There’s no flies on Nate Meschke and Matt Cardinal, the two-man team that make up Portland’s Signal Cycles. Since the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Sacramento earlier this year, they have been brazing and building at a rate of knots. Included on the build list is this dandy commuter, destined for Jakarta, Indonesia.

The 2012 NAHBS now seems like a lifetime ago, but it was only March when Matt and Nate wowed the crowd with four equally spectacular bikes, finished to their usual high degree of perfection. They’ve maintained their momentum since, working on their proprietary Saltzman bikes (Version 2 ‘coming soon’) and the Raty Ning bike. It’s going to cut a dashing figure through the traffic of Jakarta, assisted by an eye-catching paint job by Spectrum Powderworks. It’s a concise unit with well-thought out details, the most noticeable being the positioning of the Schmidt light atop the front fender. The supporting strut conceals the wiring connecting the lamp to the dynamo hub, while visually balancing the rear rack. The components are as equally considered — the classic profile of the H Plus Son TB14 rims and Jack Brown tires thoughtfully complement a pair of Dura-Ace down tube shifters, Paul Components calipers and Jitensha handle bars.

Keep abreast of the latest news as it happens around the Signal Cycles workshop via their blog, and see more details on their flickr stream. Thanks to Culture Cycles for the tip.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

We’ve all asked ourselves what we’d have built if we had carte blanche for the custom frame builder of our choice. Ricky Feather has gone a long way in answering that question: his fiftieth frame coincided with the 2012 Bespoked Bristol show and is part racer, part cyclocrosser and even part light tourer.

Each of Ricky’s fifty frames have been exercises in sophisticated design — not to mention typography. This latest rendition is dripping with details that kept viewers intrigued at the Bespoked Bristol show in March. The aim was to create a bike that was capable of quick club rides around the hills and dales of Yorkshire, while still retaining comfort on longer journeys. The matching fenders will provide protection from the inevitable inclement weather, and if removed the frame can accommodate cyclocross tires. Both Columbus Life and Spirit tubes have been used, combined with Reynolds 853 and 725… no wonder the manufacturer’s decals haven’t been adhered. Ricky hand carved the Pacenti lugs and Richard Sachs bottom bracket shell — even Keith Anderson’s Tito dropouts weren’t spared the file.

A substantial amount of brass was used, adding the traditional gold color of the fiftieth anniversary to the royal purple shade, a perfect complement to the leather bar tape and Colt saddle by Brooks. The complete bike will age gracefully, looking as elegant and powerful as a Rolls Royce when it meets Ricky’s one hundredth frame. Head over to the Feather Cycles blog for more details. Once again, these photos of the Feather Cycles No. 50 were taken by the marvelously talented Kayti Peschke.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

It’s safe to assume that Dan Hunt is the most stylish of the Headset Press triumvirate. At least he has been since he built up his Bob Jackson Olympus frame — a 30th birthday present to himself. Bob Jackson Cycles is an English institution of cycling, predominantly building frames out of Reynolds tubing for nearly 80 years.

Headset Press is more a Readers Digest for cyclists than a blog, reviewing garments and gadgets, providing coverage of events such as the UCI Track Worlds and the Tour de France, even interviewing custom builders such as Robin Mather. It was founded in 2010 by Steve Donohue, Jamie Salvage and Dan, three passionate and creative riders who pooled their talents to provide an arena for their skills.

Dan has long been aware of the quality inherent in Bob Jackson frames and, wanting a bike that coupled a traditional aesthetic with mechanical competence, decided upon the Olympus frame as the best option. It’s constructed from oversized Reynolds 631 tubes and laid out around a racing geometry that’s still comfortable over long distances — an ideal setup for the Audax riding this bike is destined for. Dan specified Campagnolo’s reliable Athena gruppo, Thomson stem and post and a Brooks Team Pro Titanium saddle that’s accompanied perfectly by a Carradice Barley bag. The Mavic Ksyrium wheel set and carbon Columbus fork adds a modern twist to the legend from Leeds.

