mass produced frames are depressing

[Mad Doug Biker]

Well, my bike might be mass produced, but at least it isn't a very common mass produced one (I've yet to see another one for example), and it does attract a lot of attention from people, so I'm not fussed by all you snobs on here! , so mwah mwah!! to you lot!

Ok, so it's an aerodynamic, streamlined, alluminium and carbon TT bike, but still!


On the other hand, have any of you ever read the book 'It's all about the bike'?? I have just started it, and it's about a guy trying to build his own dream bike with all the parts being hand built in the UK.

He's started with a Rourke frame so far, but as I say, I have only just started to read it, so I may be wrong.

 

[clarion]

Yeah, but have you seen the colour he ended up with?

OK, personally, I'm happy that there are mass-produced frames.

Why's that, Clarion?

I'm glad you asked

It means there are a lot of people getting into cycling. And the mass production we are seeing now is not so much the BSOs of a few years ago (and, yes, still in ASDA etc), but decent bikes that aren't going to get anyone particularly excited, but are going to hold together enough for someone to have fun riding, and come back to it, rather than stuff a heavy, plasticky, uncomfortable piece of rusting junk to the back of the shed.

All those hybrids that are on the market now. Well, they are not exciting, but they'll do. And, of those riders, most will probably be happy to stay with their bikes, but some will want something a bit more fun, a bit faster, maybe, a bit different.

And they'll start looking at the handbuilt bikes, and keep the artisan trade alive and, hopefully, flourishing.

I started riding properly i nthe eighties, when the cycle industry consisted of struggling companies and shops waiting to close. Now I can see a very different outlook for the future. And, in part, that's because mass production makes servicable bikes within the reach of most people.

My commuter is mass produced. OK, so all my other bikes are hand built, and date back to 1971, but that's another matter.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Clarion +1.

 

[John the Monkey]

OK, personally, I'm happy that there are mass-produced frames.

well, in a way, I am too - I can't afford a handbuild at the moment (or possibly ever), so I get to ride Steel thanks to the chaps at Surly mass producing bikes like the Long Haul Trucker and Pacer.

But by golly, to ride a Mercian...

/sigh

 

[threebikesmcginty]

But by golly, to ride a Mercian...

/sigh

Used to see this really old chap when I came home early from work on a Friday and his bike was a Mercian, always saw him on the same stretch of road. Looked like a really old bike, bet he'd had it from new.

He's the kind of rider we'd all probably want to end up like (well me anyway), still riding and probably can all day albeit at a glacier speed.

 

[SoloRider]

Used to see this really old chap when I came home early from work on a Friday and his bike was a Mercian, always saw him on the same stretch of road. Looked like a really old bike, bet he'd had it from new.

He's the kind of rider we'd all probably want to end up like (well me anyway), still riding and probably can all day albeit at a glacier speed.

Why not make that the ambition for the present instead of succumbing to the peer pressure of being a pretend racer? Not aimed at you as this is a trap I often fall into.

That should be my mantra 'ride like a gnarly old wart'.

Anyway, I agree that whilst there are good vfm frames from the far east, the soul of a bike seems to have been lost along the way. Do you feel better riding a Colnago hand-made in Italy or from Taiwan?

I quite like finding old (or NOS) frames from the nineties and early noughties which were some of the last to be handmade in the country of origin e.g. Italy, USA

 

[SoloRider]

I will also add this though.

A lot of the frames mentioned by the OP are actually Taiwanese (Cotic, On-One etc.) but they are good bikes.

I have had a recent Bob Jackson which I sold immediately because it didn't feel right and had to be repainted as the paint was too soft. It was still soft the second time around.

I have had a 'classic' Raleigh Record Ace which was a 27" wheeled bike, but appeared to have 700c forks on - apparently that was common practise in the eighties when they were shifting old frames but with only new forks available.

So I'm not too struck on 'British' as being some kind of kite-mark of quality. Some are good, some are bad.

But there is still the hand-made versus mass produced issue.

 

[e-rider]

I had a 1967 Mercian Superlight - it was nice but nothing too special. I find the main difference is attention to detail and finishing quality.

Modern mass produced frames ride just as well as handbilut frames - and the biggest difference will be in geometry - ie. the one that fits best will feel the best, whether mass produced or handbuilt.

However, getting a nice handbuilt bike does make one feel good as one cruises down the road!

 

[Hilldodger]

Lee Cooper has just made us another very nice frame - this one a replica 1895 racing bike.

You'd be suprised how many of the firms listed on this thread use his services

 

[Firestorm]

Hetchins used to have a shop near me but it has been a "custom" bike shop dealing an all manner of weird and wonderful machines for some years now.

My Mum used to race an old "curly stay" in the 50's

 

[alecstilleyedye]

why not try and source a good old 531 steel, lugged, lightweight frame from a classic british builder (see classic lightweights for ideas) and get it resprayed. provided that the frame isn't too badly rusted and not built up with a load of period components, there's no reason, imho, why a classic old frame could not be resurrected with modern kit. that said, there are folk out there who frown upon the "dreaded fixie conversion", and i can see their point of view to a point.