07/2019

Just wanted to point out that the Campeur frame is on sale, most/all sizes still available:

The Campeur, as the name suggests, is a touring frame for paved, or unpaved, roads. It can carry a substantial load for long unsupported trips, yet handles beautifully even with no load. In fact, it makes an excellent city bike or gravel racer. Here are some of the highlights and specs: Frameset mat...

09/05/2019

Well, after more than 18 months I finally pieced together the Campeur again, after the somewhat scary crash in December of 2017 which left me a little hobbled and the bike in a bad way. Suffice to say I was commuting at speed on the Bay Trail early one morning, after a night of rain, so the trail was covered with water and, as it happened, fresh goose p**p. Down a steep hill then, on a hard right turn uphill, my front tire found the p**p, began to wobble and I tapped both brakes reflexively as the bike neared the edge of the blacktop path.

The rest is kind of a blur but the front wheel oscillated wildly a few times and I was thrown hard to the blacktop on my left shoulder, then slid off the hard surface into the dirt, leaving a bloody raspberry along the length of my left leg. I was certain my shoulder or collarbone was broken but subsequent x-rays said otherwise, thankfully.

I was truly fortunate that my injuries weren't worse and apart from some damaged brake levers and hoods, a dinged rear fender, some scrapes to the beautiful Tubus stainless racks and Velo Orange left pedal, the worst of the damage was the badly-bent braze-on which held the rear rack. I tried fixing that myself but clearly don't have to tools to do it safely -- hence the rear rack is not seen in the accompanying photo.

But now that the bike is in reasonably good shape again I've taken it on several ~25-mile jaunts and was immediately reminded why I love it so -- the ride is second to none, at least in my experience. I have a few more things to fix and will try to post more images soon.

08/04/2017

20% off all Velo Orange frames until Tuesday, August 8th -- best get you some: http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2017/08/20-off-frames.html

by Igor Welcome to August! The Polyvalents are going through one more round of revisions and testing before they are approved to go into ...

07/04/2017

From a recent visit to the Pulgas Water Temple here in the Bay Area of California. One update on the bike itself, and something of a follow-up to my initial impressions shared a year or so ago, is that the VO Grand Cru Zeste Cantilever Brakes have proved wonderful, more than powerful enough on steep descents, even with the questionable mechanical advantage I've employed in my setup, and easy enough to adjust once you become familiar with them. I believe squeak/squeal was also an issue I reported with these brakes but that vanished almost immediately with use (new rims, new brakes) and there's only mild squeal on steep descents when braking hard. As I offered over on the Bicycle Touring and Bikepacking group, " I have ridden a fair number of bikes in my day and this Campeur, for me, has the best all-around handling and comfort of anything I've ever ridden. I like the frame so much, in fact, that I may build up a second Campeur for gravel/trail riding and commuting using MB parts from an older hybrid I own."

05/28/2017

Finally got the Campeur out for a weekend ride after a protracted flu-like illness. That's an Ortlieb Front Roller Classic on the rear rack -- I haven't found a good way to attach this pannier to the Tubus Nova up front. Beautiful day in the Bay Area and a meander through the Stanford Campus always affords a nice finish (apologies for the poor image quality).

03/23/2017

Seemingly a screaming good deal on a 55cm Campeur if you're in or near the Bay Area of California (I don't have a vested interest in or more information about this bike other than what's in the listing): https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/bik/6056948417.html

up for sale is a velo orange 55cm campeur bike that i had built from huckleberry bicycles in the city. the bike is in FANTASTIC shape as i have only used it about 4-5 times (it maybe has about 10...

09/19/2016

An iPhone photo from today's ride round the hills above Woodside, California -- people familiar with the Bay Area will recognize the Pulgas Water Temple in the background. The bike is largely complete and ready for touring now that I have the Tubus Cosmo and Nova racks installed. The Ortlieb Front-Roller Classic would normally ride up front and I have matching Back-Roller and Rack Pack bags for the longer trips. At some I point I plan to add a post reviewing the Nova front rack as I've come to the conclusion the design is flawed in several ways, never mind how nice it is to look at -- hope to add that review soon.

05/04/2016

Another unremarkable iPhone 5 photo taken this past Sunday on Cañada Road, Woodside, during a ride through the hills fronting the Santa Cruz Mountains -- some of the very finest cycling roads are found on and around the San Francisco Peninsula.