Lugged steel bicycle frames are a thing of classical beauty and have a smooth, comfortable ride, making them a very desirable purchase among discerning cyclists.
billRider (that's me!) started building frames eight years ago after retiring from a career as a construction materials engineer, wanting to take his love of cycling to another level. He became enamored with lugged steel bicycles after visiting a booth at the Los Angeles Bicycle Expo several years ago. After taking courses in bicycle repair, frame design, and lugged/brazed frame building, he set up a workshop and started to build frames.
My frames are lugged or fillet brazed steel using tubing from several sources, i.e., True Temper, Columbus, Reynolds, and Dedacciai. Lugs are from Henry James, Pacenti Design, Long Chen and others, as available. Lugs can vary from simple points to fluer de lei and arrowhead designs to custom carved designs. All the frames are completely built by hand by me personally. Painting of the completed frame is sourced to selected venders who specialize in painting bicycles.
The style of frame and fork that billRider constructs are bicycles used for commuting, city riding, and road bikes, emphasizing a smooth, comfortable ride. Future plans include tandems, recumbents, touring frames, and cyclo-touring bicycles patterned after the French style.
Examples of my work on display at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Houston, Texas on January 2005 were a city bike and a road frame, fork and stem, all utilizing lugged construction. The city bike was of a mixte style for a short female rider utilizing a Rohloff 14-speed rear hub and 650C wheels with a 43cm seat tube. The lugs were from Henry James and Pacenti Design, with some modification. The road frame, fork and stem used Long Shen fluer de lei lugs and Reynolds 853 main tubes. Both frames sport a Joe Bell paint job.
To my surprise, the road bike won a trophy as the Best Newcomer Frame.
Bicycle frames on display at the 2006 NAHBS at San Jose were the road bike frame that was the 2005 trophy winner, plus three other frames.
· A city/commuter bike with Henry James lugs, True Temper road tube set and 650C wheels, painted by Santana Cycles. This bike will have fenders, racks, and lights, cantilever brakes, and a threaded headset.
· A road bike with a Columbus Thron tube set, Long Chen Arrowpoint lugs, and 700C wheels, painted by Joe Bell. This bike will have a Campagnolo Chorus 10-speed gruppo and threaded headset, a Nitto stem and bar, and a Brooks saddle, definitely in the classic style.
· A lightweight road frame using a True Temper S3 tube set, painted by Santana Cycles, and designed to use a True Temper Alpha Q Sub3 fork. The frame is fillet-brazed, using interior/exterior fillets to save weight and have a minimalist appearance. With a frame weight of 1.48 kg (3.26 lbs) and proper selection of components, the completed bicycle could weigh as little as 7.4 kg (16.4 lbs).
Frames and bicycles on display at the 2007 NAHBS in San Jose are the road bike frame that was the 2005 trophy winner, plus the following.
· A mixte style City Bike with Shimano Alfine Components (internal 8-speed hub), fenders, integral racks, disc brake, and lights. Paint by Joe Bell.
· A lugged Road Bike, featuring Campagnolo Chorus 10-speed gruppo and threaded headset, a Nitto stem and bar, and a Brooks saddle, definitely in the classic style.
· A fillet-brazed Road Bike frame and lugged fork. Paint by CyclSmiths.
· A fillet-brazed Light-weight Road Frame, featuring True Temper S-3 tubing. Paint by Santana Cycles.