Are there any bike/frame builders in Ireland?

monkeynuz

Hi chaps,

I am really interested in getting a bike, however, I would also like it to be handbuilt/made to measure, I don't particularly want to go down the route of buying from a UK framebuilder.

So please guys, if you know of anyone over here preferably in Munster at least that makes bikes please let me know.

Many thanks.

M

feck sake lads

i'm sure i asked this same question before .
it's something i would also love to do ,but i never came across any builders in ireland .
great opportunity for an unemployed engineer or wiskid to start up a new business;).

uberwolf

there is a crowd out in Kildare. I can never remember their name, but I think the girls referenced it in their club tour thread. I'll try and dig it out.

bcmf

I think its Rapparee that you are thinking of uberwolf.
They were cutom builders in the late 80's and early-mid 90's. I think they were based around naas/clane area.
Any rapparee's I ever saw were really really nice machines.

feck sake lads

yeah rappraee was made by a genius and gentleman called dessie may.could have spellel his surname wrong sorry dessie:)

bcmf

I presume he doesnt do it anymore.

feck sake lads

no i'm nearly sure he's long retired more's the pity,
he resprayed a bike for me about six or seven years ago and it's as good as the day he done it.
last time i talked to him he told me he built a campervan and himself and his wife does a bit of touring in france on a tandem he made ,
he is one clever man:cool:

sy

His surname was Maye and his son Colm still involved with Clonard Wheelers. Worth checking him up(Colm) as may give you more details. Link

Junior

I know Worldwidecycles in clonmel have a Viner jig which takes custom measurements for a frame to be built from Viner in Italy. After that I suppose the only other options are Terry Dolan in the UK, if you can get a hold of him - or talk to Tony O'Mahony in Dungarvan, he did build up some custom frames.

monkeynuz

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to thank you all for the incredible response to my thread, you are all very kind.

All the best.

M.

doozerie

If you are considering options in the UK then Brian Rourke Cycles (and here for their custom made framesets) are worth looking at too. They have been making frames for many years - a mate of mine from back in 1991 had a very nice Rourke frame at the time, as did his father, mother, and brother, all of them experienced bike racers who would have been picky about what they rode. They knew the Rourke family personally, as they all rode with the same club, but their high rating of Rourke frames was based on many years of riding them rather than any blind loyalty. I was left with the impression that the guy himself, and his store, were very good to deal with as well as producing decent quality frames.

More recently, Rourke frames got some publicity as they were used by Rob Penn when building his so-called dream bike. That was a pleasant surprise as I hadn't realised that they were still building frames.

Back in 1992 there used to be frame builders based in Bray, run by two guys I think. The brand was Dizecca. I doubt that they are still there, but personally I'd avoid them if I encountered them again. At the time they were incapable of either drilling or fitting a downtube so that the bottle cage mounted centrally (as opposed to hanging/leaning to one side), as I learned to my cost. I later heard anecdotal tales of far worse examples of their work, though I never saw another of their frames in the flesh. That's quite a while back now so the quality of their work may well have improved by now if they are still knocking around in some guise or other but starting from that standard they couldn't help but get better!

feck sake lads

also look at paul villiers bikes work of art imho.
if ever i get the bucks together i think i will be riding a villiers bike.

Quigs Snr

Speaking of custom bikes. I know a welder/cyclist who fancies having a bash at building a bike. I don't suppose anyone knows where you could pick up some tubing e.g. Reynolds etc..

And whilst we are on the subject of DIY, does anyone know a good source for carbon weave and resin to do a DIY repair on a damaged carbon frame ?

happytramp

Not sure how you go about buying reynolds tubes, it looks like you have to e-mail them directly through their site.

I've heard these guys are good, they do full kits of butted tubing that come with all the materials you need.

http://www.ceeway.com/

abcdggs

I've seen tube sets on ebay a few times. you might keep an eye there?

el tel

There is a frame builder in Belfast - Eddie Rafter. He's a good friend of mine one of the soundest guys you could ever meet. I got my first serious race bike from him, a stunning metallic yellow and chrome Concorde with some nifty Spinergy Rev-Xs :cool:

I've just discovered there are a series of Youtube videos in which Eddie is interviewed about frame building. They are well worth a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lym9o_-oUFY

LastGasp

feck sake lads wrote: »

also look at paul villiers bikes work of art imho.
if ever i get the bucks together i think i will be riding a villiers bike.

I agree, and so does this article from Cycling Plus http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/custom-10-37458 - high praise from someone who apparently knows what he's talking about. I would say the bottle cage bosses would be straight all right. Unfortunately I e-mailed Paul months ago and never got a reply, so I ordered my new frame from Justin Burls instead. Was going to go with a Mercian, but 5 months lead time !

kincsem

If you click the YouTube icon (second from the right on the Reply to Thread)
and copy the part of the YouTube site after the = sign you get what is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lym9o_-oUFY

easygoing39

good video's,but its a pity the film maker didnt know more about bike's and bike racing.His questions are a bit school boyish.

feck sake lads

LastGasp wrote: »

