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The Bicycle Artisans by Will Jones

8
£24.95

VERDICT:

8
10
A highly varied and beautifully illustrated showcase for some of the finest craftsmen in our industry
Weight: 
400g

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Let us start with a test: take a look at the list of companies featured in The Bicycle Artisans by Will Jones (on the contents page), and count up how many you actually know about. If you manage over half of them you are truly a knowledgeable connoisseur of the artisan bicycle market. Whatever your score, this book is a good introduction to the sort of brands we can see at the Bespoked Bristol show in April. 

There are 88 brands featured, and each one is awarded half a page of text. Jones wrote the text based on correspondence with each manufacturer, and whilst the initial questions to each brand might have been the same, the answers back were anything but – which is only to be expected from such a diverse range of participants.

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All the builders also get the chance to tell us their favourite rider, favourite bicycle, and favourite object. The results are predictably varied, interesting, even controversial – and also reveal so much about the builder.

The main emphasis of the book is on the fantastic selection of pictures accompanying each featured builder, nearly all in colour. The subjects range from the planning stage, through every conceivable aspect of the building process, to some remarkable shots of finished work. All the images were supplied by the manufacturers themselves, and again it is interesting to see how each responded to the same brief.

In many ways the book is a complement to Bike! where the pictures are small but the prose is plentiful – and with nearly 50 companies featured it also covers a lot of ground.

The choice of manufacturers to feature will never please everyone, and indeed there are some unusual decisions: to pick on just a few examples I would say that the choice of our own Saffron Frameworks and Shand Cycles is to be expected, whereas Corima and Neil Pryde Bikes might be more surprising inclusions – although their chapters are still informative. Jones's aim was to try to give a good spread, whether it be in geography, technology, time in business, or size – and he certainly achieved that.

Most of us will be able to suggest other companies that could have been included, because although there are more builders here than in any other book of this type (that I am aware of), there are still many more that would also have been suitable. That has to be a good thing for the industry, and shows that such craftsmanship is still alive – and even thriving.

The artisans in question produce more than just bikes, with Greenspeed representing recumbent trikes and Busyman Bicycles making bespoke 'leather upholstery'. One company, Pony Bikes, doesn't really make bikes at all, concentrating instead on refurbishment and renovations.

And now for a wealth warning: while the cover price of the book might be surprisingly reasonable given the quality and quantity of pictures, the real threat to your wallet comes later as you are tempted by so much fine work. 'N + 1' might not be sufficient to cover it.

> Read our buyer's guide: Your essential cycling library here

The book is a highly varied and beautifully illustrated showcase for some of the finest craftsmen in our industry, and it has introduced me to many names that I was not familiar with before.

Although this book is not a recent publication, I only became aware of it quite recently; Thames & Hudson are the publishers, and they don't produce many books on cycling – but when they do they tend to be fairly epic works. Their previous production was Cyclepedia, which was later joined by an app offering 360-degree views of the bikes. In a somewhat surprising move they recently went 'old school' with a set of 100 postcards of pictures from the same book. 

Verdict

A highly varied and beautifully illustrated showcase for some of the finest craftsmen in our industry

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road.cc test report

Make and model: The Bicycle Artisans by Will Jones

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

The blurb:

Today's cyclists are seeking increasingly custom-made bicycles as reflections of their personalities – whether a Danish-style cargo bike, a recumbent, a cyclo-cross trainer or a randonneur.

Often working in tiny studios and workshops in hidden parts of our cities, the master craftsmen featured in these pages produce pieces that are highly personal and sought after and rarely seen.

Alphabetically presented, this richly illustrated guide to 88 of the most creative bicycle makers working today, includes established names such as Achielle, Cielo Cycles and Corima and new kids on the block such as Art and Industry, Bondi Beach Cruisers and Foffa, as well as product designers (Torkel Dohmers, Marc Newson).

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Title: The Bicycle Artisans

Author: Will Jones

Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Date: April 2014

Format: Hardback

Pages: 288

ISBN: 9780500517291

Price: £24.95

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 55  Height:   Weight:

I usually ride:   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding

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6 comments

Avatar
WolfieSmith | 8 years ago
0 likes

I ordered  a made to measure Condor Italia in 1994. The excitement of choosing a colour and awaiting it's arrival was like expecting a child. 

