The Walker Hour Bike
I won’t hold liking cats against you, but if you don’t like dogs, you’re dead to me. Some things aren’t left to opinions, like whether Star Wars is good or not. You’re free to be an outlier – and I loves me some outliers and I loves me a rebel – but in some cases, being an outlier doesn’t make you clever. It just makes you wrong. Also, the Laws of Physics show that the more lightsabers you have in a movie, the better the movie. Except for Episode I and The Matrix, two anomalies which balance each other out.
Similarly, loving carbon bikes is no crime. They are light, they are stiff, and many (most) are beautiful. My stable is filled with them. But a bike handbuilt by an artisan in a small workshop is something different altogether, and each one’s singular beauty is not a matter of opinion, unless you’re comfortable being wrong. I only have one so far, and it’s the custom steel I had made by NAHBS founder, Don Walker for my failed Hour ride last summer. (I’m planning a rematch with Weather this coming June.)
At this point every bike I own is custom, if only the paintwork. But even then, having a hand in how the bike is finished bonds you to the machine in a way that off-the-peg bikes simply can’t. And my Walker, even though I don’t ride it as much as a practical bike (you know, one with gears and brakes) every time I climb on it, I can feel its magic. There is something about custom in general and steel in particular that feels uniquely magnificent.
We’re in a crisis, my fellow Velominati. The North American Handmade Bicycle Show is only a few weeks away and I just heard from Don that many of the builders who have been stalwarts of the event are struggling to the point that they can’t afford to attend, much less keep a booth there. People aren’t buying bikes as much as they were, apparently, and the bikes that are being bought aren’t custom, handmade ones. We’re buying kittens, not dogs. Cyclists are watching Star Trek, not Star Wars. It’s a fucking disaster.
This isn’t a call to go buy a custom frame, we aren’t made of money. But it is a reminder that there are giant corporations behind some bikes, and there are individuals behind others. And if you’re in the market for a bike, I’m asking you to remember that. And if you aren’t in the market for a bike but love looking at them, I’ll be at NAHBS this year (in godforsaken Salt Lake fucking City no less) and I’ll look forward to seeing you there.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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View Comments
@Major VVald
I can ride my alloy CAAD10 with HED+ wheel set mounted with 28's set at low p and that bike will ride plenty smooth.
I had a skinny piped steel CX bike that definitely provided mucho style points. I really liked that bike. Style points provided especially when the skinny piped down tube failed on a rough hit and I went sailing over the bars in to mud and it was all captured in high def photo burst.
see the down tube buckling here… that's beginning of an oh sh** this is gonna hurt slo mo moment
Star Wars is awesome. It's also complete crap. Discuss.
can't stand dogs but I'm highly allergic to them
and this wasn't a custom frame for me, but it probably was for someone and I want to show it off all ready for the Welsh Track Champs, team sprint and kilo!
@RobSandy
Pic didn't post...
@the Engine
Look at a Sarto custom carbon?
@Randy C
Great Odin's Raven! I had something similar happen at Sea Otter one year - bottom of a long hill the Rockshox Judy (100mm of plush, remember those?) hit deep sand and fully compressed and I stopped right there. I blame myself for poor positioning - not far enough off the saddle. Did Ritchey replace the frame (always lusted after a swisscross)? Seems like you were using it as intended so they should have. I did go with a heavier frameset for that reason - I'll let you know how it works out.
@Buck Rogers
As I understand it, the scarcity of frame builders for this kind of project has less to do with the certification needed for 753 but more likely the large minimum orders that builders are obliged to place with Reynolds for the tubing as it is manufactured only to special order. 753, like 725 tubing, is heat treated and so the silver brazing technique required for lug joints is much the same for both because you have to avoid annealing the heat treated alloy when applying heat to the joint. Hence, technically a 725 certified builder should be able to build you a 753 frame if, and this is the kisser, if they are prepared to source the tubing for you. You may wish to consider 725 (a chrome-moly alloy) as a more practical alternative to 753 (manganese - moly) as the mechanical properties are very similar. As a consequence, 725 has pretty much superseded 753. A 725 tubed frame is a ride of serene beauty.
@Oli
@Oli - always love that Benson. Class. Right on with build Quality. Ditto Bike Fit. In the end, what matters is where the rider is placed between the wheels. All materials can perform in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing. I ride 3 bikes regularly: Canyon UltCF SLX (carb), Custom Cyfac Prox(alum), Custom Bixxis (steel). When I look at my solo training data, you can't tell which bike I was on. The Canyon is close to 2 pounds lighter, so feels quicker starting from a stop light.....but I can't remember any stop lights or stop signs in races. I do race on the Canyon, but that's simply because it has a crash replacement.
PS: Don't feed the trolls spouting gospel from the pages of Bicycling Magazine.
@sowtondevil
I actually found a set of NOS NIB full frame building 753 Reynolds kit from the early 1980's, which is perfect. Looks like it was made yesterday.
The same stuff the LVC 1985 Hinault bikes were made out of.
So the frame building kit is not the issue, just a builder who will weld and chrome it!
"If you don't like dogs, what do you like...?"
Bob Walkenhorst
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CRBo18Q7BwM
@Oli
I live in Iceland, so small town is probably not far off (the entire population of the country is about 330.000)...
I am talking about good carbon frames, not the cheapest possible, apologies if that was not clear. Of course you can get crap in any material. The comparison I meant to make is a high quality, correctly fitted carbon frame that suits your riding style and other needs vs. any steel.
There is no disagreement here however:
There’s no bike finer than the one you’re riding.