Don’t forget to bookmark Headset Press for a constant diet of fresh cycling reportage.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

Fans of Yeti Cycles are as one-eyed as they come, getting as excited about a 1971 Chrysler auto color called Desert Turquoise as Bianchi fans do about Celeste. With good reason, too. Yeti’s reputation for reliability and well-designed innovation has been a mainstay of their business since its inception during the early 80s. One model that enjoyed only a fleeting appearance in the range was their cyclocross frame, the ARC-X. A very talented Sydney photographer, Matthew Mead, managed to procure one of the rare frames, built it up and shot it ‘on location’ in the warm Australian bush.

We’ve enjoyed Matthew’s photography on Cycle EXIF previously — have a look at the beautiful snaps he took of his Salsa Fargo. A passionate off-road cyclist, Matt always wanted a cyclocross bike to connect some of the dirt trails around his area with sealed road sections. When he encountered a Yeti ARC-X hanging on the wall of a mate’s house sporting a pair of Zipp wheels, he made an offer for it that was flatly rejected until another mate offered to buy the wheel set. That offer was accepted on the proviso that Matt buy everything else. Done deal. The Yeti was promptly built up with MTB gear ratios that would tackle both the steep climbs and the descents.

As mentioned, Matt is a talented photographer, although his subjects are more likely to be happy couples on their wedding day — his captures will make you feel like falling in love all over again. He’s available for both local and international bookings and you can check out his portfolio here. If you’re already married, keep an eye on his personal blog.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

The 2012 Giro d’Italia will be the 95th edition of the Italian Grand Tour and it’s about this time of year that Andy Hampsten reminisces about his shining performances in the event over his career. His first appearance in the Giro was in 1985 when he won the 20th stage, the first chapter of one of America’s finest pro cyclists, the highlight of which would surely be his overall Giro victory in 1988. He has since started Hampsten Cycles with his brother Steve, where he lends his experience to fitting, sourcing and building dream bikes — including their Gran Paradiso.

The Gran Paradiso is offered by the Hampsten brothers as their top road racing machine in either steel or titanium. The ti model is called Titanio, and the Columbus Life frame is named, appropriately, La Dolce Vita — Life is Good. This Gran Paradiso La Dolce Vita is the personal ride of Steve Hampsten, who’ll be “riding the hell out it for the rest of this season”. The main triangle is welded in-house from Columbus Life, with Columbus MAX chain stays and Spirit seat stays. The bottom bracket utilizes the new BB30 system, while the head tube is the new D-11 standard. An Enve 1.0 fork steers straight and true, guiding a pair of Mad Fiber wheels down the tarmac. The indomitable SRAM Red components bring the build to life, setting off that wonderful shade of Mini Cooper Lightning Blue.

Hampsten Cycles offer the whole package: Not only do they offer world class steel and titanium road weapons, their Tournesol randonneur is the real deal. If you’re considering the ultimate cycling holiday, their Travelissimo sports S&S Couplers and comes with it’s own Samsonite case — perfect for the flight to Italy where Andy manages Cinghiale Cycling Tours and can tailor your personal tour to your specification. Wining, dining and cycling around Italy with a legend of American cycling? Andiamo!

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

Eroica Cicli are specialists in the restoration and assembly of vintage Italian racing bicycles — talk about a dream job. Their online store stock a dazzling array of frames from the masters of the business, including this Loto by Marino Basso and his brothers, Renato and Alcide.

Most of the frames, parts and accessories in the Eroica Cicli are New Old Stock, like this Basso. While it could have been built up with a gruppo more suited to the Loto’s era, ‘the customer gets what the customer wants’ — in this case, Campagnolo’s Veloce range. I’m a big fan of the contrast provided by modern components on vintage frames, especially when it’s an Italian frame laden with Campagnolo. The Loto was Basso’s flagship model during the halcyon days of the late 80s and early 90s. Constructed from Columbus SLX and Cinelli lugs, it features internal brake cable routing and the fastback seat stays so familiar to Basso frames.

