Support Your Local Framebuilder
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.
I hope you’re comfortable being wrong. Cats are clearly superior to dogs, due to their inherent inability to look anything but fabulous. Dogs on the other hand, drooling on everything that doesn’t move quickly enough and sometimes even things that do, couldn’t possibly match this. They are the mountain bikers of the pet world, cats are the roadies. As for Star Trek and Star Wars, well … one is actual science fiction that .Ore often than not engaged the brain, the other a low brow space opera spectacle that doesn’t engage anything but the cringe muscle.
@userfriendly
A-Merckx fronk.
I may have been a bit scarce around here lately but I cannot let this article pass without an endorsement. I have long maintained that every Velominatus who is so inclined should experience commissioning a custom bicycle from a master. It is an unparalleled experience.
@frank, I suppose you haven’t made an appointment at Hampsten Towers yet?
It is your destiny.
@userfriendly
Love at first read. Absolutely, fronkatively, correct. May the cat be always on your lap, and your ales appropriately chilled for the style.
I’ve always looked down on people who don’t have a custom frame that was built for them dating back to the early to mid 1990’s. So many newbies out on the road nowadays.
Also, rats make great pets — AKA low maintenance dogs.
“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.”
Right!
But Rogue One only had a bit of lightsaber and really kicked some ass.
And do not forget Ti frames when you are thinking of steel! Esp if you have Eriksen weld it together for you with Hampsten pulling the strings!
My Eriksen/Hampsten TI frame arrived two weeks ago and it is mind-blowing fuckingly awesome!!! Picking up my new wheelset next month and then “Ronde” is done and ready to destroy the pave’ and bergs in Belgium this Spring!
Already set up my RVV trip with the Pave Classic Boys!!! The only thing that would make it better is more V members there!!!
@Nate
Fucking-Amen! Do you have a Hamsten as well???
Fucking dreamingly amazing!
So, I’ve been to see Rogue One and am in the process of getting a rescue Vizsla (Hamish) – all good.
Wait. What’s this? I also got an entry to this year’s Transcontinental Race in July?
Why, that means I’ll need a new bike (and to cease being a fat bastard).
I’ll just kick this off by saying I’m considering a Trek. What do you all think I should get?
Absolutely bang on. My #1 – Shand Skinnymalinky, custom steel, Built by Hand in Scotland, 90 mins from my house. It’s not flash, it’s not carbon, its not off the shelf, as custom as my mutt Mavic, a smooth coated Wire Haired Vizsla. I like cats but they are just not dogs.
@userfriendly ‘cats are the roadies’? Aye, the roadies that barrel by and never acknowledge another cyclist, up their own arse unless they need fed.
@Buck Rogers – sadly not this year, too many other demands on my time and cash.
@the Engine
Bloody hell, you just had to ask that!
Welcome to the Vizsla owners club. Never a quiet moment.
@JohnB
Ohhhh! Who built your frame? I am having a FUCK ALL awful time finding someone in the UK who is qualified and willing to build but my Eroica bike project frame with the original 753 Reynolds tubing!
Totally understand about the RVV. Next year I am planning on riding Strade Bianche so mark yer calendar!!!
@the Engine
Well, it all starts with how much money can you smuggle out of the bank account without the VMH realising it!
@Buck Rogers
About £5
I have mixed feelings …
Don’t get me wrong, I agree that every cyclist should have a custom build – it’s like putting on a glove. And they are surprisingly not that expensive by comparison to off-the-shelf stuff.
On the other hand the whole artisan aspect makes me think that the boom was to an extent built on hipsters and newbies who were in it for the style and the polish not the fundamental reality or the practical usage. I won’t be sorry to see some of them go.
As the market boomed here my local framebuilder, a very well-known and loved brand in existence for three generations, folded because they had nobody to take over the business as the incumbent retired. Yet new artisanal builders with catchy names and sparkling logos seem to pop up every other month.
I wonder whether it’s skill at brazing or just brazen marketing which is most useful.
@buck rogers Where have you looked? I would have though traditional builders like Mercian or Bob Jackson would be able to do whatever you wanted.
@the Engine
Ha! That got me!
@ChrisO
Funny you should mention Bob Jackson and Mercian. Donald at Bob Jackson said that they no longer do any custom builds, only “off the peg” stuff. I was really surprised to hear that. Mercian has not replied after three weeks of emailing and trying to contact them. Dave Yeats also said that he could not do it for me.
My view here:
Dogs being superior to cats is obvious. I’ll take Lawful Stupid over Chaotic Insane any day of the week (extra points for getting that reference).
Star Wars (and yes, that includes all the prequels if anyone is wondering) is not only superior to Star Trek but to absolutely every movie or TV show that has ever been or will ever be produced. The only negative is that the Star Wars Universe does seem to need some education about riding bikes!
