Bespoked Times Issue 01

Issue 01 Spring 2015

the uk handmade bicycle show

free

bespoked times

bespoked 2015 preview / handmade cycling goods and design / the constructors’ challenge / why buy bespoke? / meet the maker: saffron frameworks / camille mcmillan / the bicycle academy

bespoked times

ev er y thing bicycle

Bespoked - The UK Handmade Bicycle Show returns to its Bristol roots next month to showcase the world’s best frame builders and hand made cycling goods. So what can we expect to see at Europe’s leading handmade bike show?

For those who have never been before, Bespoked - The UK Handmade Bicycle Show is a celebration of handmade bikes and those who make them.

Unlike most bike shows, at Bespoked you can actually talk to the man or woman whose very hands lovingly and painstakingly crafted the bike you are feasting your eyes on. You can discuss in minute detail the engineering, the materials, the lug work, the geometry, the paint job – heck, even the braze-ons. They can tell you where each part of the bike you are standing before came from and how and where it was made. They can talk to you about your dream bike and start to turn it into a reality. Got goose bumps yet?

This year over 90 framebuilders from around the world will be bringing their newest creations to Brunel’s Old Station. From legends like Curtis Bikes, Shand, Longstaff and Woodrup Cycles to the younger generation of builders already making a name for themselves: Donhou Bicycles, Sven Cycles, Saffron Frameworks and Ted James Design, to name a few. With so many new framebuilders, Bespoked will have an area specially dedicated to future legends, so get your orders in before the waiting list gets too long!

30 new exhibitors are featuring this year, crafting in a variety of different materials. Amongst them is Jaegher from Belguim with their ultra light steel frames, Keim with their sculptural laminated wood frames, Ti Cycles bringing their titanium frames all the way from Portland, Oregon, and bamboo frames by Virk Designs.

As well as the builders, companies like Brooks England - makers of the iconic leather saddles, Reynolds Technology - tubing manufacturers, Chris King - manufacturers of drool-worthy bicycle components will be at Brunel’s Old Station. If you fancy having a go at making your own bike framebuilding schools Downlands, Swallow Bespoked and The Bicycle Academy will also be there.

With such a diverse range of exhibitors this year, Bespoked now spans two venues with three new events making the show more accessible than ever. The Arnolifini – one of Europe’s leading centres for contemporary arts at Bristol’s harbourside, a two-minute cycle from Brunel’s Old Station - will host the Bespoked Handmade Cycling Goods and Design Show, a showcase for the best cycling accessories, design and apparel.

So if a handmade bicycle is not quite within your budget for 2015, shop for stylish cycling apparel from Vulpine, custom frame bags for bikepacking and touring from Wildcat Gear, organic T shirts and mugs by Middle of Nowhere, or just one perfectly bound and ad-free Boneshaker Mag - celebrating the wonderful things that happen when people and bicycles come together.

Also at the Arnolfini is another highlight of the show, a retrospective of cycling photographer Camille McMillan’s work from the last ten years (read his interview on page 10).

And (drum roll please) 2015 heralds the arrival of a brand new Bespoked event that aims to elevate the bicycle art form into new realms. The ground floor of Arnolifini will host The Constructors’ Challenge. The new event invites teams of builders, designers and end users to exhibit a custom-built bicycle created for a specific and real task. From a pedal-powered coffee trike to a cargo bike for a painter, there will be inspiration for whatever bicycle-brained project you may be dreaming up yourself. (See more on The Constructors’ Challenge on p.5)

Something for the weekend?

Bristol is the first ever UK city to win the 2015 European Green Capital award, having seen off stiff competition from cities across Europe. The award recognises Bristol’s environmental performance and ambitious goals for sustainable development, including having the highest cycling rates of any major UK city, three and a half times the national average! So if you’re planning on visiting Bespoked, why not make a weekend of it with our mini Bristol guide: Take your bicycle on a wonderful ride over the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which spans the picturesque Avon Gorge.

For almost 150 years this Grade 1 listed structure has attracted visitors from all over the world and been the symbol of the city of Bristol. On the south side is Leigh Woods, a beautiful and diverse broadleaf woodland on the plateau above the gorge, with superb views across the city to downland beyond, a mountain bike trail and natural play area.

Take the children along to At-Bristol, Bristol’s interactive science centre, to explore hundreds of hands-on exhibits, live shows and a Planetarium. Get making and tasting in the seasonal spring kitchen or plant and investigate seeds and shoots in the greenhouse, investigate specialist medical equipment in the live lab or just relax in the café with the children’s soft play area.

Paulus Quiros

Meanwhile, on Friday and Saturday evening at the Victoria Rooms in Clifton is the BANFF Mountain film festival, featuring the latest and best films from the world’s most prestigious mountain film festival.

Mountain skiing, biking and climbing, stuntriding, surfing, speedriding, slacklining, kayaking down concrete drainage ditches… it’s all here guaranteeing you an inspiring rush of adrenalin to finish the day.

