Custom Bicycles, Christine Elliot and David Jabolinka (2009)

A sumptuously photographed catalogue of 39 contemporary custom builders who build every kind of bicycle, from workshops around the developed world

Images Publishing 9781864703139 Quarto 240pp £35

The assumption of Jan Heine’s excellent book, The Golden Age Of Handbuilt Bicycles, is that the high-water mark of individually created cycles is long past. This volume, showcasing, as it does, a global network of niche manufacturers, suggests that a new era of bespoke craft production is upon us.

Each producer is afforded between two and four spreads, all of which contain a hagiographical account of the work they undertake and their personal back story, as well as an arresting selection of photographs. There are complete bicycles, minute details, blown up to occupy an entire pages, workshop action shots and pictures of the bicycles in use. All the photography is in colour and to the highest coffee-table standards.

The bike builders represented here also cover an enormous range of types of mount. There is Atum22, of Surrey, England, who fashion exquisite racing bikes from titanium; Jeff Jones of Oregon, USA who teases the same metal into frames so sinuous that they bring with them a hint of the Paris Metro’s art-nouveaux aesthetic; and, Llewellyn of Queensland Australia who build bikes that from a distance appear traditional, but have a level of detailing that surpasses even the curliest of English lugwork.

Nearly all the entries are from a new wave of custom builders – there are certainly none of the traditional British custom builders that cyclists over 40 would recognise. Nor is there much of the kind of esoteric bikes that used to feature in Encyclopedia. For the most part, whether racers, tourers or utility bikes, these manufacturers are producing conventional cyclists’ dream machines – building around their dimensions, and speccing the frames precisely for the client’s needs.

For anyone bitten by the equipment bug – and for many of us, the equipment is part of the appeal of cycling – the book provides a fabulous transport into a fantasy world of bespoke bicycles.

It does beg the question, though, why has custom building had such a renaissance? Two possible reasons strike me. One is that there has been such an upswing in interest in cycling, that it is inevitable that a growing number of people will want ‘ultimate bikes’. The other possibility is economic. Cycling has drawn in increasingly wealthy enthusiasts. A significant number of these are willing to spend substantial sums of money – witness the significant rise in price of the top of many venerable models range. And, in truth, while spending, say, £10,000 on a bicycle seems like a fantastic amount to someone who bought their mount at a supermarket – it is a tiny sum compared to what you might spend on a car, motorcycle of yacht.

Some might worry that bicycles should not become rich men’s baubles. The deep pocketed peddlers who are willing to splash out for the ultimate iron do appear to be sustaining a galaxy of very fine craftsmen, however. Their work provides us all with an aesthetic treat that we should savour for so long as the green mist of envy does not cloud our view.

PS Jan 10