It wouldn’t have taken Eroica Cicli very long to find the pantographed stem and seat post to apply their signature to this build. It’s a perfect mix of old and new, which allows the beauty of those natty retro graphics to really shine. You can see more details of the Basso Loto on the Eroica Cicli gallery. They can help you build up your Italian dream machine and help you track down those rare parts that, due to their high demand, are so hard to find. You can contact them through their website.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

Yorkshire’s detail Design Agency made a splash last year with a porteur they crafted from a careful selection of components. The result was glaringly brilliant and they’ve now followed on that success with a similarly spectacular townie.

The new project is filled with innovative and classy, well, details that will ensure the Town Bicycle is just as popular as their Porteur, the least of which is a handle bar-mounted Ingersoll Triumph pocket watch. There was so much interest in the watch mount that detail now offer it for purchase (send them an email if you’re interested). Coincidentally, as with the Porteur, another chrome Carlton frame was commandeered, sourced from a gentleman who had owned it since new. Nick from East Coast Bicycles was able to find a NOS pair of forks to replace the damaged originals and also installed a new headset, bottom bracket and the Brick Lane Bikes crank set. Nick refurbished and polished the original Weinmann calipers, which haul up the 27 x 1 1/4″ wheel set, supplied by Single Speed Components, located in London.

Freshtripe are the UK distributor of Velo Orange, an invaluable resource for those requiring quality parts and accessories for their builds, and the source of the Postino handlebars which were wrapped in detail’s own leather bar tape. To top it all off, a NOS Sapo Milano pump was found and front and rear Pifco lights were converted to battery powered LED bulbs. See more on the detail flickr stream.

See the detail Porteur here.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

To my chagrin, I’ve never visited New York City, although I greatly look forward to getting over there for a ride. One of the first stops on that trip would be to say g’day to Ezra Caldwell of Fast Boy Cycles. I’m a fan not only of the restrained and subtle sense of style he applies to his handmade frames, but also of his courageous spirit. He recently received a simple brief from Cory which must have read along these lines: make it tall and capable of carrying two six-packs of well-crafted beer.

Cory ended up with a dream bike built from super thin oversize tubes ensuring a light and stiff ride. Ezra fabricated a nifty method of mounting the custom rack which supports the wooden beer crate. Ezra exclusively specifies the ultra-reliable White Industries drive train for his bikes, and it appears again here, the polished finish contrasting brightly with the olive and gun blue finish. Those fenders are custom made by Ezra also, an optional extra when ordering one of his beautifully tailored machines.

See more details of Cory’s new ride on the Fast Boy Cycles flickr stream, where you can also view more of Ezra’s creations. You can also read the Cycle EXIF interview with him here.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

Nonetheless Garments is a clothier specializing in stylish menswear for urban cyclists that look as considered and well-tailored on the bike as off it. Their range include trousers, shorts and shirts in a subtle selection of plaids, checks and hues that are constructed from modern materials like Polartec® NeoShell and traditional fabrics like wool and waxed cotton. They’ve just added a new product to their line: a bespoke Stanridge Speed path racer.

Regular readers of Cycle EXIF will quickly recognize the name of Adam Eldridge and Stanridge Speed — his creations have ranged from the traditional Grey Flash and respectable townies to 29er mountain bikes and cyclocross racers to the sleek Highstreet Pursuit that won this year’s Red Hook Criterium race under Dan Chabanov. Adam has been assembling and painting a phenomenal number of Highstreet Pursuits lately, exporting them to customers all over the world.

