One booth I would love to hang out at this years NAHBS is that of Winter Bicycles. Eric Estlund is very much a traditionalist, and with a background in metal sculpture, an artist in the true sense of the word. He’s also comfortable with pushing boundaries and genres to achieve a perfect frame for his customers, as this interpretation of a 3Rensho track bike shows.

This particular order requested a modern, street-capable track frame, based on the legendary frames by 3Rensho’s master builder, Yoshi Miyakawa. Eric went to work, applying a modern and versatile influence upon what is quite a traditional frame layout. The chain stays can accommodate up to a 700x28c tire and brakes have been fitted. The build process, which Eric documented on his flicker stream, reveals each step of the fabrication process, and is also an insight into Eric’s fascination with the action of working with metal. The finished frame was sent to the legendary Keith Anderson for painting, who finishes most of Eric’s frames. The final result is, as can be expected, nothing short of spectacular. It’s a fitting homage to 3Rensho, primarily blue with yellow windows.

If you’re fortunate enough to be heading along to the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Sacramento, make sure you stop by and say hello to Eric at the Winter Bicycles booth.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

Paul Brodie is one of the godfathers of modern off-road cycling, being heavily involved in the early days of the Canadian scene. He started Brodie Research and Technology in 1986, eventually building some of the most highly sought after frames in western Canada and the US. Paul is now teaching Framebuilding 101 at the University of The Fraser Valley, passing on his skills to the next generation. You can catch up with him at the 2012 NAHBS, where you can also view a true indication of his skill: a reproduction of The Whippet, one of the first dual-suspension bikes — built in 1888.

Over the next couple of weeks, Paul will take us through some of the steps in fabricating this incredibly intricate machine, culminating in a full preview of the finished bike at the NAHBS. For now, here’s an advance preview of the frame to give you an idea of what’s involved:

Paul teaches Framebuilding 101 at the University of the Fraser Valley. For more information on the course, where you can learn how to build a steel framed bicycle using Paul’s original jigs that have built over 4000 frames, visit the UFV website.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

Another framebuilder anxiously anticipating the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show is Chris Bishop, although from the glimpses we’ve seen, he has the situation in hand. In between coordinating the Show bikes, he managed to build this slender single speed for Martin.

Martin’s custom frame is dripping with the type of details Chris Bishop is well known for. That seat tube cluster, however, is one of the freshest I’ve seen. The attraction of a single speed is it’s pared-back simplicity, which this one has in spades, but that rear end looks like it’s been tapped with the wand of a fairy godmother, adding a glamorous touch without being garish. The components are top-shelf: TRP brakes, Chris King hubs matched by the blacked-out headset and a White Industries drivetrain. Without pedals, the scales are tipped at 14 lb, 13 oz — not bad for a bike that will last a lifetime.

Say hello to Chris at the NAHBS on the 3rd and 4th of March, where he’ll have a slew of amazing bikes on display, including John ‘Prolly‘ Watson’s fillet-brazed road bike. There’s more detail photos of Martin’s single speed on the Bishop Bikes flickr stream.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

With less than two weeks until the 2012 NAHBS, most exhibitors will be exhibiting signs of extreme mental pressure in a rush to ensure the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of March presents their work and skills in the best possible light. Tim O’Donnell of Indiana’s Shamrock Cycles must have exhaled a long sigh of relief as he gazed upon his elegant and elaborate urban bike.

Tim has not only demonstrated his fabrication ability here, but also his imagination. The fine curves of the easily detachable rack and fender struts combine elements of the Art Nouveau movement with Celtic knot work motifs, a final swoosh provided by the ‘chain’ guard, which will actually protect ones trouser leg from the grease-less carbon belt drive. The signature shamrock has been cleverly incorporated into the bidon bosses, while the initials ‘S.C.’ form decorative braces on the custom, wood-paneled front rack — 10 points for subtle (yet deservedly proud) branding. Not only is this Shamrock Cycle a very traditional design, it’s also been married with modern conveniences such as internal cable routing, an in-built D-lock holster, SONdelux front dynamo hub lighting and an internally-geared rear hub. The icing on the cake is, literally, the minty green and chevron’d paint by Michael at Indiana’s Corby Concepts.

