I have ordered the Velo Orange grand cru threadless bottom bracket.
Sounds like a luxury item no cyclist can do without.
I have also sneaked a couple of Schwalbe Delta cruiser 26 x 1 3/8" tyres with amber side walls no less! AND two inner tubes to match. Such extravagance....
Still a long way to go before its complete though. So, to keep my spirits up and plant a few seeds in a few minds, I have been looking at a some bespoke frame builders.
Since the demise of the British cycle industry coupled with the fact you can walk into a shop and pick up a nondescript bike for a couple of hundred pounds and ride it home, cycling, in my humble opinion, got a bit boring! Over the past few years the spirit of the British back room engineers that developed things like the jet engine and the Blue Streak missile has been flourishing in sheds and workshops around the country.
One of these is feathercycles based in Yorkshire.
The best bit of the website for me is the short video which shows Ricky Feather working in what looks like a shed in his back garden and turning out some fantastic looking cycles.
Another is Donhou bicycles. These guys made a bike from scratch to have a go at the cycle land speed record! The crank has 104 teeth! Have a look on the website and watch the Experiments in Speed video.
There is a massive movement now for hand built bespoke frames. There are also a few courses available to learn how to build frames. There's a show, Bespoked, for just such beauties.
So I've found a supplier of frame building parts based in Kent. All I need is a workshop and a gas torch and I'm off! Maybe one day.....Eh Dar (you know who you are)!
