microcord
Maximum Pace
- Aug 28, 2012
- 1,650
- 1,193
Yes, it's that very special time of the year -- when, despite my principled respect for Buy Nothing Day, I tend to buy stuff for myself. Latest acquisitions include three large photobooks; two are utterly irrelevant here but the third is Made in England: The Artisans behind the Handbuilt Bicycle. I must have read a mention of this in some blog or similar; since I'm a sucker for (good) photobooks and bikes too, I had to order it.
The book came a week or so ago. It's substantial: 28×28×3 cm. (And it's a hardback, properly held together in signatures, or maybe I should say gatherings.) The book's written by Matthew Sowter, previously of Enigma (here he is with one of his Enigma frames) and now running Saffron, and Ricky Feather of Feather. Photography is by Kayti Peschke (who I believe is also Mrs Kayti Feather) and design is by Samuel Moore (who I think is at Grid Creative and anyway doesn't seem to be any of the several Samuel Moore designers who have their own websites).
The book has sections reproducing interviews with:
Among these, Aston is described as having made only a dozen or so frames so far. But he sounds very serious about his work -- in a container, surrounded by chickens, whence the brand name. Yes, there are indeed some "characters" in this book. And they have stories to tell, too: of an inquiry about a pedal-powered ambulance (politely declined), of a back-to-back recumbent tandem (alas no photo), and more.
I never was any kind of expert on British (or other) frame makers, but I was aware of the names Claud Butler, Holdsworth, Raleigh, F. W. Evans, Jack Taylor, and a few more. Some have disappeared but others live on -- but seemingly only as brand names, attached to unrelated bicycles from elsewhere. (I suppose that the "Fuji" brand is a [no longer] Japanese version of this.) Though three or four are working for long-established family businesses, almost all the people covered in this book are young. (The 81-year-old Ron Cooper, who started his apprenticeship in 1947 -- and builds freehand, with no jig -- is the obvious exception.) And while the builders look back at the past with some respect and admiration, there's no desire to return to it. The English frame-maker may marvel at how Reynold 531 sold all over the world, but he -- yes, they're all male; perhaps Japan is ahead here -- doesn't miss the stuff. For steel, Reynolds 953 gets the most praise. But there's praise for titanium too. (Not for aluminium, but there are appreciative mentions of carbon forks.) And there's little or no talk of rediscovery of this or that; instead, it's a matter of doing things right and innovating.
As I've mentioned, the book is written by two frame builders, who of course know what questions to ask. Some of the interviews jump around a little, but they're fine all the same and the writing is excellent. A minority of the photos are "bikeporn" of impeccably finished frames and bikes, photos that could appear in the respective builder's website, but there are no more of these than are appropriate. By contrast, most of the photos show work being done: the unfinished gradually moving toward perfection. Kayti Peschke may primarily be a fashion photographer but she does a good job with products (particularly an intelligent use, and not overuse, of shallow focus), with work, and with craftsmen.
The design of the book is good too, though I do have a slight beef with it. Many of the large photos are interrupted by substantial white circles containing catchy snippets of text -- "pull-quotes", I think they're called. I've bought the book, which I'm anyway going to read, so these circles just seem to degrade the photos: they may be suitable in magazines, whose editors may need to show potential advertisers how short is the attention-span needed to turn the pages and thus see the ads, but I don't like them in books. Still, I suppose that the book has to grab people's attention in bookshops too. And the white circles are positioned intelligently.
The book is published by Push Projects (and indeed seems to be this company's first and so far only book). Here's a "preview", and, for you eager consumers, here's an "unboxing".
You can buy the book directly from Push Projects, but (if you're in Japan) the airmail will cost you. The ISBN of the book is the googlable 9780957366800, and here the book is at Blackwell's, a fine dealer of books that amazingly has not (yet) been either gobbled up or destroyed by Amazon. Buy yourself some copies.
I wonder if there's a Japanese equivalent of this book. There certainly are enough makers of custom frames to justify a book. I don't have a jones for a new bike -- the two I already possess should have tens of thousands of kilometres ahead of them -- but if I did think I needed one then something made to measure by Kalavinka, Amuna, Ravanello, or wherever would indeed tempt me.