Keep an eye out for Tim at the Shamrock Cycles booth at the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show, 3rd and 4th of March in Sacramento, CA.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

The French marque of Sunn represented a level of continental quality to the BMX and MTB scene of the 1990s. Perhaps it was the funky branding, the quirky (yet well-thought out) engineering or the all-star pro team of riders such as Cédric Gracia, Nicolas Vouilloz, Anne Caroline-Chausson and Christophe Leveque. Sunn ventured briefly into the urban bicycle market with the Traff, an elegant frame which bore perhaps too close a resemblance to it’s legendary off-road siblings.

Unfortunately for the Traff, Sunn’s talent for creating excellent BMX and mountain bikes did not translate well onto Parisian streets. Jean-Pierre Garnier was the brilliant designer and spirit-keeper of Sunn, who failed to account for the necessary elements of an urban bike such as fenders, racks, lights and a kickstand. Only two 6061-T6 alloy prototypes were created: one has been lost to the pages of history and this one is owned by Med from BMX Groupment, whose Sunn Royal we have previously featured on Cycle EXIF.

Med has applied his own custom touches to the Traff, distilling its BMX and MTB heritage. A Cannondale fork has been installed, along with a Sunn stem and handlebars, Rigida rims laced to Suzue BMX hubs and St Martin cranks. Considering the winning entry of last year’s Oregon Manifest from Geekhouse Bikes, obvious the Traff was yars ahead of its time.

PS: If you haven’t secured a copy of the Cycle EXIF Custom Bicycle Calendar, now’s the time to do so. The price has dropped to $8.95 — great value considering we’ve also catered for January 2013.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

To put this Colnago Master into context, perhaps I should have named this post Colnago ‘il Toro’, as it will immediately explain these original ‘bullhorn’ handlebars, and better serve Maximilano Teixeira Mendes’s leather and woodworking skills.

Maximilano Teixeira Mendes (hereafter known as ‘Max’), procured the Colnago Master frame on eBay, which had been ‘very properly’ sandlasted. Max took to it with 80 all the way up to 2500 grain sandpaper, and finally with a good polish and dremel. The evidence is right there; you can see your reflection in each lug and the bottom bracket shell, as though they’ve been chromed. The reasoning behind ‘il Toro’, however, is the delicately wrapped and laced leather covering. Max has been working on classic yachts for a while and one of his duties was attending to the on-board leather. Rest assured, Max used Eco-leather — an environmentally-friendly tanning solution. Due to the Master’s legendary star-shaped profile, Max stitched the wrap on two sides.

Maybe we should view a photo of Ernest Hemingway’s beloved Spanish fighting bulls for Max’s handlebar reference. Two woods have been used: that of Wenge (Millettia laurentii) and Brazilian Ipê which has been soaked and molded into the ‘bullhorn’ shape, which Max hand-carved, sanded and polished with professional varnish.

I love the profile, especially photographed against the cobbled streets of Imperia, Italy, where Max resides. The profile is symbolically reminiscent of a hoofing bull presented with a torero’s capote.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

The Stanridge Speed Highstreet Pursuit, a low-profile, track-ready street fighter, has rapidly been filling the pages of its passport. Each week the Stanridge Speed facebook Page is updated with news of another frame heading for some European or Asian destination. Just more proof of how hard Adam Eldridge has been working this year.

This is the latest version of the frame we featured a year ago in an interview with Adam, which is now up to Edition 20. Adam has been stretching his wings over the past 12 months, adding cyclocross, 29er MTB and more exotic lugged frames to his portfolio. There’s no sign of letting up, either, with evidence of a geared road frame in the works, which bears a certain family resemblance to his Highstreet Pursuit.

Special thanks to Javan Hillard, who captured these dramatic images of the latest Highstreet Pursuit. You can secure yours by contacting Adam through the Stanridge Speed website.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

It’s been just over a year since we featured Carson Leh’s Deluxe TECH2 BMX and its leather upholstered saddle that so excited the bicycle blogosphere. Carson is a multi-talented designer who has applied his appreciation of traditional style to furniture and industrial design, sustainability consulting, photography and, finally, traditional shoemaking and custom leather saddlery.