But steel bikes in this day and age, custom or otherwise, is where I lose interest unless it’s purely for nostalgia or easy coffee runs, which is entirely valid of course. I’m well aware that modern steel frames (and some older ones) can perform very well but the limitations compared to carbon are obvious, weight, flex, and absolutely no aero element. The only steel frames that get close to matching carbon (or even aluminum) in these areas all seem to cost twice as much as a carbon frame that still does all of it better.
And then there are looks, which I’m given to understand is considered even more important here. Put simply, steel frames (to my eyes, I don’t speak for anyone else of course) may look beautiful but they also universally look old, heavy and slow. That includes monstrously expensive things like Jäeghers which I know are neither heavy nor particularly slow. They still look like they are. Carbon frames on the other hand look fast, mostly due to the shaping (for extra strength, stiffness or aero sauce) which the eye probably reads similarly to the way fast movement is drawn in cartoons.
Ride feel I can not comment on as I have never ridden a steel road bike, but even if that is as great as it is described on post after post on this site that does not make up for going slower than you could be going on a carbon frame. And it will be slower, perhaps not much slower if you paid a king’s ransom for the frame, but still slower. I would not say no if offered a free steel bike (I’m on this site after all!) but I would never spend money on one.
@Chipomarc
Now that’s an outlier
@ChrisO
Most shops will not do it because it requires a builder who has taken the Reynolds 753 building course and also it needs chroming and a lot of shops will not do that, either. A few builders I spoke to said that they had never taken the course and would not try it without having done the course and that I should not trust any builder who would do it that had not taken the course.
Bit of a fix!
@Buck Rogers
Look no further than Garry at Argos Racing Cycles in Bristol for that elusive custom 753 steel frame. He built mine back in 2005 – it’s still my #1
Where are the custom frame pics? I’m here for custom frame pics.
@Ben
Oh, those will presumably be here very soon!
@Buck Rogers
Apologies if it’s already been mentioned but Brian Rourke Cycles surely?
I’m watching Start Trek with a cat on my lap messenging with my NAHBS show bike fram builder – so suck it like a person who is snotty because of their cat allergy.
And looking forward to a beer with you at the Shamrock booth!
@Buck Rogers
Waiting for the new wheels before posting pictures of the long awaited machine?
Regret I do not have a local frame builder to support! Local luthier yes. But frame builder no.
This idea is a lot like the idea of maintaining classic Mustangs and Camaros or even rebuilding ’em as resto-mods with modern brakes and such. I love these old muscle cars. And thank the good lord every time I see (or hear) one. And much respect to those keeping the dream alive. And even though a modern twin turbo four door sedan could outperform these old cars in about every measure, the one measure, and a very subjective one at that, they cannot is the one about being cool and grabbing the senses in a way a modern/common car cannot. And that’s the local frame builder’s bespoke craftsmanship.
There’ll be a time and place for me to go down this road. And I so look forward to it as will have had decades of planning in my head!
In the meantime, this little beauty was built local and it’s the burled walnut headstock and subtle bear claw in the spruce top that sets it apart from most any Taylor or Gibson you’ll find on the wall at a shop. Mr. Woodward (right name or what?) simply loves and collects cool wood. And uses it to make guitars. Much respect. Cheers all !
@the Engine
A Don Walker. What else?
@Buck Rogers
Steven Shand at Shand Cycles, Livingston. Mine is 853. Worth a call to them to ask.
@Quasar
No need really, they look just like an off the peg sized frame in a photo plus mine has the mudguards on it for the winter and nobody needs to post pics of that!
@Buck Rogers
Mercian Cycles are the most disorganised bunch of nitwits I’ve ever come across. You begin to wonder what kind of future they have when you go in the store and ask for brake blocks or inner-tubes and they tell you they don’t have any in stock. They’re two decades out of date and vastly overpriced. Surely, the market for nostalgic old-school bikes must be dwindling faster than the market for dumb-phones and at almost £3k for a Shimano 105 bike that looks like something your granddad would ride tells you they’re taking the piss. They make a big thing of the Paul Smith tie-in, but even the mugs who pay for his overpriced clothing aren’t daft enough to shell out for one of his designer “track bikes” – which should really be called fixies, because they come with brakes and certainly aren’t build for velodrome use. Seriously, they may have been around since the 1940’s, and even though I have fond memories of the my first racing bike I brought from them back in 1989, I doubt they’ll still be around in 10 years time without a radical overhaul. I don’t see any reason to support such an outfit.
@JohnB
So cats are selective about who they like. Doesn’t make them wrong. There’s simply no denying that they look fantastic and work meticulously on maintaining that look. Always. They’re pretty much the embodiment of the Velominatus – elegant and casually deliberate. Dogs though … smelly when wet like an unwashed polyester jersey, and always panting like the fatty on his sit-up-and-beg contraption with his YJA and trainers. Sorry, mate. But I’m quite clearly and obviously right about this.
