Search Term – Change
Photos by Jonathan Henig
Bryan from Royal H. has spent years at Seven finishing bikes. He, like many builders, prefers steel but will welcome new materials once and a while. Maybe that’s what finally led him to creating his first stainless bike. As shown through the lens of Jonathan Henig, here’s Bryan finishing a freshly blasted stainless frame. When it’s all exposed stainless, every little detail needs to be finished. Check out more at the Royal H Tumblr!
This week brought some very interesting discourse in the comments section of a few blog posts. First, the Bruce Gordon SOS went up and then I posted a teaser to Majaco Bicycles, without stating who the builder was, allegations and assumptions flew like sparks. Frame building, especially in the USA, is a difficult profession. All the builders I know struggle from day to day but they continue to make Beautiful Bicycles with their hands. Mark from Majaco Bicycles is new to frame building. He’s been producing custom bicycles for a little over a year now. I spent a few hours at Mark’s house in South Austin talking bikes and discussing what makes Majaco Bicycles different from many other builders in the US.
Check out more below!
I can really feel Max from Tokyo Fixed Gear‘s pain on this one. He’s been keeping me updated on the progress of the Tokyo Fixed Bikes for what seems to be ages. Well, all that waiting has paid off because the shipments are in and the website is live. For those of you who haven’t been following the progress of these bikes, you can check out a breakdown of each of the frames that Tokyo Fixed Bikes have to offer!
Check out more below!
Peanut butter, brass and paint. With a little bit of steel mixed in. Remember, this 4th of July, celebrate your independence from shit bikes. Start saving up for a custom frame and support your local builders. It doesn’t matter if they’re BMX, MTB, track, FGFS, road, rando, touring, cross. Whatever it is, support this industry!
Buy American (or your home country) and buy proud!
It’s no secret that Japan is home to some of the most talented and diverse frame builders in the world. While the small island country is often associated with Keirin and NJS frames, Toyo proves there is much more to be seen in Osaka than pist bikes. Check out more photos of Toyo Frames’ latest work here at their site. There are some gorgeous details on this frame in particular!
If you’ve been following this blog long enough, you’ll know that I love Columbus MAX. It’s perfect for a big hoss like me and builders around the world fell in love with it’s beefy chainstays, bi-oval tubes and solid ride. Here’s two more photos from my Icarus Viking MAX track bike.
If there’s one Brooklyn-bred business that I’ve covered here extensively, it’s Brooklyn Machine Works. I swung by to see Joe and Ken one of the first days I was in town to use my new 15mm Fisheye FD lens and I was pleased with the outcome.
Check out more of my Recent Roll with BMW below!
When I first got to Melbourne, I was amazed at how many frame builders there were in town. Many of which still build and paint their bikes locally. One shop that still has a house brand is Cecil Walker. I met Tim, the manager of their Fitzroy shop and offered to shoot photos of his Columbus SL Cecil Walker road bike.
Check out more photos below!
Photo by Gavin Campbell
Gavin from Spinwell was at the 2011 Bristol Bespoked show and he took some lovely photographs of the many offerings by the local framebuilders. Head over to Gavin’s Flickr for more!
I love it when frame builders tease us with little details. Check out the sleeved seat tube cluster, elegant seat stays and head tube cluster (not to mention the fork crown) on Leigh’s new Bishop fixed. Drool-worthy!
There are more at the Bishop Flickr!
The grassroots bicycle shows keep coming. San Diego, Philly and now Madison, Wisconsin are all hosts to their respective velo shows. The Heartland Velo Show will start a new tradition of the “Made in the USA” bicycle show. Check out the press-release below!
My homie Stebs’ company Paper Fortress resides in the Fringe, a massive warehouse in Somerville filled with everything from framebuilders, to industrial designers, photographers, print shops and other creatives. We’ve seen his work before (linked below) and here’s his current reel, entitled 2009 – 2011 Reflection. You’ll recognize a lot of familiar faces in there…
Previously:
Paper Fortress: Fringe Union
Paper Fortress: Filming Myself #3
Open Bicycle – Sean Milnes
I’m not sure why It’s taken me so long to post about Destroy Bicycles. They’re everything I love about American frame builders and fixed freestyle but as life goes, I get piled up with posts in queue and shit slips through the cracks. Redwood City, CA is home to Sean and Marcus. Together they build fixed freestyle and BMX frames out of their shop. I saw some of the frames at the RideNStyle event and I gotta say, they looked pretty good.
So go check out Destroy Bicycles and some of the team over on SHMOB! Thanks to BHSK for the reminder on this one.
Sure, it may seem like every other week I’ve got some feature up on Ian at Icarus or one of my other favorite framebuilders but when’s the last time you saw a builder and his pet on a blog? Ian from Icarus has a bird, aptly-named Bird and it’s one of the wildest pets I’ve ever seen a frame builder own. Much less, how fitting is it for a company named after the son of Daedalus to own a bird?
Check out a few more photos of Ian and his bird, Bird below!
Pittsburgh doesn’t exactly have the nicest weather. For 9 months out of the year, the foreboding skies loom overhead and afternoon showers are a commonplace. While track bikes and fixed gears have their hold on the cycling community, the commuter marketplace is bourgeoning. Companies like ClankWorks began in Carnegie Mellon University’s halls. Benjamin Wojtyna and Drew Hendrickson began ClankWorks after they graduated in 2009. Two years later and the guys have hit a home run with their Pinch bike stand and Plank fenders: both of which use the highly-versatile and sustainable material, bamboo.
Check out more from my Shop Visit to ClankWorks below!
When you think of the term, frame building, what kind of connotations arise? Shavings, mills, flux and steel right? As commonplace as steel framebuilders are nowadays, there are very few that are still making aluminum bikes, much less aluminum track bikes. That’s where Low Bicycles comes in. Andrew Low began building track bikes in 2010 after a he got tired of making roll cages for off-road vehicles in Colorado.
Now he’s got a small shop in the Mission in SF where he designs, fabricates and even heat treats his frames.
Check out more photos from my Shop Visit to Low Bicycles below!
It’s getting to the point now where I feel like I take more and more 35mm photos when I’m out of town. My Canon AE-1 is lighter, more durable and with the 50mm f1.4 lens, I’m never disappointed with the outcome. Not to mention how buttery smooth the new Kodak Portra 800iso film is. Seriously, this shit is gold!
When I was up in Somerville visiting Ian at Icarus, I took some photos for a Recent Roll entry. Check out more below!
Adam from Stanridge Speed Bicycles is now offering his sexy Highstreet low pro frameset for sale in a limited run of 50 for $1,399. These frames are hand-made in the USA and feature a BB-30 bottom bracket, Columbus aero steel tubing and a true track geometry with one mean-looking lean. No to mention one ill paintjob and a custom-numbered badge. If anyone purchases one, be sure to share your photos! These things are sick!
Support your local builders.
Previously:
Stanridge Speed Bicycles: Steel BB30 Low Pro
