May 7.11 – Roger’s Road Bike

Roger came to me talking about stainless and bi-lam, I was instantly excited about this build! We opted for 853 and Reynolds new stainless steel – 931. The bi-lam works perfectly for this build, there is true inherent beauty in the construction technique of this frame, with the stainless almost piercing through the paint. To compliment the fillet brazing on the frame we built a fillet brazed unicrown fork keeping that smooth steel look.

Roger’s nick name is Tigger, he has a tendency to race everything, dragging cars and dancing centre lines. He wanted this reflected in his bike. With the combination of paint and stainless the whole thing flashes and dances, perfectly representing Rogers riding style…

The bike is built up with Chris King hubs and headset, HED Ardennes rims, Campag’ Super Record group set and Ritchey finishing kit.

Higher res pics in the Gallery, and thanks to the lovely Kayti for taking the studio shots.

April 17.12 – Gav’s Tourer

Gav was so pleased with his first Donhou that he came back for another, this time wanting a cool tourer that he could load up and crunch some miles on. He’s been dreaming of a few trips on it and hopefully this will see some serious miles in some amazing places.

Gavs a big fan of the segmented style fork so we built a sweet tapered blade set of those and then carried the segmented style through into the top of the seat stays, which I think has come out looking great. The bike has brushed stainless dropout faces and Donhou badges and the first stainless Donhou bridge, all of which looks awesome against the flat baby blue and white paint. The bike also has a eccentric bottom bracket, giving Gav the option to run it single speed should he want to or in the case of a breakdown.

Other cool features on this bike are the rear brake cable routing which is routed straight through the rear chain stay and the custom Donhou dropouts cut from 4310 steel. Finished with Sram Rival group set, White Industry hubs, H+son rims, Thomson post, B17 saddle, Moustache bars and with Avid BB7 discs this is one smooth rolling touring machine!

More pics in the Gallery.

April 16.12 – Vulpine Cycling Fete

What are you up to over the Jubilee weekend? There’s going to be a great day down at Balham Bowls Club on the Monday at the Vulpine Cycling Fete. This isn’t just your usual show and shine, more a celebration of British cycling, so be sure to stop by for tea, cake, beer, games and of course bikes. See you down there!

April 10.12 – Tim’s Town Bike

Tim saw Hampus’s bike from last years Bespoked show and was inspired! He commissioned a super cool commuter/town bike which will see duties getting him backwards and forwards to work as well as getting out for rides with the family on the weekends.

This has been a fun build, Tim knew that he wanted belt drive and bar end mounted brake levers but that was about it, he pretty much gave me a blank canvas so I got busy and this is the result.

Bi-laminate style construction, segmented forks, internal cable routing, custom bar/stem combo and Paragon sliding dropouts. It also features brushed stainless Donhou Badges with the bi-lam’ shaped in such a way that the top tube badge nestles perfectly in the scallop.

The bike’s running a Gates carbon belt system which is driving a Sturmey Archer 5 speed coaster brake hub and there’s a Sturmey 70mm drum brake dealing with all weather stopping on the front. Finished with Brooks and Velo Orange parts and painted in BMW Hot Chocolate brown pearl and Donhou Swan white this is one very handsome town bike.

More pics in the Gallery.

March 27.12 – Show Bikes In LMNH

So you didn’t get the chance to get down to Bristol over the weekend for the Bespoked Bristol show. Don’t sweat it, we’ve bought the Donhou show bikes, including the Rapha Continental build, straight from Bristol and put them in the window of Look Mum No Hands. So if you are London based or if you’re travelling through London in the next couple of weeks, stop by to have a look at the bikes in the flesh and be sure to grab some of LMNH’s great food and drink at the same time.

March 27.12 – Bespoked Bristol

What a weekend! Hope plenty of you made it, we had such a blast. Was great to meet, see and catch up with everyone – The 5th Floor, Rapha, Tokyo Fixed and of course all the builders, Ricky, Ted, Tom Demon, Robin Mather and the Rourkes!

It seemed it was the same for everyone in the lead up to the show, lots of building and not much sleep. There was a lot of weary looking frame builders come Friday evening. Everyone had really pulled out the stops and there was some really amazing bikes there. I have to say though, that had there been an exhibitors pick mine would have been the little Brian Curtis side hack tucked away over on the Bicycle Academy stand, always so impressive to see Brian’s brazing in a raw finish and just imagine how much fun that would be if you were a kid!

The Rapha Continental launched at the show also, of which Donhou is a part, more on that soon.

I would like to say a massive thank you as Donhou Bicycles took 2nd place in the ‘Public Vote’ behind local builder Robin Mather. This means a lot to us, so thank you so much to everyone that voted, your support is hugely appreciated.

There is of course another big thank you and that is to Phil and Tessa for organising such a great show, there is an amazing, open atmosphere at this show which I think reflects perfectly what we as builders and riders do, it makes us feel very lucky to be a part of it.

Already looking forward to next year.

March 12.12 – Bespoked Update…

Things are pretty hectic here in the lead up to Bristol, making sure everything is done in time, but we’re really looking forward to it now. Its always nice to step back when you’ve been in the building “zone” for so long and take a look at what you’ve been busting your knuckles for. Currently sat in primer, ready for its top coat, here is one frame I’m really looking forward to peeling off the masking. Roger’s 853/931 road bike. Many, many hours of polishing have gone into this one!

February 27.12 – Tim’s Track Bike

If you’ve been following the blog for a while now you may have seen the frame pics of this build already when I posted them earlier last year.

Tim put the project on hold for a while but we’ve now got her built ready for the Spring sun… Built from Reynolds 631, with a custom bar/stem combo and finished with H+son rims, Gran Compe hubs, Messenger cranks, ‘King headset and a Concor saddle. Look out for it on the streets of Birmingham!

More pics in the Gallery.

February 21.12 – Bespoked Bristol 2012

Bespoked Bristol is coming around quick! We’re currently hard at it getting everything together for the show with some very exciting bikes coming together, expect to see more Donhou town bikes, road bikes and tourers…

Last year was an amazing show, we had such a good time meeting everyone and talking shop with all the other builders and of course winning “Best of Show” was a real treat also! This year is set to be even bigger and better, really looking forward to it. If you’re going be sure to stop by and say hi…

February 14.12 – Maartje’s Commuter

Maartje is a lucky girl this Valentines with her boyfriend having commissioned this beautiful step through commuter for her. Hope you’re happy with it Maartje!

Maartje’s old bike was nick named the “Truck” and a very fitting name for it, a big, heavy, Dutch style bike. She loved it, but it was time for her to get something a little bit lighter and faster, something that would deal with the commute but also a bike that would allow her and a her boyfriend to go off on light touring holidays. Maartje liked the Trucks sit up and beg style and its load carrying ability and she new that she wanted a super clean and minimal design from her new one, this bike is about simplicity and function.

The frame is built from Reynolds 631 and features full internal cable routing with the rear brake being routed right the way through and up and out of the disc brake stay support. The forks also feature internal cabling. We used Paragon sliding dropouts to allow easy wheel removal knowing that the belt will always be at the correct tension.

The bike runs a belt driven Alfine 11 hub, Avid BB7 cable discs, Paul levers, ladies B17 saddle, Nitto Northroad bars, with a selection of Velo Orange parts to finish as well as a colour matched Tubus rear rack.

Many happy miles Maartje…

More pics in the Gallery.