Reportage

Bishop Dura Ace 10-Pitch Track Bike

Chris Bishop cleaned up shop at the 2012 NAHBS with a trinity of gorgeous frames. He won best fillet construction, best lugged construction and this frame brought home the best steel bike. That’s the second year in a row that he’s won that for a track bike and this one isn’t messing around. There’s nothing to hide here. Each builder was urged to bring an unpainted bike for this years show, prompting Chris to complete this frame rather quickly.

This haste doesn’t show in his craftsmanship however, as each 1970’s Prugnat pressed lug was painstakingly carved and reshaped with brass. The bottom bracket was hand carved, the track ends drilled, fork crown shaped and when he completed everything, nothing but classic track geometry was left. Steep angles, tight clearances and a complete Dura Ace 10-Pitch group set this apart from the rest. I had the pleasure of photographing it in an back alley on the final day of the show. See so yourself in the Gallery below, or perhaps you’d like to buy it? Check the details out below.

Chris is selling the 57.5cm ctt ST x 56.5cm ctc TT frame to recoup some costs. $2,800 gets you the frameset (frame and fork only) and a single colored, made-to-order Fresh Frame wet coat for only $400 – $500 more. Naturally, if you wanted a more expensive paint job, you can also request that. If you are interested, email me and I’ll forward it onto him. This is by no means an off-the-shelf track frame. If it were a custom order, it’d be much more than that, especially with all the detailing.