Keim

bristol2015.co.uk / visitbristol.co.uk at-bristol.org.uk / banff-uk.com Bespoked opens to the public on Friday 17th April from 2pm to 7pm, Saturday 18th 9.30am to 6pm, Sunday 19th April 10am to 4.30pm. Advance tickets cost £10 from bespoked.cc or £15 on the door. Entry into the Arnolfini is free of charge.

Cover image - Sven Cycles

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It ’ s A ll In The Deta il Fill your panniers, baskets, musettes, messengers and saddle bags with cycling’s most beautiful and desirable accessories, design and apparel at The Bespoked Handmade Cycling Goods and Design Show. Here’s a sneak preview to whet your appetite for the delights that will be on offer.

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1. Boneshaker Magazine boneshakermag.com 2. Cycling shoes by Quoc Pham quocpham.com 3. T shirt by Middle of Nowhere middleofnowhere.cc 4. Beanie by Middle of Nowhere middleofnowhere.cc 5. Stanforth Kibo stanforthbikes.co.uk (photo Kaytie Peschke) 6. Vulpine womens waterproof Gill jacket vulpine.cc 7. Barragan Jacket Vulpine collaboration with Oliver Spencer vulpine.cc 8. Milltag Stripes Jersey milltag.cc 9. Custom Frame Bags by Wildcat Gear wildcatgear.co.uk 10. Patch by Middle of Nowhere middleofnowhere.cc 11. Restrap Unite bag restrap.co.uk Bespoked Handmade Cycling Goods and Design Show opens to the public on Friday 17th April from 2pm to 7pm, Saturday 18th 9.30am to 6pm, Sunday 19th April 10am to 4.30pm. Entry into the Arnolfini is free of charge.

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Ta k e The Ch a llenge

Photo: Velopresso

design, make, build, ride: the bespoked constructors’ challenge is elevating the bicycle art form to new heights The brainchild of Bespoked founder Phil Taylor, The Bespoked Constructors’ Challenge is a new

event that aims to demonstrate the diversity of possible uses for the bicycle and that they form a viable alternative to the car for regular work and daily life.

In today’s traffic choked cities, with cars crawling along slower than when horse and carts were king, the bicycle can slice through traffic delivering you and your cargo more efficiently and stylishly than any other means. Take, for example, a florist delivering flowers by bicycle - specially designed to keep the flowers protected and fresh - can cut swiftly through traffic jams, allowing for more predictable delivery times and saving huge amounts of money on fuel.

Five teams of builders, designers and end users have been chosen to exhibit a custombuilt bicycle created for a specific and real task at Arnolfini Centre for Contemporary Arts in Bristol as part of Bespoked - The UK Handmade Bicycle Show. We meet the teams who are up for The Challenge.

Passenger Lift Services Who: Based in the West Midlands, Passenger Lift Services are the UK’s largest manufacturer of wheelchair lifts for passenger accessible vehicles.

The Concept: “We were looking for something different to focus the skills our engineering apprentices learn through their three years of training. As many sections of the bike as possible will be designed and manufactured using our in-house processes. Current parts and material sections will be re-invented into bike components. The finished bike will show all of our manufacturing processes, from traditional milling and lathe machine work, TIG & MIG welding, to 3D printing (our newest machine). The materials will be coated in our lift-finishing processes including powder coating, zinc bleaches and polished materials.

At the end of the project, when the bike is fully constructed, we will extend the project further to help demonstrate our assembly techniques on the production line. Using a new non-lift product will help deliver the importance of lean and well thought out assembly principles using a product they are not familiar with and make them think outside the box. We would like to think that future apprentices will be able to re-design the product each time with subtle updates, whilst still keeping the main focus on using all in-house techniques, materials and processes where possible.” passengerliftservices.co.uk Rodford Who: Steve Bodiley and Rob Bushill, united by a love of old world transport, build cargo bikes in their workshop in a hamlet of Rodford near Westerleigh Bristol.

The Concept: “Our show bike is a one-off special designed as a commission for Marks Bread, the Bristol baker. He is passionate about delivering his bread using a bike, and this box bike will replace his current bicycle and trailer setup. This Marks Bread Boxbike has been designed to increase his delivery range, speed his deliveries up and increase his carrying capacity a triple whammy.

Mark hand-crafts some very nice bread in Bristol’s Southville. It is great that in this Green Capital year for Bristol, a local business is investing in green transport to provide a cost effective, efficient and environmentally friendly service to his customers.

The frame is made from T45 chromolly steel, an aircraft grade steel. Our cargo boxes will be a mix of wood and aluminium. The frameset currently weighs in at a kilo under the class leaders, whilst being build from material specs that have strength at the core.” rodfordbuilt.co.uk marksbread.co.uk Moss Bikes, L!fe Bikes and RedShift Radio Who: Andrew Jones is Head of Design and Technology at Adams’ Grammar School in Cheshire, and a bicycle framebuilder. Under

the name Moss Bikes, he builds traditionally lugged steel framed bikes using British-made components. In 2013 he launched the project L!fe Bikes, a course that teaches GCSE and A-Level students at Adams’ how to design and build their own bike from scratch. Last year the students exhibited the bikes they built at Bespoked.

