Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexi
As a 40 something those brands don’t have the interest for me as say someone in their 50s or 60s. There are builders in my cohort that are much more interesting to me. Chapman, Horse, Geekhouse, Tomii, Royal H, Firefly, etc.
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I'm curious what it is about these builders that grabs you. Firefly needs no explanation - to me they've been the prime innovator in titanium and their range of product is very wide as well. I have one, not built for me, which I prize.
Chapman and Tomii make bikes that I admire for their detail, and Tomii particularly for the finishes. But I don't feel drawn to want one as a daily rider. I follow Chapman on IG because his little videos of how he makes custom bits are always worth seeing.
Horse, Royal H, Geekhouse - what draws you with these builders?
I'm a native Bostonian, so I get appreciating the New England base of these (Horse is Brooklyn?). Yet if I were looking for custom steel, none of these builders would take preference over getting a frame from Dave Kirk or Rob English (who is in my mind the leading innovator working in steel.)
Finally, I should say my bias in aesthetics is simple. When I ordered my Bob Jackson in 1972, I could have had any number of bikes with more ornate lugwork (Hetchins anyone?) but the long spearpoint Prugnat lugs are what grabbed me, along with the diamond reinforcements on the bridges. Having had that frameset repainted three times now, I knew when I got my next forever bike it wanted the most simple finish (plus I live in salt air) so I chose Bingham because the level of craftsmanship is the art of his bikes. No decals, no anodizing, no paint - just some etching and polished bits. I had a stainless Anderson (another virtuoso) but on MV it did have minor corrosion, so an Onesto wasn't going to work for me, hadda be titanium.