The Radavist

You thought I was going to update you on my Bishop road frame didn’t you? Chris had mentioned this project to me prior but I didn’t think the hubs would be done for NAHBS this year. The Bishop Bike and Victoire Cycles track hubs are made by Julien in his small shop in France. He machines each hub from 7075, which is arguably stronger than the commonly used 6061. Each hub is then finished by hand and prepped before being sent out. These photos are of the first batch.

The hub features a splined cog interface, with a traditional lockring-style threading on the way, along with hard anodized cogs, lockrings, axles and custom titanium bolts.

Check out more photos at Victoire Cycles.

I’ve been talking with Chris Bishop just about every day about my NAHBS road bike and the whole time, he’s been going on and on about David’s Columbus Air road bike. Building small frames can be a real pain for builders. Yamaguchi told Chris if he ever were to build a production run of bicycles, to always start with the smallest size. If you can make the smallest size work, the whole line will.

I can’t wait to see what David’s bike will look like in the end. He’s going to have a solid NAHBS line up.

Chris Bishop is selling that drop-dead gorgeous MS track bike we saw at NAHBS and the Philly Bike Expo. It’s not cheap by any means but is the nicest track bike I’ve seen come from a builder in years.

Here are the details:

“Although I hate to do it, the MS track I showed at NAHBS is now for sale (frame and fork; wheels and other parts optional). I originally built this bike for myself and I love it, but I could never bring myself to ride it around town as a bike messenger because I am too hard on my bikes. Bike is 57.5 c-t, with 56 tt. Mint, never ridden. Need to make room and $ for new addition. Contact me if interested. This bike really needs to be ridden! Won best steel bike at NAHBS 2011.”

Bishop Bikes

#STTB

Chris Bishop‘s bikes can be recognized by this one detail alone. His seat tube clusters are always pristine and Mark’s road bike is just another example. Check out more here.

Different builders have different areas of expertise on a frame and while Chris Bishop‘s head tube clusters are always nice, his seat tube clusters are always dialed. This photo of Martin’s singlespeed exhibits just that. Check out more at the Bishop Flickr!

While Chris Bishop is claiming he can’t get a good photo of Jinbok’s cross frame’s color, I’m just amazed at all the lug finishing. How many masks is that? Nuts. Check out more at Bishop’s Flickr!

I can honestly say that I’ve been following the work of Chris Bishop, of Bishop Bikes since he first began building frames in Charm City, USA, aka Baltimore. Chris has been building for over four years and his career as a bicycle messenger shaped the way that he looked at frame design. His work started out as almost all track bikes: simple, elegant street machines and slowly grew into road, rando, and cross frames. Chris still works as a part-time messenger and stepping into his workspace was like visiting a time capsule of messenger events from the 90’s.

Over the years, he’s produced some of the most stunning bicycles, all with their own style and catered to his client’s specific needs. After the Philly Bike Expo, I traveled to Baltimore with Chris to check out his shop and get fit for my road bike.

Check out more below!

If you can’t tell, Ian from Icarus and Chris Bishop both asked me to photograph their show bikes for the Philly Bike Expo. With the painter’s schedule packed, neither had time to get the bikes documented before the trip to Philly. One of the things you’ll notice about Chris’ work is that his love for late 80’s and early 90’s crit bikes really shows with the paint jobs. The chevrons and colors mimic even Eddy Merckx’s team bikes. This bike was built for Bicycling Magazine (it’s actually in the stands now) and if that’s not a team Panasonic Merckx homage then I don’t know what is.

Check out more of this lovely bike below!

I can identify with large frames up to a certain point. I can ride a 62cm with no problem but a 63cm, for some reason, looks massive. John’s classic road bike was so big that Chris had to construct it from all downtubes. Not only does that give an increased stiffness, it makes for a nicely-proportioned bicycle. The Philly Bike Expo had many great bikes but this one just stood out above the rest. Mostly due to its size!

Check out more from Chris Bishop’s 2011 Philly Bike Expo road bike for John below!

K-Man’s bike was one of the more unique track bikes at the Philly Bike Expo. Its paint scheme nodded at the classics with a FAEMA-esque red and white coat. But like every bike to come out of Chris Bishop‘s shop, this one packed some lovely details. The K-Man on the top tube was a client request and before you make judgements, there’s a 63 on it as well, for his birth year. Gilco tubing, waves stays and incredible paint detailing made this bike a show stopper.

Check out more from Chris Bishop’s 2011 Philly Bike Expo fixed gear for K-Man below!

Between Mark’s road bike and Jinbok’s Gilco single speed CX, I don’t know which current project of Chris Bishop‘s that I like the best. From the look of this lug, Mark’s road bike is going to be classy as all but Jinbok’s custom CX stem looks sharp too. I guess we’ll just have to wait it out.

I just can’t get over this track frame. Hell, I already posted about it once! Jo lives in Paris and while Chris Bishop and his wife were vacationing overseas, they dropped it off to Jo. This thing is the definition of master craftsmanship. It’s composed of Columbus Spirit tubes, KVA stainless rear triangle, MKS dropouts, and a Columbus Air fork, all with some wicked chevrons and a killer coat of paint. Check out more new photos at the Bishop Flickr!

Not many people can thin a lug like Chris Bishop can. His bikes are a prime example of quality and Jo’s track frame just screams style. Chris went with a similar paint job as the MS Bike from NAHBS this year but chose a KVA stainless rear triangle.

Check out the full shot below!

I was just browsing through Chris Bishop‘s photos from his EU trip when I realized that I missed posting about Paul’s classic road bike. This jet black beaut has a red head tube and lug windows while maintaining a modern, sporty feel. Check out more at the Bishop Flickr!

Photo by John Fabrizio

Chris Bishop‘s latest track frame has a few surprised under its fork crown. Kevin’s Bates tribute track frame pulls in references from the era of British path racers. Ornate lugwork by Nervex, clean lug-lining and a set of Bates Cantiflex curved fork blades make this one Beautiful Bicycle. Check out the rest of the photos at the Bishop Bikes Flickr! Also, be sure to check out Baltimore Velo’s shop visit to Bishop right here.

I think if I ever get a Colnago Master Pista and I want a custom bar and stem combo to match it, I now know where to go. Chris Bishop is an animal. Literally, I saw him eat roadkill once and this cockpit is coming out awesome. Check out all the Bishop insignia!

There are too many details to flood a post so head over to the Bishop Flickr to see how this beaut turned out!

Gah, I can’t wait to get fit for my Bishop Road!

Chris Bishop‘s like the magician who gives away the secrets. His latest series on his Flickr shows how he used a Colnago lug to model a custom steel bar and stem combo for a client’s Colnago Master Pista track frame. Check the process out here. Pretty impressive!

Chris Bishop is back at it full swing after taking time off for a rather successful trip to NAHBS. With the Philly Bike Expo looming overhead, he’s cranking out the details. Take this hand-carved bottom bracket shell. Stunning! Maybe mine will have that detail.

;-)

Keep on top of Chris’ work at the Bishop Progress Blog and the Bishop Flickr.