Redshift Radio is their local community radio station.

The Concept: “It’s a bit of a crazy one,” says Andrew. “The brief is for myself and the students of L!fe Bike to design and manufacture a steel framed Redshift Radio utility cargo bike. The bike will carry a range of lightweight broadcasting equipment and be a focal point for the radio station at events, but, when you take off the cargo bits, it will still be a nice bike for the employees of Redshift to ride. By putting it on rollers, it will also be used as a training bike to promote cycling and health. The students who designed and built bikes for GCSE are now at A-Level stage and are chomping at the bit for the next project, so I’ve got a ready made team for the Constructors’ Challenge, and this project is more complicated and challenging for them.” mossbikes.co.uk redshiftradio.co.uk Velopresso Who: London based Velopresso was founded in 2012 by industrial design partners Lasse Oiva and Amos Field Reid. Their research into this project began in spring 2011, drawing on several decades of cycling experience, their industrial design and communication backgrounds, and a shared love of bicycles, fine coffee and the beauty and pleasure to be found in efficient mechanical machinery – particularly of the human-powered rotary nature.

Concept: “A fully integrated coffee tricycle that combines great mobility and espresso machinery with ultra low-carbon, pedal-powered operation that requires no electricity. Designed from the ground up, our rear-steer modular tricycle, pedal-driven grinder and robust gas-fired lever espresso machine is a fusion of human power,

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sensory pleasures and technology – old tech with hi-tech, bicycles and coffee, their engineering and aesthetics. A hightly efficient, robust and humanised machine with a compact footprint no motors, no noise.”

Velopresso.cc Workhaus Bikes Who: Based in Brighton and Hove, Workhaus Bikes is a new venture founded by Duncan Henderson. The aim is to encourage the return and use of utility bikes in the UK and reduce the reliance on the combustion engine.

Concept: “Our project is to produce a cargo bike for a painter. The artist, Sam Hewitt, whilst a keen commuting cyclist historically, either drives his equipment to any chosen location or works from photographs back in his studio. The equipment required for painting in the field, whilst being a little unwieldy in the case of canvases, is by no means heavy and so can be transported by bike with ease.

Apart from the obvious benefits: health and wellbeing, reduced pollution and costs, Sam feels that the pleasure of this self-contained vehicle coupled with the physical nature of getting to a chosen site will provide further liberation for his work. The bike needs to securely transport wet canvases and palate, brushes, paint, turps, rags, easel, a large umbrella plus the usual luggage for a day out on a bike.” workhausbikes.co.uk The Bespoked Constructors’ Challenge takes place from 17th to 19th April 2015 at Arnolfini Bristol, as part of Bespoked – The UK Handmade Bicycle Show.

Entry is free. For more info go to bespoked.cc Velopresso and other bicycles from the Constructors’ Challenge will be on display at the Engine Shed, Temple Meads Station from 1st April until 13th May 2015 engine-shed.co.uk

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W h y B u y B esp ok e ?

The advantages of riding a custom bicycle - by phil taylor

Have you ever thought how your bicycle fits you and suits the way you ride? A bicycle made especially for you, when every detail is a considered choice, is a pure joy to own, ride and will last you a lifetime.

In the same way one might visit a tailor to get the perfectly fitted suit, a visit to a bicycle framebuilder will lead to your perfectly fitting bicycle. But in the same way the tailor-made suit not only fits perfectly, the cloth and the cut say much more about both the wearer and the tailor than the sum of those parts. It is designed and made to suit the wearer and the environment while instilling an inner confidence no off the peg number ever could. Those in the know will recognise the quality mark of the tailor, others will see a stylish well fitting suit.

Richmond Denton, a custom bicycle owner, sums it up, “The suit makes me walk a foot taller, I feel like a better, more confident man in it. When a bike fits you perfectly and enhances your athletic attributes, it’s hard not to be a better cyclist.

I swing my leg over her top tube, I cycle a foot taller, brimming with confidence”.

Tony Corke, Bicycle Fit and Design Instructor at The Bicycle Academy explains, “The reason that the custom bicycle is such a wonderful cycling experience is because of the time and detail spent designing and making it. It is the marginal gains accrued through the assessment of details within the fitting, design and manufacture processes that result in significant improvements to the function of the bicycle for its rider.” There are those measurable advantages and then there are those that just feel right.

Not so long ago, when people still bought locally grown veg with mud on from the green grocers and milk was delivered to your door, most large towns had at least one bicycle framebuilder.

Skilled in measuring the cyclist and joining the tubes in the correct fashion, this is where the serious cyclist would acquire their ride.