I agree, and so does this article from Cycling Plus http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/custom-10-37458 - high praise from someone who apparently knows what he's talking about. I would say the bottle cage bosses would be straight all right. Unfortunately I e-mailed Paul months ago and never got a reply, so I ordered my new frame from Justin Burls instead. Was going to go with a Mercian, but 5 months lead time !

i had no problem getting in touch with paul villiers he answered all my emails .but unfortunately the sale of my road diden't happen to finance the build so i had to tell him it would be put of for a while:mad:
anyway hope your new bike is only fantastic always great getting what you exactly want.

rottenhat

LastGasp wrote: »

I agree, and so does this article from Cycling Plus http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/custom-10-37458 - high praise from someone who apparently knows what he's talking about. I would say the bottle cage bosses would be straight all right. Unfortunately I e-mailed Paul months ago and never got a reply, so I ordered my new frame from Justin Burls instead. Was going to go with a Mercian, but 5 months lead time !

Titanium or steel? Oh, and 5 months is nothing....

LastGasp

rottenhat wrote: »

Titanium or steel? Oh, and 5 months is nothing....

Ti. He's too busy with that at the moment, and not doing any steel. I would have gone with the Mercian for the Classic look, but I didn't fancy getting my new frame 2 months before PBP, spending a few more weeks getting it set up right, felt I wouldn't have enough time to get used to it, and then what if there was an additional delay in production over what they said ? Anyway I find myself getting a lot of aches and pains with the current bike and wanted something more in tune with the longer Audax rides sooner rather than later.

p.s. I still haven't seen your "new" artwork in the metal !

rottenhat

LastGasp wrote: »

Ti. He's too busy with that at the moment, and not doing any steel. I would have gone with the Mercian for the Classic look, but I didn't fancy getting my new frame 2 months before PBP, spending a few more weeks getting it set up right, felt I wouldn't have enough time to get used to it, and then what if there was an additional delay in production over what they said ? Anyway I find myself getting a lot of aches and pains with the current bike and wanted something more in tune with the longer Audax rides sooner rather than later.

Good call - ti is probably an excellent choice for an audax bike in any case, light, won't corrode, little bit of flex. What are you going to build it up with?

LastGasp wrote: »

p.s. I still haven't seen your "new" artwork in the metal !

If you ever came out on Orwell spins you would. Actually, I've put embarrassingly few miles in on it - too much audax training, and the Rivendell is still the audax bike. But at least it has a bit of dirt on it now.

abcdggs

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Speaking of custom bikes. I know a welder/cyclist who fancies having a bash at building a bike. I don't suppose anyone knows where you could pick up some tubing e.g. Reynolds etc..

And whilst we are on the subject of DIY, does anyone know a good source for carbon weave and resin to do a DIY repair on a damaged carbon frame ?

Not sure if you're still in the market, but frame tubing here
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Vintage-Reynolds-tubing-Job-lot-531-653-/200570728877?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item2eb2f271ad#ht_1208wt_1141

morana

you might not think of this as true framebuilding but here goes

http://www.bmeres.com/carbonframe1.htm

clod71

Hi folks, looks like this is a very old thread, but I am playing with the idea of a custom steel bike these adays and I'm thinking Columbus Zona or even Spirit if I can afford it...
I would like to get it done from someone in Ireland rather than travelling to UK or Italy, even just to be more involved in the actual process...
So google here and google there I came across this crowd in Kildare... BDC "Bicycle Design Centre". Apparently they work with those materials producing "Arcane Bikes" ???
Anyone had any experience with them ?
Thank you

ford2600

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055686172

That'll wet your appetite.

I'll send pm about your query

Seaswimmer

clod71 wrote: »

Hi folks, looks like this is a very old thread, but I am playing with the idea of a custom steel bike these adays and I'm thinking Columbus Zona or even Spirit if I can afford it...
I would like to get it done from someone in Ireland rather than travelling to UK or Italy, even just to be more involved in the actual process...
So google here and google there I came across this crowd in Kildare... BDC "Bicycle Design Centre". Apparently they work with those materials producing "Arcane Bikes" ???
Anyone had any experience with them ?
Thank you

Can help with an Irish build but I ordered a custom Mercian frame last February. 10 month waiting list so should have it around Christmas. Probably a bit over priced but have never had anything else except steel and always wanted a hand built bike. The 2 steel bikes I have now are 30+ years old so this Mercian could well be my last bike if I get the same amount of time out of it!!

Sent over a few body measurements to them and they sent me back a drawing with dimensions. Its in or around my current bike sizewise so should be a good fit. Picked my colours, extra brazings ect and paid the deposit.

insanefred

If you're looking for a Zona frame, Paul Mullen in Whitehead, just north of Belfast, has been building frames for the last couple of years, Coastroad Cycles. He's on Facebook.

G rock

Donard would build in steel too I'd say.

Not sure if it helps, but I also have a mercian. There's a thread on here from years ago.

Have a Bob Jackson too. neither of them are getting any use at the minute.

I didn't go to UK for measuring or anything, just sent some measurements over, but I would travel if I was doing it again.

A day trip over and back really wouldn't add that much to your total build, and you'd get some fantastic builds if you were to venture to the UK.

clod71

How about Italy? Casati, Faggin, Tommasini... Legend Bikes?
Thanks for all your responses folks