The Molloy is a tribute to the burgeoning craft movement in the Midwestern states of America, as Stanridge Speed is located in Ohio and Nonetheless is based in Chicago. The two are also working on a further extension of their association: keep an eye on the websites of both Stanridge Speed and Nonetheless Garments for news of a forthcoming range of garments.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

This is the latest attempt by Lamborghini to access the lucrative cycling market, the first being a titanium roadie which was debuted at the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show. As a two-wheeled, pedal-powered interpretation of their cars go, they could have done a lot worse than to pair with another marque dedicated to innovation and quality, BMC.

The BMC impec Automobili Lamborghini Edition is €20,000-worth of computer-designed, robot-created carbon fiber. It’s basically BMC’s stock impec frame, with hand-upholstered saddle and bar wrap in Lamborghini suede — so it will even feel like your Aventador. The ‘Argos Orange’ paint is also referenced from Lamborghini’s flagship model, and bears the Automobili Lamborghini logo on the front of the frame. Shimano’s Di2 electronic shifting system takes care of transmission.

This limited edition of only 30 bicycles will be available to order at any of the 120 Lamborghini dealers worldwide and can be purchased in selected BMC boutiques around the world. It sounds like this won’t be the last Lamborghini / BMC collaboration we’ll hear of. In an interesting shift in direction for the 49 year-old coach builder, this could be the first of an exclusive series of bikes. Fortunately, a partnership with BMC means their bikes will share the same high level of engineering and integrity as their cars.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

Over the last fifty years, Switzerland has lacked the profuse number of artisan bicycle manufacturers enjoyed by Italy and France, but Cilo was one who truly embodied the Swiss personality. This frame was unearthed by Chris Raia at a swap meet two years ago, he performed a sympathetic restoration upon it, which turned it into, possibly, the finest existing example of the Swiss marque.

Due to the lack of shifting braze-ons, Chris was about to convert it to a single speed but decided instead to use it as a tutorial in 1960s bicycles and their components:

“Stefan at Speedcycles did extensive research for me but couldn’t locate any info on its original build. However, I did find one other example on the internet of a 1960s Cilo in period dress. I replicated the build – Campagnolo NR, GS, and Universal centerpulls, and even the bottle and cage.”

First off, Chris had the fork re-chromed, but it wasn’t an auspicious start to the process: “That effort took 6 months, a call to the Fall River MA police department, and two site visits with a couple guys dressed in studded leather jackets to get the thing back.”

Chris painted the frame himself, having picked up those valuable skills helping his dad rejuvenate the bodywork on his vintage sports cars. “The headbadge was the final touch. It came from Austria and cost me a lot more than I care to remember paying!”

“Since the frame itself was a restoration, I decided to restore parts too, instead of going NOS on everything. I am pretty good with a polishing wheel, so I stripped and wheeled out many of the parts to a mirror finish.”

“I made the leather bar wraps and hoods using Adobe Illustrator and a laser cutter at the shop where I work. That was probably the most fun of the whole job.”

‘Cilo’ is an acronym for Charles Jan Lausanne-Oron — the ‘J’ being substituted for an ‘i’ to aid French pronunciation. The Cilo factory was located on the shores of Lake Geneva in the Vaud canton. After sponsoring a small number of pro teams, including one with Atari, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2002. Thankfully, Chris Raia’s Cilo will continue to roll, upholding the Swiss name.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

The Rapha Continental riders continue to forge a legacy of stylish miles, documented with such cinematic excellence that the episodes exceed even BMW’s marketing masterstroke, The Hire. This year saw them venture Down Under to Tasmania, to South-East Asia and Japan. It’s the first year the legendary Continental bikes, a series of bikes handbuilt for the riders by the best builders in the business, sprung from the United Kingdom, making their debut at this year’s Bespoked Bristol show.

Robin Mather is a Bristol builder who was asked to create a frame for Rapha’s James Bowthorpe. James is no stranger to hard miles and hours in the saddle: in 2009 he cycled around the globe in just 176 days. He’s also a highly talented writer, having scripted at least two short films, one of which is featured on the Rapha website. So he’s a perfect addition to the Continental crew, just like Robin was an ideal candidate to join the ranks of Continental builders. Previous US builders include Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira, Richard Sachs, Independent Fabrication and Circle-A.