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The majority of these bikes would sport drop handlebars with frames made from Reynolds steel tubing, and would be seen on club runs or laden with panniers heading off into the sunset.

But then times changed. Veg was imported, cleaned and sold in the supermarket and bikes became cheaper to make overseas, and, while a few framebuilders still carried on - Mercian, Condor, Roberts, Rourke and Woodrup’s to name a few - to meet the needs of the discerning cyclist, many framebuilders retired or closed when their orders dried up.

But today locally grown, muddy veg comes delivered to your door, and closer than you think there is a small workshop with measurements being taken, designs being drawn up, welding torches joining tubes and people riding off into the sunset with a smile from ear to ear. The time of the framebuilder is back! The advantages these skilled artisans can deliver are there for everyone to enjoy. But what are the advantages of buying a custom bicycle?

“It feels like it’s part of me” “It goes where I want it to go, it reads my mind” “I forget that it’s there” “It feels like an extension of my own body” “It just feels….right” The obvious advantage of a made to measure bicycle is that it fits you perfectly. In the same way a tailor takes measurements to ensure the perfect fit, the bicycle fitter does the same. A bicycle that fits correctly for the purpose it’s intended will make the rider more comfortable, and a comfortable rider can ride faster for longer.

THE RIGHT FIT FOR YOU A whole industry is dedicated to ensuring that bicycles are fitted correctly to the rider. Andy Morgan of Kinetic-One in Gloucestershire, who has been fitting bicycles since 1999, says. “Poorly fitting bikes and poor riding positions always lead to loss of performance and speed, reduced

motivation and ultimately, to injury. Riding a bike is about so much more than just having a decent bit of kit, it is about freedom, space and even about mastery over our environment and of our own will, so whether you race, or you ride purely for pleasure, it’s supposed to feel good. It’s such a shame then that so many people are so uncomfortable and hence underperforming on their bikes. Often this is simply because they may not be aware just how unique their body is, and that their riding strengths and weaknesses - limb length, muscle strength, spine shape, weight and flexibility - are unique to them too. Chances are that if they don’t know this then they won’t know that a bike can be designed, built and configured to support their unique strengths and to work against their unique weaknesses. Put simply, it can catapult performance into a new dimension, improving body position and comfort, pedal stroke efficiency, muscle usage and energy consumption, and reduce wind resistance. In short, you’ll get faster and it’ll feel easier.”

One of the largest benefits of owning a bicycle made for you is down to the material selection.

The iconic bicycle tubing maker Reynolds have around 500 different tubes for a frame builder to choose from when tailoring the frame to meet the requirements of the rider. Robert Wade of Swallow Bespoke Bicycles explains, “A bespoke frames material and tubing will be chosen to suit your weight, riding style and the type of riding you are planning to do. It will be perfectly balanced and will feel a pleasure to ride. A massproduced 56cm frame will be made to cope with the maximum weight rider expected to ride a 56cm frame, that could be as much as 16 stone (224Ibs, 101kg), so will be totally over built, too stiff and heavy if you are a 10 stone (140Ilb, 63kg) rider.”

FLEX MATTERS The selection of the tubing is crucial in determining the feel of the ride. The larger the diameter of a tube the stiffer it is. Read any review

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of a bike designed to go fast and you will notice how the words ‘speed’ and ‘stiffness’ are never far apart. Modern race bikes are very stiff laterally, they resist the twisting forces caused during pedaling, efficiently propelling the bike forwards.

Framebuilder Tom Sturdy, who has a racing background and various national titles as well as degrees in engineering and sports biomechanics, has ridden lots of bikes while racing and questions whether ‘stiff equals fast’ is always correct. “When I raced at elite level it was an assumption that I whole-heatedly agreed with. I was lucky enough to ride a vast array of top-end bikes, all of which had excellent lateral rigidity. I used to ride these bikes all year round, putting very high mileage on them. I became quite adept at identifying the subtle differences between the frames. It was not until I got myself an old steel winter bike that I began to question the industry drive for lateral stiffness. My winter bike was heavy and, by the standards that I had grown used to, it was mushy. It didn’t rocket away when I got up out of the saddle, and I didn’t feel amazed every time I picked it up. The problem was that is was fast, damn fast. I found myself riding my regular routes faster on my winter bike than on my top-of-therange racer, I could sprint almost as fast and it was nicer to ride. I could average the same power output and not have the same dead feeling in my legs. This got me thinking.”

What Tom identified is what Newton noted in his Third Law – action & reaction - “As the tube bends away from the weighted pedal the axle of the chainset also lowers slightly (the tubes do not lengthen and as the weighted side of the axle is not in the central plane of the frame it must lower). This movement is of benefit to pedal rotation because as you begin to unweight the pedal at the bottom of the pedal stroke the frame returns to its original starting position which raises the axle again and in turn actually rotates the cranks for you. “ The skill is in the framebuilder to get that flex perfectly tailored to meet the

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“A bespoke frame will fit you perfectly, be balanced to suit your weight and riding style, and ride just how you want it to ride” - Robert Wade, Swallow Bespoke

rider’s requirements.

