Chris Bishop‘s work on John’s classic track bike is really wild. Just check out that brake bridge! See more at the Bishop Flickr.
#Bishop-Bikes
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Bishop Bikes: Sharp Points
“I like the nice sharp points.” Well said Chris. John’s getting this track bike is in for a treat. See more at the Bishop Flickr.
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Bishop Bikes: Modified Japanese Seat Cluster
Chris Bishop is at it again with shaping and carving away at lugwork. This new track bike sports some very elegant lines, from the Japanese lugs. All the satin finishing on the stainless bits are drool-worthy. See more at the Bishop Flickr.
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Bishop Bikes: Dan’s Sportif with a New Stem
Chris Bishop continues his onslaught of insanely-detailed randos and tourers with a new cockpit on Dan’s sportif. Check out the full build here. This bike was at the 2011 NAHBS, where it got a lot of love. Much like this year’s NAHBS. I’ve been absolutely enthralled with my bike. It’s so much fun!
Radar
Slick Black Bishop Track for Sale
A Velospace user is selling his Bishop track bike:
“This is my custom build Bishop track bike . Built completely to my body measurements, and is the best riding bike I’ve ever ridden. Its surreal that this started out as a box of tubes , and turned into something so beautiful . This bike is VERY stiff where it needs to be, responsive , accelerates quickly, yet doesn’t kill you after riding it for 5 minutes. This is my commuter during the week, and will be on the track on the weekends. The tubulars never see the street, I have a set of mavic cxp12’s laced to suntour superbe pro clinchers.”
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Beautiful Bicycle: Khalil’s Bishop Flatbar Fixed
I met Khalil while I was in Sydney a few months ago but I met this bike at the 2011 Philly Bike Expo. When he found out I was in Australia, he wanted to meet up and I offered to shoot some more photos of his Bishop flatbar fixed gear. It’s still in immaculate condition. Khalil takes it out when he can and rides the coastal roads with. You already know how partial I am to Chris Bishop’s work and this bike shows a different side to his work.
Check out more by clicking the photo above or here to open in a new tab.
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My Bishop Road Bike
Where do I even begin with this bike? At the 2011 NAHBS, I spent the afternoon with Chris Bishop, after all the madness of the show had subsided. We rode around Austin, soaked up the sun, got lunch and chatted bikes. That’s when he asked if I would want to have a road bike in the 2012 NAHBS. Of course I wanted a Bishop road bike but I was torn. Since Chris was mostly known for lugged frames, would he want to make a modern, light, fillet frame? Hell, I didn’t even know what I wanted to be honest.
But first thing’s first. I had to get fit by Chris. After the Philly Bike Expo, I headed to Baltimore with him and Tommy, where I stayed the night and got fit in the morning. We began with what I knew, my Merckx road bike and some standard body dimensions. These became our starting point. From there, we tweaked the fit based on what kind of riding I do. Everything was dialed in on the fit bike: head tube angle, fork rake, seat tube angle, etc. Chris asked what I liked and what I didn’t like.
After some back and forth, we had a geometry and finally, a tubing selection: the downtube and chain stays are Columbus Spirit. The head tube is True Temper OX Platinum, Seat tube NOS Columbus MAX, seat stays, top tube are Dedacciai Zero. I wanted the bike as light as possible but not getting into weight weenie status so we went with an ENVE cockpit and a ENVE 1.0 fork, along with an ENVE post, which was made in the States a week before the show! Other tidbits include a Chris King No-Threadset headset and a Fizik Kurve saddle.
Since I love SRAM, a mix of Force and Red was used (not showing the Red Cassette) but I’m most stoked on the wheels. I went with Pewter Chris King R45s laced with Sapim spokes to HED Belgium Rims. Tommy built the wheels with CX Rays up front and Race spokes on the rear. But the frame is what makes the bike. Chris went to town on every single detail here. The cable stops were machined, the replacable, 7075 Paragon drop outs were machined, the pressfit 30 BB shell was hand filed and the fillet construction is pristine. So pristine that it won best fillet construction at the 2012 NAHBS. To top it off, Bryan at Fresh Frame and Tommy concocted one killer paint job, using my logo colors and my love for chevrons as a precedent.
There, enough talking, check out the Gallery by clicking the above photo or click here to open a new tab.
Radar
Happy Friday
What a week! I feel like I’ve been burning the candle at both ends and it’s finally Friday afternoon. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Spend some time in the saddle and with your friends. When the sun goes down, pour it neat and ride the streets.
REMINDER: If you’re in Austin and you brought a road bike, don’t forget the Loose Legs SxSW Ride tomorrow. Swing through and hang for a bit, or the whole haul. It’s an early one, with a 9am roll-out from Frank. A road bike is encouraged, but it’s possible on fixed.
Radar
Direct Light
I don’t usually shoot bicycles in direct sunlight for a few reasons. One of which is chromatic aberrations, or the silvers blowing out with a magenta outline. This is a real pain, especially on spokes and chrome parts, resulting in having to considerably stop down a nice, fast piece of glass. Shooting in direct sunlight also means you have to plan out the shadow placement and deal with the resulting high-contrast. Diffused light brings out colors and small nuances in the frames and components in an even, predictable way.
While I was shooting the Bishop NAHBS track bike, I tested out some shots in direct light and these are the only two that I ended up liking. The first one is nice because the radial spokes are light and dark, depending on which side they’re laced and the blue nipples really pop out. Something about the curvature of the track drops in the second screamed “don’t trash me!”. Some people prefer direct light, I like to keep it in the shade…
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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.
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Oh and There’s This
Here’s a quick shot of my Bishop road bike. While those aren’t my wheels, this is the build. I’m so stoked on how it came out and cannot wait to ride it. I’ll be posting more photos later. For a full-res version, click here.
Edit: This won best fillet brazed bike at the show.
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2012 NAHBS Preview
Well, I’m still in one piece and after a night of heavy drinking, I’m finally getting into the groove of things at the 2012 NAHBS. Here are a few shots from the show, with a gallery below. More to come but these will hold you over for a bit.
Radar
2012 NAHBS Coverage on PiNP
It’s that time of year again, where I flip the switch into production mode. Last year’s NAHBS coverage was by far the most work I’ve ever done for the blog. This year, I’ll be doing my thing again, but a bit differently. I’m not going to go into it too much, but the content will be much easier to digest and easier to access.
For last year’s coverage, check out the 2011 NAHBS Category Archives and my entire Flickr Collection here. For this year’s coverage, I’ve added the 2012 NAHBS Category link to the top navigation bar.
Is there anything you’d like to see differently this year? Drop a note in the comments.