As I'm long in the body but short in the leg the specific top tube length still allows a short stem and the frame angles I chose give it handling I still don't get from my other off the peg frames. Arguing against made to measure bikes is like arguing against a made to measure suit. I'd rather feel like James Bond than Jeremy Corbyn and bikes can feel the same.

I own two other Condors which come close to the old steely and a bog standard aluminium frame from a bog standard NW builder that I use over winter. It's like steering a bed frame around. 

Of course much of what I'm saying is subjective but that is the joy of bicycles: That said, owning both, I would suggest that if you've a good one that fits you will know it. If you've always relied on stems and seat posts to make your body fit your bike you still might not appreciate the value of M2M.

 

 

 

 

 

Avatar
pubcyclist | 8 years ago
0 likes

This book looks like a great read, plenty of pics and some good insight into the best hand built makers.  Having messed about with old bikes a bit I think I'm even more impressed at the effort and attention to detail they put into their work.  It's great to see this is a growing trend and people are enjoying their dream bikes, that's what it's all about right ? if you love your bike, you're going to enjoy getting out on it more.

 

"The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, Conan. You must learn its discipline. For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts........(points to bike)......this you can trust" (Conan The Barbarian's Dad, 1982)

Avatar
thereandbackagain | 8 years ago
2 likes

Because having someone make something specifically for you is awesome. Bikes, furniture, cake, house, clothes, anything. It's fun. It's exciting.

If you don't get any pleasure out of that sort of thing, fine. But to me it seems a particularly joyless, reductive, way to live your life.

 

Avatar
mike the bike | 8 years ago
0 likes

 

Whilst I stand in awe at the dedication and skill of these people, and I hope they prosper, I never really got the idea of a made-to-measure bicycle.  I mean, what's the point?

OK, it may fit you well, but almost any bike of approximately the right size can be tweaked to fit you well.  It's a simple matter of selecting and adjusting the variable components: the saddle, stem, seat post and so on.  After all, this is how the pro's do it.  

There's also the fact that it may fit like a glove now but in three years, or five, will it be quite as good?  Or will your ageing body have outgrown the millimetre-perfect dimensions?

I suppose you could claim the satisfaction of knowing there's no other bike exactly like yours.  But I already have loads of stuff that's unique to me: my nose, feet and fingerprints to mention but a few, and I can't say they transform my life or make me feel special.  And my dog too, he's really weird and almost certainly a one-off but to everybody else he's just a dog.

So I'm afraid I'll keep spending my money where it buys the best value instead of pretending I'm actually a special person who deserves more.  You, of course, are free to distribute your cash  where you see fit and to enjoy your bikes, wherever you get them.

 

Avatar
Yorky-M replied to mike the bike | 8 years ago
0 likes
mike the bike wrote:

 

Whilst I stand in awe at the dedication and skill of these people, and I hope they prosper, I never really got the idea of a made-to-measure bicycle.  I mean, what's the point?

 

The point is SOUL. After riding for long enough you find exact out bits from all the good bikes you ever own and compile all memories of mighty rides and super descents onto one , artisan machine. ONLY you will appreciate your own particular, personal bike. Your bike.

 

Avatar
mike the bike replied to Yorky-M | 8 years ago
0 likes
mylesrants wrote:
mike the bike wrote:

 

Whilst I stand in awe at the dedication and skill of these people, and I hope they prosper, I never really got the idea of a made-to-measure bicycle.  I mean, what's the point?

 

The point is SOUL. After riding for long enough you find exact out bits from all the good bikes you ever own and compile all memories of mighty rides and super descents onto one , artisan machine. ONLY you will appreciate your own particular, personal bike. Your bike.

 

I've looked, I've really looked, but regardless of how carefully I search my collection of bicycles I can find no trace of this thing you call soul. 

I find it unsettling that people should give human characteristics to animals, but when they extend this to inanimate objects such as bicycles it becomes worrying.  The next step down the road to a solitary life in a rented caravan is giving your possessions names.  At that point it is advisable to seek help.

 

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