“This is a phenomenon dubbed ‘planing’ by a series of great articles in Bicycle Quarterly magazine, who conducted double blind experiments to confirm its existence,” says Tom. “Imagine running up a flight of concrete stairs.

Each step is solid, it does not move as you push down on it and this is immediately perceptible.

What is happening is that as your foot strikes the ground the instantaneous equal and opposite reaction force travels up through your leg and is carried by your skeleton and muscles (which must then produce a positive force differential to move you upwards). Now imagine running up a flight of old wooden stairs, they are soft and springy. This too is immediately perceptible as the reaction force in your body is completely different, building up and decaying more gradually, over a longer period of time. Notice too how you would actually run up these stairs differently, you would try and use the spring in the steps. You would have a different feeling in your legs at the top of the stairs because on one flight your muscles had to overcome a very short sharp spike of force and on the other, although the absolute value of the force was the same because you still got up the stairs, it was delivered differently.”

WHICH FRAMEBUILDER? If you want a bicycle that’s fast, stylish, comfortable, tough, light and, most importantly, conceived by you, then you need to pay a visit to a framebuilder. But with all the framebuilders being able to provide you with a superbly fitting and handling bicycle, how to choose which one to go with?

Bespoked – The UK Handmade Bicycle Show, happening from 17th to 19th of April in Bristol, is a good place to start your research. Framebuilders from around the world will be exhibiting their bikes and available to discuss your future custom bicycle, or just give you some advice and a jumping off point for your dream build.

The majority of the bicycles on show have been commissioned, rather than being built just for display. They are the results of the partnerships between customer and maker. Walking round the show you will soon see the different styles of each framebuilder and the different materials that they use.

MATERIALS The chances are, when deciding to go bespoke, you will have an idea of what material you would like the frame to made of. You will be able to choose from steel, titanium, aluminum, carbon fiber, wood, bamboo or maybe a mix of two or three. Each has its pros and cons and different ride characteristics, but by far the most popular would be steel. It’s the material that has stood the test of time and is the material to which all others are compared. New lightweight steel tubes (Reynolds 953 and Columbus XCR) are comparable in weight to titanium and only 400grams or so heaver than an average carbon frame.

The way the tubes are joined by the artisan is of primary importance for some people, and is their main reason to choose that framebuilder. The traditional method of lugs (a socket into which a tube is brazed) can be hand carved, polished, chromed and outlined into the most exquisite shapes. Or there is the perfectly smooth transition of the fillet braze, while some prefer the clinical beads of efficiency that tig welding provides.

Once the seed has been sown about having a bicycle made, it’s amazing how soon you realise that, while there are elements of off-the-peg bikes that you like, there is nothing in existence that’s got it all. This is where the magic happens and you start to create your dream bicycle, a bicycle that does not yet exist.

“I ride a Donhou and it was worth every penny and every minute of my life that it absorbed during its gestation,” says proud owner Ian Vincent. “Each time I ride it I am reminded of

From left to right: a bike fit with Andy Sexton of Bike Science, lug detail from Swallow Bespoke, Ricky Feather at work, Ted James (R) with customer Matthew Watkins , paint at Rourke Cycles, Reynolds tubing, titanium head tubes at Legend, Craddock Cycles

what everyone else is missing out on: the ride, the handling, the perfect riding position, the kids shouting “nice bike mate”, the folks at the coffee stop staring like they had just seen a celebrity. It has heart, it has soul. Most importantly it has my heart and soul.”

YOU DECIDE The amount of input you want to have is down to you, but undoubtedly the more you put in, the greater that first ride will be. A couple of hours on the Internet can get you so deep into how geometry affects handling you could become an expert, or realise a lifetime of research awaits.

Robert Wade says, “Ordering a bespoke frame is a process that should be fully involving, a consultation between you and the builder, after all it is a frame that will be lovingly crafted for you. A bespoke frame is a considered decision that is invested with emotion and passion and an experience that should be savoured and enjoyed. You actually have input and control over how your bike should look and feel. At the beginning of the journey you start with a blank piece of paper and will be guided through the correct fit and geometry that suits you, your body and riding style. This will take into account any injuries or physical considerations your body may have so that you can be comfortable and efficient on the bike. A bespoke frame doesn’t come in set sizes and angles, it’s built around you. You then decide how it will look and the components that will be fitted. It becomes your bike and then the journey continues as you take the first ride and then lasts a lifetime.”

THE COST All well and good you may say, but what about the cost? Well, yes, a custom handmade bicycle may cost anywhere between £1000 - £3000 just for the frame, and then you could spend the same again on wheels, saddle and components.