Shoemaking is a skill less-oft heard of nowadays, despite a popular resurgence of interest in traditional crafts, and Carson has combined his cordwaining skills with his love for BMX riding to produce the brogued saddle installed on his Deluxe TECH2. That saddle created so much interest, from all genres of cycling—road, cyclocross, MTB as well as BMX—that he implemented a Kickstarter project to enable a short production run of similarly-styled saddles, under the banner of Alden Seats.

Carson’s aim is to produce a hard-working saddle created with leather from the USA’s most environmentally friendly tanneries, built tough to withstand the rigors of life on (and off) the road, with a style that wouldn’t be uncomfortable inside the most exclusive gentleman’s club or boardroom. There will initially be three seat shapes, with four leather colors and nine distinct designs. Styles will include a retro road and track seat, a Dutch style comfort seat and a slim pivotal-style BMX and MTB seat.

Alden Seats needs to raise $5,700 on Kickstarter in just 12 days time to actualize the project. As an incentive to pledge your support, Carson has a range of gifts to reward your donation, such as limited edition seats, shirts and posters. Most notably, if you can donate $100, you’ll receive $100 dollars towards a saddle from the first production run. This basically means you pre-purchase a seat with free shipping anywhere in the world. Check out the Kickstarter project page here, and watch the video of Carson and his leather saddlery below. Hopefully every boutique cyclery around the world will be inspired to carry one of Carson’s saddles and pledge a donation.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

On the 9th of February 2012, the immensely humble and intensely hardworking Ernesto Colnago celebrated his eightieth birthday. This milestone was spent like any other day in the Colnago calendar: a dedicated day full of duty to one of the world’s most respected bicycle marques, pleasantly interrupted by the release of a highly desirable and strictly limited Colnago bicycle and making sure he was, as usual, the last to leave the office.

The Colnago C59 Ottanta (‘Eighty’ in Italian) has been produced in a run of only 80 frames (naturally). The C59 is Colnago’s top-shelf racing frame, the same will be used by Team Europcar to contest this years Tour de France. Completely designed and constructed from carbon fiber in Italy, the Ottanta features an internally ribbed top tube shaped similar to the iconic Colnago Master, and is resplendent in a gold metal-flake finish. The lug details are a reference to the Colnago Arabesque frame and real aficionados will recognise the ‘eagle and arrow’ head badge as that which appeared on the first of Ernesto’s frames in the 1950s.

There is now much less than eighty Colnago C59 Ottanta frames still available in the world, you can secure yours via Dutch and Wolf, the United Kingdom’s ultimate provider of exclusive, luxury cycles and lifestyle cycle brands. Contact Mark McGrath and his team through their website.

PS: I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Canada’s Brodie Bikes as our latest sponsor. We featured the father of Brodie Bikes, the legendary Paul Brodie, and his frame building course a few weeks ago. Check out their stylishly classic and highly competent steel tourers and racers. Their support is helping to keep the wheels of Cycle EXIF turning.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

The faux-wood paint effect of Rob Pollock’s Woodwork Alien frame was a real hit among Cycle EXIF readers, back in November 2010, but this frame is veneered with real walnut. Jakub Vávra posted a single photo of this creation on the Cycle EXIF facebook wall and I had to find out more.

The frame is a vintage Favorit, which would have been a familiar site on Czech roads, Jakub and Prga Velo’s country of origin. This is the first edition of Jakub’s Prga Velo ‘custom bike constructions’, an incursion into the design styles of the early 20th Century. Jakub is attempting to recapture the handmade ethos of the Art Deco era, by marrying it with modern parts and functionality. An internal rear hub provides multiple gears and braking, and the shifter has been upholstered with a leather cover that accents the Brooks saddle. A Brooks tool roll and toe straps complete the ensemble which, combined with the polished componentry, lend an unmistakeable wisp of steampunk to the first Prga Velo creation.