The book came a week or so ago. It's substantial: 28×28×3 cm. (And it's a hardback, properly held together in signatures, or maybe I should say gatherings.) The book's written by Matthew Sowter, previously of Enigma (here he is with one of his Enigma frames) and now running Saffron, and Ricky Feather of Feather. Photography is by Kayti Peschke (who I believe is also Mrs Kayti Feather) and design is by Samuel Moore (who I think is at Grid Creative and anyway doesn't seem to be any of the several Samuel Moore designers who have their own websites).
The book has sections reproducing interviews with:
- Keith Noronha (Reynolds)
- Jon Aston (Chickens)
- Tom Warmerdam (Demon)
- Tom Donhou (Donhou)
- Ricky Feather (Feather)
- Lee Cooper (Lee Cooper)
- Robin Mather (Mather)
- Chas Roberts (Roberts)
- Ron Cooper (Ron Cooper)
- Jason Rourke (Rourke)
- Ted James (Ted James)
- Steve Woodrup and Kevin Sayles (Woodrup)
- Dave Yates (Dave Yates)
Among these, Aston is described as having made only a dozen or so frames so far. But he sounds very serious about his work -- in a container, surrounded by chickens, whence the brand name. Yes, there are indeed some "characters" in this book. And they have stories to tell, too: of an inquiry about a pedal-powered ambulance (politely declined), of a back-to-back recumbent tandem (alas no photo), and more.
I never was any kind of expert on British (or other) frame makers, but I was aware of the names Claud Butler, Holdsworth, Raleigh, F. W. Evans, Jack Taylor, and a few more. Some have disappeared but others live on -- but seemingly only as brand names, attached to unrelated bicycles from elsewhere. (I suppose that the "Fuji" brand is a [no longer] Japanese version of this.) Though three or four are working for long-established family businesses, almost all the people covered in this book are young. (The 81-year-old Ron Cooper, who started his apprenticeship in 1947 -- and builds freehand, with no jig -- is the obvious exception.) And while the builders look back at the past with some respect and admiration, there's no desire to return to it. The English frame-maker may marvel at how Reynold 531 sold all over the world, but he -- yes, they're all male; perhaps Japan is ahead here -- doesn't miss the stuff. For steel, Reynolds 953 gets the most praise. But there's praise for titanium too. (Not for aluminium, but there are appreciative mentions of carbon forks.) And there's little or no talk of rediscovery of this or that; instead, it's a matter of doing things right and innovating.
As I've mentioned, the book is written by two frame builders, who of course know what questions to ask. Some of the interviews jump around a little, but they're fine all the same and the writing is excellent. A minority of the photos are "bikeporn" of impeccably finished frames and bikes, photos that could appear in the respective builder's website, but there are no more of these than are appropriate. By contrast, most of the photos show work being done: the unfinished gradually moving toward perfection. Kayti Peschke may primarily be a fashion photographer but she does a good job with products (particularly an intelligent use, and not overuse, of shallow focus), with work, and with craftsmen.
The design of the book is good too, though I do have a slight beef with it. Many of the large photos are interrupted by substantial white circles containing catchy snippets of text -- "pull-quotes", I think they're called. I've bought the book, which I'm anyway going to read, so these circles just seem to degrade the photos: they may be suitable in magazines, whose editors may need to show potential advertisers how short is the attention-span needed to turn the pages and thus see the ads, but I don't like them in books. Still, I suppose that the book has to grab people's attention in bookshops too. And the white circles are positioned intelligently.
The book is published by Push Projects (and indeed seems to be this company's first and so far only book). Here's a "preview", and, for you eager consumers, here's an "unboxing".
You can buy the book directly from Push Projects, but (if you're in Japan) the airmail will cost you. The ISBN of the book is the googlable 9780957366800, and here the book is at Blackwell's, a fine dealer of books that amazingly has not (yet) been either gobbled up or destroyed by Amazon. Buy yourself some copies.
I wonder if there's a Japanese equivalent of this book. There certainly are enough makers of custom frames to justify a book. I don't have a jones for a new bike -- the two I already possess should have tens of thousands of kilometres ahead of them -- but if I did think I needed one then something made to measure by Kalavinka, Amuna, Ravanello, or wherever would indeed tempt me.