But this is something that will last a lifetime and, because of the time and financial investment, it

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will be cherished forever. Those that have made the leap of faith speak nothing but praise of how going bespoke has been the best decision they ever made.

“My car is old, my furniture is flat pack but my bike is perfect. My Roberts is the best thing I have ever owned, the only thing that is not a compromise.

Beautiful to look at, beautiful to ride, and it has given me so much pleasure it was worth its price many times over,” writes Hilary Searle on Bespoked’s Facebook page.

Brad Flynn, proud owner of a Curtis Bikes off road bicycle says, “Having a custom built frame for me was about ironing out anything unnecessary and getting something that suited me and what I wanted to ride the bike for, as well as supporting a small brand that has kept true to what they believe in, regardless as to what has changed around them. Owning a custom bike should give you that feeling of needing to get out on it every time you see it.”

Andy at Kinetic-One perfectly sums up the reason to have a custom made bicycle: “For most riders we come across, cycling is their only sport, their only hobby and their single abiding passion. It’s often the only part of their life where they get to do exactly what they want to do, even if only for a few hours, unencumbered by all the complicated stuff that life demands. When you think of it like that, doesn’t everyone deserve a custom built bike? A part of life where everything connects, where the whole is so much more than the sum of it’s parts, and where we can simply and organically realize our potential.”

Phil Taylor is the founder of Bespoked and framebuilder at Libertine Bicycles libertinebicycles.co.uk Tony Corke - torkecycling.com Swallow Bespoke bicycle - bicycles-by-design.co.uk/ swallow-bespoke Kinetic-One - shop.kinetic-two.co.uk Tom Sturdy - sturdycycles.co.uk

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bespoked THEUKHANDMADE BICYCLESHOW

17th - 19th A pr il 2015 Arnolfini & brunel’s old station

b r i s to l 2015 Exhibitors

Daccordi S.R.L DeAnima Dear Susan Donhou Bicycles Downland Cycles Ltd BRUNEL’S OLD STATION UK HANDMADE BICYCLE SHOW Exigo Bikes Ltd Evolution Imports 14 Bike Co Faggin Advanced Velo Design Farrer Windcheetah Festka AOI.CYCLE Field Cycles Alchemy Bicycle Company Gerald Gilbert (Mosquito) Hallett Handbuilt Cycles Atomic 22 Hartley Cycles August Hatfield Cycles Automatic Cycles Helavna Cycles Baum (Prestige Cycles) Hevans Custom Cycles Bear Bikes Hilton Cycles Bike Science Independent Fabrication Blacksmith Bikes (Mosquito) Bowers Kustom Jaegher Airlight Steel Brooks England Race Cycles Campagnolo Just Riding Along Chris King Keim Cielo Constructors’ Legend Cloud 9 Cycles Challenge Libertine Bicycles Moss Bikes, L!fe Bikes, COFA Engineering Longstaff Columbus Redshift Radio Malcolm Custom Bicycles Passenger Lift Serivces Comtat Cycling Mawis-Bikes Condor Cycles R&D Team Merényi Bicycles Craddock Cycles Rodford Middleburn Cycle Curtis Bikes Velopresso Components Workhaus

ARNOLFINI Handmade Cycling Goods & Design SHOW Boneshaker Magazine Brooks England Campagnolo Cinelli Chicken Cycle Kit ColourBolt Mack Workshop Massifcentral Middle of Nowhere Milltag Pedal Ed Quoc Pham Restrap Sapim Shutt Velo Rapide Stanforth Cycles Swrve Vulpine Wildcat Gear

Photogr aphy Retrospective Camille McMillan

Mike Hickman Designs Moots (Mosquito) Mosaic (Prestige Cycles) Mosquito Bikes Moss Bikes Moulton Bicycles Mustard (Prestige Cycles) Nappolini Cycles Nerve Nevi Olsen Belt-Drive Bicycles Ogre Pacenti Paulus Quiros Pegoretti (Mosquito) Petersbike Phoenix Hotworks Post Prestige Cycles Revanche Bikes Reynolds Technology Robin Mather Cycles Rohloff Rowan Frameworks Royce UK Rusby Cycles Saffron Frameworks Satoma Cycles Seren Bicycles Shand

Shed 6 Cycles Slate Cycles Son Sparrow Cycles Sputnik Tool Strada Wheels Strawberry Bicycles Sturdy Cycles Sven Cycles Swallow Bespoke Swarf Cycles Sword Cycles Talbot Frameworks Teague Bicycles Ted James Design The Bicycle Academy Ti Cycles Titchmarsh Cycles Toad Custom Cycles Tsubasa Virk Designs Wheeldan Winter Bicycles Wittson Custom Ti Cycles Woodrup Cycles Zullo (Mosquito)

Bespoked opens to the public on Friday 17th April from 2pm to 7pm, Saturday 18th 9.30am to 6pm, Sunday 19th April 10am to 4.30pm. Advance tickets cost £10 from bespoked.cc or £15 on the door. Entry into the Arnolfini is free of charge.