Interestingly, while the design and spirit of the Prga Velo bicycle is reminiscent of an earlier age, never before has it been so relevant as an economical solution to transport, health and pleasure. I’m looking forward to the next installment. Thanks to Alexander Dobrovodský for the photography.

PS: The price of the 2012 Cycle EXIF Custom Bicycle Calendar has just been dropped down to $8.95. That’s a bargain: I’ve had two months pleasure, so far, of turning over a new page and enjoying a new beautiful bicycle. I’m already looking forward to March. Head over and grab yours today.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

Cycling is so integrated into Dutch society that it’s actually possible to feel unlike a ‘cyclist’ by riding a bike there. For a nation that’s so enamored with the bicycle, the Netherlands has a surprisingly small number of custom frame builders. They do exist, however, and embody a national character in the same way a particular region will produce a singularly flavored wine.

This svelte road bike was built by Elian Veltman, whose blood is infused with cycling more than most of his Dutch kin, regardless of the fact they all ride everyday. His great-grandfather owned and managed a bike shop, and Elian was working in one during his teens. During his studies in Automotive Engineering, Elian began building single speed and fixed gear frames, and now has a dedicated space in which he continues to hone his skills.

Joachim Baan, editor of the Dutch style blog, Another Something, contracted Elian to build a dedicated road bike and this triple-triangle, Ishiwata-tubed frame is the result. Lepper is the world’s oldest independent saddle maker, who no longer make this particular shape. Elian saw the molds and negotiated with Lepper to produce a small run of new saddles using the old molds, one of which you see mounted on Joachim’s bike.

Coincidentally, it is almost a year to the day since we featured another of Elian’s bikes, his 02 Commuter. Combined with this road bike for Another Something, his pared-back, lineal frames and minimalist photography demonstrate his Dutch design style. Check out his website here.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

This Raleigh Team Panasonic Track was a high point of my morning commute to my workplace in The Rocks, Sydney. It turned into one of those ‘coffee shop romances’ where I’d roll into town and wonder excitedly whether we’d cross paths or not. A little online sleuth work revealed the owner to be none other than an old Sydney bike courier colleague of mine, Levon Broederlow.

Levon’s Raleigh is a true piece of Nottingham steel, purchased on Trade Me, New Zealand’s online auction site. He’s been riding it around Sydney regularly for over four years now, proof of both the reliability of Reynolds 531 and Levon’s smooth style. The Team Panasonic livery is less popular than the red, black and yellow of the Ti-Raleigh team, but no less striking, regardless of the wear Levon has inflicted upon it. Perhaps it’s more appropriate to find a Team Panasonic Down Under, considering the membership of Australian Phil Anderson in 1984. The Suntour Superbe groupset is not its original components, but the Campagnolo headset is, and the bottom bracket was replaced with a Phil Wood unit, which Levon has not had to pay much attention to.

Levon is considering a restoration, but as most purists will agree, it’s only original once. This Team Panasonic will only improve with further love and respect, and if it was wearing a brand new outfit, there’s a good chance I may not have taken the time to look back with such admiration.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

Heidi Davis is a founding member of the New England Mountain Bike Association, a collection of chapters dedicated to preserving and enjoying the trails that exist in the North Eastern corner of the US. Heidi was also a Fat Chance team rider during the late 80s and early 90s, and her custom MTB was recently and briefly for sale on the floor of Boston’s Superb Bicycle.

NEMBA holds an important role within the mountain bike scene: training their members to be custodians of their trails and the precious spaces in which they inhabit. Heidi’s Chris Chance-built MTB would have been (and still is) the perfect vehicle to explore those trails, and it’s a testament to Heidi’s vision that NEMBA has now been established for over 20 years. Late last year Heidi decided it was time to move this piece of MTB history on, and it found its way to the floor of Boston’s Superb Bicycle store. The frame is equipped with Campagnolo’s prototype mountain components, pre-dating their short-lived Euclid gruppo, and also features details such as a snake wrapping around the front brake noodle and an enigmatic paint and decal scheme.

