Bespoked UK Handmade Bicycle Show 2014 preview

The Bespoked UK Handmade Bicycle Show 2014 is taking place this weekend, opening its doors on April 11-13 at its brand new venue, Lee Valley Velopark, the cycling venue for the London 2012 Olympics.

In a just a few years the show has become a essential visit show for anyone keen on seeing the newest and most exciting creations from the thriving framebuilding world, with top UK builders in attendance and also many from Italy, the USA, Taiwan and South Africa, plus fine components, clothing and accessories. The exhibitor list reads like a who’s who of British framebuilding, from monuments of the bespoke bike scene like Rourke, Woodrup and Roberts to newcomers like Toad Custom Cycles and Richard Craddock, the carbon fibre specialist.

The year there will be plenty see, but also some personalities giving talks about framebuilding. Mike Burrows, who really needs no introduction, the designer of Chris Boardman's iconic Olympic-medal-winning Lotus 108, will be giving a talk about ‘The history of the bicycle and my part in it’.

Isla Rowntree, founder of cutting-edge children's bike company Islabikes, will also be talking and exhibiting a range of custom adult bicycles. Her talk will be about how these custom bikes help to design the children’s range. Plus, the founder of Chris King will be attending the show along with Jay CyCip, the principal framebuilder at Cielo, a sister brand to Chris King.

The show is open from Friday through to Sunday. Friday evening sees the Bespoked 2014 Awards Ceremony, this year presented by Peter Murray. There’ll be awards for categories such as Best Road Bicycle, Spirit of Cycling, and a late addition, the Steve Worland Innovation Award, in memory of the legendary cycling journalist who passed away recently.  

Tickets cost  £10 on the door - and £20 for all three days.

Public opening times

• Friday April 11: 14.00-19.00
• Saturday April 12: 09.30-18.00
• Sunday April 13: 10.00-16.30

Tickets are available from http://billetto.co.uk/bicycleshow2014.

If you pop along you can expect to see names such as Brian Rourke, Condor, Roberts, Mercian, Longstaff, Swallow and Woodrup, along with some of the younger framebuilders to emerge in recent years, like Feather, Donhou, James, Field, Saffron, Mather and Oak.

As well as celebrating the best in UK framebuilding, there will be an international feel with a clutch of names from Portland Oregon, itself a hotbed of cycling, with Ahearne Cycles, Igleheart, Winter and Strawberry Bicycles being on display. Representing Italy, the undoubted spiritual home of cycling, will be the likes of Tommasini, Legend, Daccordi, Faggin, De Rosa, and Pegoretti. Plus there’ll be exhibitors from as far afield as Hungary, Taiwan and South Africa.

While the show has undoubtedly had a steel flavour in recent years, the organisers tell us that there’ll be more carbon framebuilders on show, including the likes of Legend, Cyfac, Craddock, De Rosa, Tsubasa, Festka and Condor, to name a few. Something for everyone then.

The show will also be the first chance to see the new Feather Cycles Racing team, a new outfit that will be racing locally in Yorkshire and southern England. Part of the inspiration, says Feather, "was to resurrect the link between framebuilder and road racing; thirty years ago, many UK framebuilders supported local racers or teams but, with the advent of aluminium and carbon fibre and the decline in framebuilding by hand, this link was broken." They'll be unveiling the bikes and kit at the show.

Here’s the full 2014 exhibitor list:

14 Bike Co
18 Bikes
Advanced Velo Design - Windcheetah
Ahearne Cycles
AOI.CYCLE
Alchemy Bicycle Company (Mosquito)
Atomic22
August Wheelworks
Baldwin
Baum (Prestige Cycles)
Bear Bikes
Blacksmith Bikes
Brian Rourke
Brick Lane Bikes
Brooks
BTR Fabrications
Carradice of Nelson Ltd.
Chapeau
Cherubim (Kinoko Cycles)
Cloud 9 Cycles
COFA engineering
ColourBolt
Columbus
Condor Cycles
Craddock
Curtis Bikes
Da Rosa
Daccordi S.R.L
DMO Frameworks
Donhou Bicycles
Downland Cycles Ltd
Dynamoworks
Enigma Titanium Ltd
Faggin
Feather Cycles
Festka
Field Cycles
Flat Frame Systems
Forrrest
Fosse Framesets
Freshtripe & Hobo Bicycles
Grimcycles
Hackney GT
Hammoon
Hope
Howies
Independent Fabrication (Kinoko Cycles)
Igleheart Custom Frames & Forks
Inspired Cycle Engineering
Just Riding Along
Kinoko Cycles
Kirchner Custom Castings
Legend
Libertine Bicycles
Limit Engineering
Lock 7
Longstaff
Loopwheels (Jelly Products Ltd)
Malcolm Custom Bicycles
Mawis-Bikes
MercerBikes
Mercian Cycles Ltd
Merényi Bicycles
Miche
Middleburn Cycle Components Ltd
Milk bikes limited
Mosaic (Prestige Cycles)
Mosquito Bikes
Moss Bikes
Moulton
Munin Bikeworks
Mustard (Prestige Cycles)
Nagasawa (Kinoko Cycles)
Oak Cycles
Oram Kaye
Paulus Quiros
Pedeled
Pegoretti (Mosquito)
Petersbike
Poetry In Motion Cycles
Prestige Cycles
Pretorius Bikes
Quoc Pham
Racer Rosa
Ravens Cycles
Restrap
Reynolds Technology
Roberts
Robin Mather Cycles
Rohloff AG
Royce UK
Rusby Cycles
Ryde Rims
Saffron Frameworks
Sapim
Schwalbe Tyres UK Ltd.
Shand
Shutt Velo Rapide
Slate Cycles
Souplesse
Strada Wheels
Strawberry Bicycles
Sven Cycles
Swallow Bespoke
Swarf Cycles
Sword Cycles
Swrve
Synergy Action
Talbot Frameworks
Tatts and Beards Workshop
Teague Bicycles
Ted James Design
The Bicycle Academy
Tim March
Titchmarsh Cycles
Toad Custom Cycles
Tommasini
Tonic Fabrication (Kinoko Cycles)
Tsubasa
Union of Pedallers
Vienna Framebuilders
Vulpine
Whiter Cycles
Wildcat Gear
Wilkinson Cycles
Winter Bicycles
Wittson Custom Ti Cycles
Wold Cycles
Woodelo
Woodrup Cycles
Zullo (Mosquito)
engineeredbikes.co.uk

More at www.bespoked.cc