Bespoked 2015 is supported by Scan to buy your tickets

All information correct at time of printing. Exhibitor list may be subject to change prior to the show. Any changes will be posted on www.bespoked.cc

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a dv ertisment fe at ur e

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Photo: Ben Winder

A n INter v iew w ith A ndr ew Denh a m fo under of the bicycle a c a dem y Every year we see more new builders exhibiting at Bespoked. With so many coming from frame building schools we decided to catch up with Andrew Denham, founder of The Bicycle Academy to learn more.

What is The Bicycle Academy and what does it do?

Fundamentally, The Bicycle Academy (TBA) is about helping people to build bicycles. We are starting to sell frame building supplies and are developing our own range of tools too, but we are best known for frame building courses and skills masterclasses.

Can anyone learn at The Bicycle Academy?

Absolutely. Since we opened we have trained over 400 people and had students visit us from all over the world: USA, China, Russia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Norway, even Peru. We run courses that suit complete beginners right up to the established professional builder looking to brush up on skills or develop new ones. Our seven and ten day Bespoke Framebuilding Courses are very popular with people who want to learn whilst making a unique bicycle for themselves.

What’s the hardest part of learning a new skill?

Performing a new physical skill can feel a bit like rubbing your tummy, patting your head and hopping on one leg, whilst answering trivia questions. It can be mentally exhausting and it’s easy to get something wrong that can cause everything else to unravel. Our job is to help people to learn how to do each thing well, then

how to bring everything together in the right way, at the right time. The biggest challenge when teaching experienced builders is helping them to break habits and re-engage with a process that has long since become automatic. In each case we work to make sure that the student really understands the process before undertaking exercises that enable the whole process to be learnt bit by bit, layer by layer.

Is it really possible to master something in a day, or a week?

The skills involved in frame building are complex and intricate but by breaking each of them down it is possible to train people to an incredibly high standard in a relatively short period of time. No matter how little prior experience our students have we ensure that they all produce work to be proud of. Of course, to become a true master at something takes more time, but with the right approach it is possible to speed up the process.

We don’t just show people and then let them get on with it parrot fashion, all of our courses are designed to teach the practical skills and understanding that people need to be able to engage in meaningful practice, and that makes the big difference.

What advice would you give to someone starting out?

I give the same advice to all of our students: relax, take care and take your time, ask when you’re not sure, it’s not finished until you’re proud of it and most importantly, enjoy yourself. It is important not to get hung up on the size of the task as a

whole, as it can be intimidating. Mitre by mitre, tube by tube - if you work carefully you’ll end up with something brilliant.

Do many of your novice students build more frames after the course?

Yes, after making themselves a bike on one of our courses most of our students continue to build more. Some do so just for fun and others work towards making it their profession. We are really proud of the number of our students who have gone on to exhibit and even win awards and we are very excited to see that over 20 past students will be exhibiting at Bespoked this year. We have also just found out that one of our students, Casey Sussman of Mars Cycles has won the People’s Choice Award at NAHBS this year, so that is great news!

How many people work at TBA? There are nine of us in total. The core teaching and development team is Robin Mather, Ted James, Paul Burford (BTR), Tony Corke (Torke Cycling), Tom Macphail (Academy Tools) and me.

It is like a big family. Everyone brings something different to the mix, be it their experiences, interests or skills and we all work closely together on everything that we do here at TBA. Each day brings something new and we are constantly learning from each other.

development of our new range of frame building tools. Academy Tools is something we have worked towards for 2 years. We want to provide people with a range of high quality well-made tools that allow them focus on the building and won’t break the bank. Our first batch of frame building jigs sold out before they were even made so we have been thrilled with the response.

You can expect to see lots of new Academy Tools products at Bespoked this year and over the coming months.

What are you looking forward to at Bespoked 2015?

Seeing all the wonderful work on display. The UK scene is thriving thanks to a great community of builders all pushing each other on. It is also really exciting to see new builders like Satoma Cycles, Sturdy Cycles, Hartley Cycles and Rowan Frameworks, exhibiting for the first time and it makes us very proud to be a part of that. thebicycleacademy.org @thebicycleacademy 01373 473767

What plans do you have for the future?

We are always developing our range of courses and adding to our workshop. Most recently we have been putting a lot of time into the

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meet the m a k er

Bike photo: Matthew Townsend Portrait photos: Phil Gale

bespoked times

we talk to London based award winning framebuilder, Matthew Sowter of Saffron Frameworks How long have you been framebuilding and how did you get into it?

I’ve been building bikes since 2009. Initially I worked at Enigma before founding Saffron Frameworks in 2011. I’ve always loved riding, when I was younger I raced in South Africa. I started my working life as a chef, which is where the Saffron name comes from. I did that for a few years, but after a while I wanted to really focus on something close to my heart. The answer was to combine my passion for bikes with a way of earning my keep.

