A while back, a plea went out for pics of everyone's handmade bikes prior to NAHBS. I whistled this across and they duly creamed themselves but then posted lots of images of people's Donhue's, Feather's and other bikes made for them by other people, and left mine out -maybe I got the wrong end of the stick there.
Here it is anyway. Fillet brazed 853 with stainless dropouts and hangers. An extra low BB meant you could take your hands off the bars at 40mph -it was that stable.
People bleat on about wanting to do it, but the reality is that finding a.somewhere to do it (particularly in London) b.someone with brazing equipment and c.(the hardest part) the time to actually get round to getting it done, makes it something of a pipe dream for most. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity, through word of mouth, to do it, largely for free. Just a bunch of dudes in a garage; there was a toy designer, a cabinet maker, an aerospace engineer, all meeting on a Tuesday evening to chew the cudd and build bikes.
Times change, people move on and drift away, Clive and his wife moved down to the coast. I don't think any of us then could have imagined the popularity and excitement that hand made frames would generate nearly 10yrs down the line. Ultimately, the things I learnt building my own frame, contributed in no small way to where I am and what I do now.
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