[Alexi]

Originally Posted by NHAero

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.

Well, I respect the Kirk and et all. But they’re a bit “dad bikes” they’re the bikes that my friends dads listed over and purchased. I respect The Stones, but I’d rather listen to Yo La Tango. And honestly the hand wringing over “who’s gonna replace these master craftsman!” is a bit silly. There are plenty of builders out there making amazing bikes.

Horse, Royal H, Geekhouse - what draws you with these builders?.

I didn’t grow up in the 1970s, my earliest bike hero’s were Lemond and Grewal, my first race bike was a Kestrel Sci, I raced mountain bikes and cyclocross. I lived thru the fixie boom, and the Randossance. These builders have the same shared experiences and many of the same aesthetics that can be traced to that.

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.).

I can respect Rob English’s work, but god his design choices are a straight turnoff for me. His bike’s regular end up in the anti-porn threads for a reason

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.

I’ve owned a number of Jacksons, one that I raced cross on actually might be coming back my way to rebuild for my son. I used to collect British bikes, I still own a few. Club and path racers are way more my style than an Italian style racer, you can stick fatter tyres on them, throw a Caradice on, and go on adventures. But to me Jacksons are the opposite of Hetchins or (some) Mercians, they are workmanlike bikes. And definitely the polar opposite of Rob English.