What defines your style as a framebuilder?

That’s quite a tough question to answer. I’m known for a few things, for example using

stainless steel, and frames that incorporate materials such as carbon fibre and even wood.

If you wanted me to sum it up in a single word then I’d say I’m versatile. What you see in a Saffron bike is the answer to a specific customer’s need, expressed through a combination of the design and the aesthetic.

Who, or what, has inspired you?

I’m inspired by things that resonate with my approach to bike building, so I’m drawn to the elegant and the practical. That means my sources are really broad, it could be anything from a piece of architecture, the natural world or a fantastic piece of graphic design.

Are you preparing anything special for

Bespoked 2015?

Where is your favourite place to ride?

Yes. I really can’t say anything ahead of the show because it’ll spoil the surprise, but I’m hoping people will respond really positively to it.

I don’t really mind where I ride, my perspective is that it’s more about enjoying how it feels when you’re out on a bike.

Have you had any unusual requests?

If you weren’t a framebuilder, what would you be?

I do get approached to do some very unusual projects. One of my favourites from the last twelve months was my collaboration with a Japanese Katagami artist. Katamagi is a style based on stencils. I built a bike that had a steel frame that was clad in CNC machined wood. The wooden elements and the wheel rims featured Katagami work. A matching saddle and saddle bag finished it off.

Unemployed! I think frame building is something you tend not to drift into, it’s quite a conscious decision. If I couldn’t build frames then I’d have to spend a lot of time figuring out what I did want to do. Maybe I’d jack it all in, live on a tropical island and be a sponge diver. saffronframeworks.com For more Meet The Makers visit bespoked.cc

big daddy and my puch The background of my bicycle love - By Camille McMillan ones I would see in the Sixes: Patrick Sercu, Didi Thurau. Didi was it for me, the ace. He looked so good on a bicycle, he was fast, he was a six day man and roadie, he had it all and, listening into the adult conversations, he was dodgy. I loved dodgy, he was what a pro bike rider should be, he was my new Big Daddy.

As the 80s dawned, Lycra arrived and the Austrian bicycle manufacture Puch was on the scene.

Puch-Sem-Campagnolo: great jersey, great bike, great kit, great riders. They were the underdogs to Ti Raleigh (Ti Raleigh was a kind of SKY of its day, but won everything with maximum gains).

The director of Puch-Sem-Campagnolo was Jean de Gribaldy (which is a whole big story). Its stars were Joaquim Agostinho - a tough hard as nails 40 year old, and the German Didi Thurau.

Today kids are into wrestling but it’s World Wrestling, it’s big business. In the 70s, after a big bout, you knew Big Daddy would go back to his dressing room and have a cup of tea and a slice of sponge cake. Now you have a feeling that on the way back to the dressing room they will sell some evil energy drink to the kids, slap on a massive testosterone patch and shag a porn star. Granted, it’s appealing, but it hasn’t got the same warmth.

When I was a kid in the 70s wrestling was big.

Saturday afternoon TV was wrestling and the biggest star was Big Daddy. Big Daddy and wrestling back then was as British as Tizer and Birds Custard. It was warm and real, almost from the musical hall tradition of Britain pre-cinema.

Many a rainy Saturday afternoon was spent watching the safety of British wrestling.

At that time the school playground was full of kids pretending to be on strike, playing British Bulldog, chanting football names. Liverpool, Ipswich, Kenny Dalglish… “What team do you

10

support?” was the general ice-breaker on meeting a new kid. My answer of “Ti Raleigh” was normally met with a bemused face or a punch in the chops.

Luckily I was good at scrapping, I liked it. Like Big Daddy (real name Shirley Crabtree) and Johnny Cash’s ‘A Boy Named Sue’ I had a girls name, and kids being kids…

Where I did not have a girls name was Benelux.

Benelux just across the sea via hovercraft, it was cool. The bike races in Benelux had that feel of Saturday afternoon TV in Britain: traditional, a bit crap, sort of cold and a bit damp but with

a warmth - just wonderful. In the UK kids were wearing football scarves around their wrists, in Benelux it was wool cycling hats with loft. Big blokes with friendly faces smelling of fags and beer with names like Brik, Jann or Camille. At 10, I was sold.

Everything was under the umbrella of Eddy Merckx. It was like Merckx was a given, the racing was underneath his rulership. Merckx was never really of interest to me. With names like Walter Godefroot, Freddy Maertens and Hennie Kuiper who needed Merckx? I liked the fast ones, the

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My Puch is Saturday afternoon TV in the late 70’s - the world is cool, the world is simple. camillejohnmcmillan.com A retrospective of Camille’s cycling photography will be at Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol from 17th to 19th April as part of Bespoked The UK Handmade Bicycle Show. Entry is free. For more info go to bespoked.cc

LESS POLITICS MORE PEDALLING. THE SORTING OFFICE, WC1 8TH 10TH MAY, 2015.

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