Robin’s bikes won awards at this year’s Bespoked show, and it’s not hard to see why. Robin included some details such as hand-filed lugs and an individual stem that include the bike in the Continental collective whole, but also set it apart as a bike that is singularly a Mather. I’d imagine James Bowthorpe would have nothing but good things to say about it. There’s a photofilm featuring Robin and an interview on the Rapha website, where you can view all the films of the Continental riders and information about the bikes and builders.

Special thanks to Wig Worland for the fantastic photography.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

The Faggin family business has been manufacturing fine Italian bicycles now for over 65 years, successfully establishing a name for their hand made carbon fiber frames as well as the steel frames to which they owe their reputation. Thankfully, they staunchly continue to offer those steel frames within their range, including the Passegiata.

The Passeggiata is constructed by hand in the Faggin (pronounced Fah-JEEN) workshop, located in the Italian city of Padova, from Colombus SL Niobium tubing. Its purpose will be somewhat of an enigma to salesmen — it’s a comfortable, classy frame borne from a pedigree racing lineage, equipped with a Brooks holdall and tool bag. Kind of like a Series 1 Alfa Romeo Spider with a luggage rack. The last Faggin featured on Cycle EXIF was the hugely popular Primavera, built by Cristina Faggin, daughter of the company’s founder, Marcello. The Passegiata is built by Cristina’s husband, Massimo, and is available for purchase via the Faggin website.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

Sasha Strickland loves a challenge. The proprietor of Melbourne’s Pony Bikes has an uncanny knack for transforming some of the city’s most horrible bikes into things of beauty. Her latest project consisted of converting a Peugeot road frame to a three-speed fixed gear.

Working with a re-chromed frame and fork as a base, Sasha assembled a complete bike that included a wheel set that incorporated one of Sturmey-Archer’s fixed internal three speed rear hubs. Transmission is activated by a bar-end shifter installed in a pair of Nitto drop bars. The steerer tube required reaming out from 21.1mm to 22.2 to accept the modern Nitto stem, a quirk that anyone who has attempted to update a Peugeot from this era while be familiar with. If you’ve ever encountered a French bottom bracket in your restoration process, you’ll also know how much fun it can be to source a replacement mechanism. Fortunately, Velo Orange supply modern bottom brackets in the now obsolete thread pitch, which Sasha recruited.

Pony Bikes operates in West Melbourne, at 87 Capel Street, from Tuesday to Saturday. The website has just been updated, where you can view more of Sasha’s builds.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

In the southern states of Australia, it seems like the temperature is dropping a degree with every passing day. While most cyclists cringe at the thought of the encroaching winter, cyclocrossers are gearing up with great anticipation for the ensuing season. Keith Marshall is ready and rearing for the season to begin, he’ll be campaigning atop this single speed, one of the first few frames he has built himself under the banner of Kumo Cycles.

One of the first things you’ll notice about this frame is that it’s exceptionally tall. The reason for that is because Keith is 6’4″, and it’s also one of the reasons why Keith picked up the torch and started building frames in the first place. He has since expanded his portfolio to include road and track frames, as well as a minty-green mixte.

Keith is based in Braidwood, in New South Wales, and he recently dropped down to Melbourne where he caught up with one of Cycle EXIF’s favorite photographers, Andy ‘Fame & Spear‘ Rogers. Andy took the opportunity to shoot Keith’s ‘crosser in one of the city’s myriad cobbled lanes: a quintessential Melbourne setting.

Fame & Spear is Andy’s portfolio site, where, among other examples of fine velo-photography, you can see more details of Keith’s ‘Kinoko’. For more information on Kumo Cycles, head to Keith’s website, where you’ll find his gallery page and ordering information.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.