Dugast

I talk often on this blog about my Dugast 'cross tires. You guys must think, what's the big deal? They're only tires. Here is an excerpt from an article by importer Mark Hoskin who visited Andre Dugast at his workshop in March 2000:

"50kms south of Paris on the edge of the quiet town of Bouray-Sur-Juine is to be found the master of the tubular, Andre Dugast. The world is changing around him in his own lifetime, but he appears resigned in his sixty-second year. Since starting with Dourdoigne in 1952 and branching out on his own in 1974, just three years before Dourdoigne closed their doors forever, the victim of bankruptcy, cycling has grown and changed beyond all recognition. The two manufacturers of those times now both gone, Clement existing with only the name a tenuous link to the past and Dourdoigne only living in the memories of a shrinking number of cyclists. He has seen the rise and fall of all the modern champions, and made tubulars for most of them as well. Today's manufacturers find the path to his door, having him make tubulars with his own hands for their sponsored teams, many to be disguised as clinchers, or be converted by the words of marketing departments into the use of something else that is produced halfway around the world from France and sold to the public all over the world. It's work though, and with a craftsman's pride and satisfaction apparent it appears to be no problem. He knows what he does and it seems enough.

At the height of production in 1980 Dugast employed six people. Buying tread bands from the vast ranges of Wolber and Clement which were then fixed to his own casings in silk or cotton even this is under threat. Foxonall (nee Clement) has closed, the only ray of light that someone appears to have bought the moulds for the tread bands and wants to start their own production so this supply necessary for his Cyclo Cross tubulars may restart. Wolber closed, so his track and road tubulars with their tread bands are going to be extinct when his stocks run out leaving him with only Vittoria and Hutchinson to cajole into making products that they don't even want to sell under their own names. As a result the past year may have been the last year of the Dugast Cyclo Cross tubular. Nowadays he is receiving old tubulars from riders like Daniel Pontoni and carefully removing the tread bands and attaching them to new casings. Such is the faith riders still place in his skills and hands. With Veloflex only wanting to produce the simpler and easier clincher tires he may be the last person making tubulars in Western Europe for as long as he is willing to continue and can obtain supplies. It's not easy for a single person, making one hundred tubulars a week, to have today's big companies sell him anything. Even the ultra light latex tubes he uses may not be produced for much longer, he may be willing to continue, but may be driven into retirement by forces he cannot control.

His workshop, 10m x 10m square, is a museum of how things used to be in the old days of tire production. The only somewhat distant mirror now being Veloflex in Italy who employ five persons. The fax and radio are the only really modern intrusions. Even the wheels used while the glues set are old Mavic CX-18 and Wolber rims attached to old Simplex and Mavic hubs. Custom produced cloth arrives for the casings, chafing strips and base tapes, to be skillfully combined from start to finish by Andre Dugast's hands. Endless bands of cloth are cut to the correct width, have their edges turned over and finely sewn on an old machine and then the tube is placed inside and the chafing strip sewn in place. Later the base tape is glued on, and then the tread band is glued in place to then hang on the wheel from the ceiling to cure. Some tubulars hanging currently are made specifically for Paris-Roubaix, and will afterwards be consigned to training or other lesser purposes by the team who they are being made for. He is just finishing off the French track teams tubulars for the Olympic Games, more normal production for sale under his own name will then occupy him for the summer. If he is forced into stopping for lack of supply or retires then the last painter of a dying art will vanish, living on only in the memories of those fortunate enough to have experienced the joy of riding a tubular made by Andre Dugast."

Here's another description from Echelon Imports:

"Andre Dugast has been producing the finest tubular tires in the world since 1952. He started with the Dourdoigne firm in 1952 and branched out on his own in 1974. He has seen cycling change over the years, yet has produced tires for the greatest cyclists in the world throughout his career. Rumors abound that upwards of 80% of all Olympic cycling medals since the 1980 Moscow games have been won on Dugast tubular tires. Lance Armstrong has won all six of his Tours on Hutchinson commissioned Dugast tubulars. Dugast tires are also the winningest tubulars on both the cyclocross circuit and on the velodrome.

With the majority of tubular tires being produced in Asia by machines, Dugast has continued to supply the pro peloton with hand-made silk and cotton tubular tires. Andre Dugast buys the tread bands from a variety of tire manufacturers which are then fixed to his own casings in either silk or cotton."

Andre sold his business a few years back to Richard Neuhaus (Richard Groendaal's mechanic.) Andre stayed on to train Neuhaus in the art before retiring.