It is now sold: I’ll assume the new owner appreciates the value of the bike that’s in their possession, whether by riding or preserving it, in the same way it inspired Heidi Davis to found NEMBA. Special thanks to Jason Hollingsworth for the photography and the crew at Boston’s Superb Bicycle.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

2012 is a magic year for S&M, it means they’ve been proudly producing ‘Made in America’ frames and components for 25 years. That’s a real milestone for any brand in the bicycle industry, especially one as fickle as the BMX genre. But it proves the quality of their products, and the dedication of their fan base. Joe Stevenson is one of the hardcore fans: this is the second S&M of his we’ve featured on Cycle EXIF, and the fourth of his BMX in total.

This is the S&M Sabbath frame, designed by team rider Sean McKinney. It was debuted in 1996 as a dedicated flatland frame and was revised in 2000: the Y2K edition is lighter and lost its standing platform. It’s Joe’s favorite S&M frame (“short, fast handling and stupidly strong”), and he uncovered this Sabbath in a dusty distributor’s warehouse. He built it up with parts to match: “99% of the parts were NOS. I went with Primo as they did a lot for BMX in the ‘dark years’ and I like their industrial style. Steroid seat, Powerbite cranks, Stogie pegs, Viking clamp etc. Stem is a period-correct S&M Redneck and the seat post is also an S&M with Marvin’s Guts. S&M pedals and there’s even a Primo Pervert cable splitter on there! Anyways, I loved building this little flatland pitbull, weight topped out at over 40lbs…”

If you liked Joe’s Sabbath, you might also want to have a look at his Terrible One Custom, Standard 125 and S&M Challenger.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.

Simon Courtney is one of those intrepid and creative New Zealand types that embody the Kiwi spirit of innovation, enterprise and determination. Simon works as a designer at Deflux, an advertising agency in Christchurch, which must be the only creative firm in the world where you can order a handmade bicycle frame by Simon alongside an advertising and web campaign.

Simon placed an order with Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles in 2007 for this street / track frame, instructing Sacha not to hold back and to simply create their dream bike. “Initially, I was taken aback by the aesthetics of Sacha’s bikes. I fell in love and had to have one, content with the 4 year waiting list for my vision of the ideal bike. At that point I was almost exclusively concerned with the finish and details of the bike: raw with brushed or polished script and lugwork”.

“It’s funny, looking back at it now. I wanted a bike that I’d be able to ride everyday and stiff enough to still feel great race on the oval if I wanted to — a confident all-rounder, really. The day came around to my number and I realized that what I actually wanted was to let Sacha do his best work creating a powerful, street-able track bike. I just let him realize what he wanted to create, I didn’t even want to know how it was going to be painted as long as it wasn’t grey, brown or black”.

“I left it to the builder because that’s how I like to work — let them fully envision and build their bike. I won’t be able to get another chance to own a second Vanilla for another 4 years, so go for it! This bike is more than just a vehicle, it symbolizes a journey of cycling passion and exploration. It’s a stage on a timeline of my own bike building: if I didn’t order it in early 2007, I don’t think I would’ve researched handmade bicycles so intensely and consequently learned the skills required to create them myself”.

“The frame/fork/bars/wheels were displayed on the 2011 NAHBS Vanilla stand. It arrived on my doorstep at the start of 2011 amid the Christchurch Earthquakes, which had already claimed one of my own handmade bicycles. So it sat boxed up lovingly waiting for things to settle down for a few months. Now that I’ve finally taken some photos of it, I’ll wrap the bars completely (which will be a shame to cover the custom candy stripe paint, but I need the grip), and taking it on some very long rides”.

This isn’t the first time we’ve come across Simon Courtney: his Deflux Pursuit was featured on Cycle EXIF in November 2010. And it won’t be the last, either. He recently won Steinlager’s Pure Future Award, and invested in a Myford Super 7 lathe and other necessary tools and components. He must have been inspired by his gold metal-flake Vanilla, because even though we loved his raw-finished Pursuit, he’s invested in plenty of credit at the local paint shop. Check out more shots on his flickr.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles. Produced in association with Tokyo Fixed.