If you were going to build your own BFROU, what would you use as your muse?
The guys at Handsome Cycles could not have made a more inspired choice when they modeled their frameset, coming out in April, after the Bridgestone XO-1.
If you’re not familiar with the Bridgestone XO-1, or the cult following that Bridgestone bikes had and still has, then you can catch up on bike history over on Sheldon Brown’s website: Bridgestone Bikes; What the hell is a BOB?
For our purposes, it’s enough to know that Bridgestone put out high quality bikes from 1984 to 1994 and that the XO-1, which came out in the early 90’s, was one of Bridgestone’s finest and most versatile bikes.
Now, back to Handsome Cycles... they are producing a steel frameset made from 4130 double-butted steel that has braze-ons for racks and fenders and can take wide tires. With the frameset, you can build the bike of your dreams... it could be a touring bike or could take advantage of the horizontal dropouts and go fixed. The projected price is $379 for the frame and fork.
Handsome Cycle’s website reads like a BFTROU rant:
Our affinity for classic lines is borne out of an appreciation for Bridgestone Bicycles, circa late 1980’s through the mid 1990’s. At the time, no other manufacturer presented such well thought out designs to the American market. For the past 15 years, while the machinations of the bicycle industry’s marketing juggernaut have largely led consumers down a wayward path of lightweight nonsense and unrealistic materials, we have remained ardent supporters of sensible design and versatility.
There’s already a lot of buzz about the Handsome Devil on bike blogs:
Cyclelicious
Cycloculture
Urban Velo
Can the Handsome Devil live up to its hype?
5 comments:
I've got to say, the last picture is certainly enticing, but there's something about the attitude displayed in the second (nothing like a Van dyke) that makes me want to buy one of these.
I've been looking for frames to potentially build into a more upright bike than my current SS. I want something with a 7 or 8-speed internal gear hub, and this is an attractive frame at an attractive price.
Multiple calls and emails to Handsome Cycles have gone unanswered. They do not appear to be operating at this time.
It's a beautiful frame, but all the buzz on all the bike forums is useless if you can't buy one. Sad.
I know this is an old blog post but it still comes up via searches for Handsome Devil Bicycle.
I bought a 2012 Devil frameset and I am very happy with it. It's got road bike geometry with longer chainstays and the ability to take fatter tires. I also like the ability to convert it to a single-speed, which I likely will do in the future (currently running 3x9).
The only thing I don't like about it is that the tire clearance isn't quite enough for me. It's plenty of clearance compared to most other bikes but I would like to be able to run Schwalbe Big Apples, which I was told isn't possible on this frame. My 40mm Duremes fit fine but you almost have to let some air out of the rear one to get it into the dropouts.
Unless your heart is set on really fat tires, I highly recommend the Devil.
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