Andy came to me knowing that he wanted a single speed with Columbus Max tubing. He also knew that I was mostly focusing on commuter and light touring bikes which was fine as this would be his simple city commuter. This is the bike that he’d use for working, commuting, or just getting to the […]
I built a bike for Chris’ wife, Lori-Ann last year and upon delivery Chris put a deposit toward a bike of his own. He had a vision of a bike with moustache handlebars, brown leather, dynamo lighting, and lugs. This city bike/commuter is what came together. He will be using a BOB trailer to carry […]
Jon and I have been on many adventures together over the years (since 1985 to be exact). One adventure that sticks in my mind was our 2001 bike trip to Montréal. I was on an old Klein Quantum and he on his Bridgestone MB-5. Although his bike was much more suited to touring than my […]
I believe this is the longest it has ever taken me to build a bicycle. It’s the polishing of stainless steel that will seem to eat away every minute spent at the workbench. It’s worth it though in the end. I worked with Ryan on every aspect of this one. He is an industrial designer […]
The Oregon Manifest is a design competition that happens every two years in Portland, OR. The premise is to design the “ultimate utility bike”. A set of criteria is specified and all entries are expected to fulfill them. I had entered this competition back in 2009 as Circle A Cycles. This time, I wanted to […]
The second Chapman Cycles bike was for Lori-Ann who is one of the few people who actually need a custom bicycle. She had her bike stolen a while back and she needed something new ASAP. She had tried some off the shelf bikes that were 47cm but the handlebar reach was still too far. Since […]
As with any first, this bike needed to be special, distinct, and it needed to set the bar of the future Chapman Cycles. It was designed to be a commuter bike for my wife, Hilary, to get around town. Some of the details that I chose to do on this bike included the “whale tail” […]
I started building bicycles at Circle A Cycles back in 2005. It was there I learned about frame geometry, bicycle fitting, brazing, and painting. I still continue to build there but for the past year I’ve been building bikes under my own name as well and have managed to find a good balance between the […]
Brian B’s light touring bike
July 25, 2012
There’s nothing like going on a bicycle tour where your primary concerns are where to sleep and what to eat. It only takes a short tour to really get satisfaction from that simple routine. This bike is what I consider the ideal vehicle for such short jaunts. It’s built from Columbus SL tubing and weighs in […]