Kudos for getting the word out about Shand Cycles, though. I really like what he’s doing, and we don’t have near enough frame builders in Scotland.
@Buck Rogers
Another couple of places suggested to me Argos in Bristol, Woodrups in Leeds. I don’t know of either personally.
@Sowtondevil
Right! This one had actually been suggested as well at Steve Goff and Ellis Briggs so now I have a few leads to work on!
@userfriendly
Spot fucking on! Dogs are pedestrian in every way. Cats are aristocratic.
-Eddie
Oh, an did someone say custom steel?
-Eddie
@Buck Rogers
Dylan thomas at Poetry In Motion, in York
@EBruner
are these both yours?! gorgeous bikes!
@Cary
Yeppers!!
-Eddie
I have a steel custom frame made a couple of years back by Nigel Wilson of J F Wilson Cycles in Sheffield, and I love it so much that my carbon Look hasn’t really had much of a look in since. Nigel still operates out of two garden sheds behind his mid-terraced shop in the middle of Sheffield, but the man is a true craftsman and loves his work. His waiting list is long, but if you ask him to make something that fires him up the waiting time can often get a lot shorter.
Kelly’s Bar at Brian Rourke Cycles makes for a unique venue to be measured up for your ‘Rourkie’
My beautiful custom Benson made from Columbus PegoRichie OS tubes is without question the best riding bicycle I’ve ever owned, and I’ve owned plenty!
Some points:
753 is junk, Buck – that ship has sailed. Let your builder select the pipes.
Dog look up to you, cats look down on you, pigs treat you as an equal. Thus our headtube badge with the cinghiale.
Support your local framebuilder. Go to Nahbs. Drink beer.
Bummer about NAHBS. I’ve been to a few and enjoyed it very much. Between it being in SLC (meh) and saving the cash for a week riding somewhere above freezing I choose not to go this year.
Plan to pull the trigger on a handmade frame sometime this year – at this point, I’ve satisfied any practical need I have so it’s time to start building something special.
Odd how the fortunes of the builders seem to run in such divergent directions. Some are only doing stock sizes, some have year+ waiting lists and others aren’t in a great place. No explanation, but it’s interesting how much it differs.
@HampCo
Where is the friggen “like” button !?! As a matter of fact I am drinking beer btw. Cheers !
So, do I buy an off the peg Trek and mod it (wheels, saddle, bars) – or do what I did with the gravel bike (a mighty Veloforma V-bike) and spec a frame (carbon surely) and add my own stuff? More expensive I fancy to take the latter course.
Also has to be disc and Shimano for the sake of reliability, endurance and spares.
@JohnB
I usually don’t acknowledge other riders when I’m rocking my Asso Zegho Werksmannschaft eye protection system.
@Quasar
Agree with the cats/dogs and Star Wars slaying all others.
But you’re way off on the steel or Ti frames. I’ve raced all materials, never felt faster than on steel. Was faster on an Alu/carbon frame but it was godawfully painful and I attribute the speed to the team training and superb coaching during those years. Which is why I still have the old Condor (early 80’s). I will ride it until I die, then my son gets it. Just got a steel CX so I can shred the mud in style next year.
@HampCo
Steve! Is that you? Lay off the hooka pipe, Mate!
I am building an exact fucking 1985 La Vie Claire Hinault bike for Eroica with all original parts.
It’s going to be FUCKING Awesome!
Between that bike and my new Hampsten Ti, there will not be anything that I cannot ride!!!
@Major VVald
My post ignored titanium completely, and on purpose. It costs about as much as a ski vacation on Pluto and titanium frames are rare enough that I’ve never actually seen one except on pictures on this site.
But here is the thing: Feeling faster and being faster are two very different things. If you race and ride with a team on your steel bike and easily keep up with the guys on the latest and greatest it means exactly one thing: That you are strong enough to make up for the extra weight/flex/drag of your frame. That makes you cool of course, but with the right (and this is important) carbon frame you’d leave them in the dust, which is always more cool.
It is entirely possible that you would have been faster on steel than the painful alu/carbon hybrid thing purely because it would not have beaten you up as much, but carbon has evolved considerably since then. Test ride any of the models companies showcase during the cobbled classics and it will feel like you’re riding in a sofa.
@Quasar
There’s no bike finer than the one you’re riding.
P.S. Titanium frames aren’t rare at all – if you haven’t seen many you must be living in a very small town.
P.P.S. Frame material matters much less than build quality. A good steel frame will smoke a bad carbon frame all day long; less mass isn’t the only part of the equation.