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Kevin Winter
Firstly, forgive my using this forum as a vent for my excitement and impatience! Consider this a place holder, as far as my own frame is concerned; anyone else got a (Kevin) Winter bike to share??
Having been off the bike for over a year, through injury (fell downstairs with a washing machine strapped to my back...), I found a resurgent urge to saddle up, a few months ago... And I'm loving it, possibly more than ever. But, I'm riding a scrapper, an old Sunn Roader frame picked up on ebay for £5 several years ago, intended as a winter commuter. So to celebrate my return to the road, and with the excuse that I'm getting older, returning from injury so custom's the only way to go, I've just ordered a new frame from Kevin Winter.
I guess even fellow Brits hanging out here may not know Kevin's work. I do because I worked at Hardisty Cycles, where prior to my time there, Kevin had build their frames. In the North East of England, where he works, Kevin is the go-to builder, especially amongst the road racing contingent; he keeps a pretty low profile, his reputation and word of mouth keeping him plenty busy (currently a 14 week wait). He works in steel, ti, alu and carbon.
Here's the man himself, in days gone by:
hardisty_brochure.jpg
And a restoration job on a frame of that vintage:
ALL BECAUSE OF A PICTURE-A TRIBUTE BUILD FOR A NATIONAL HERO | Retrobike
I could drone on about him, but those who would like to know more about him can learn more about him here. Suffice to say, his work is superb and whilst I have a soft spot for various marks of my youth, I didn't think twice about getting him to build my frame.
So, what will it be? Whilst I appreciate many different aesthetics in steel bikes, I've been riding a lugged Columbus Max for a while, so I'm going tig for this one, with a mix of Spirit, Life megatubes, max and SL. A while ago (last year, the year before, I forget) I saw this bike in the metal (looks even better than the pics) and it was seeing it again on here that confirmed my choice of trad geometry.
I'll build much of of it from parts I have, but new wheels are in order, I think (cos I'm worth it); being a Brit, Royce was my first thought... I ruminated on the weight (Royce hubs are beautiful but not light weights by today's standards), compared and re-compared with KK et all... I talked myself out of it. But then, divine intervention! Royce is developing a light-weight version for limited production and I am on the list for a pair, which are likely to be matched with a c. 30-40mm section carbon tubular.
So fellow sweaty palmed bike-porn addicts, pictures! You won't find much of Kevin's work online, but here's one of a more recent example.
KW_Spirit.jpg
(This should probably be credited, but I'm afraid I can track down who's it is, sorry!!)
That's all for now, but as a necessary means of regulating my nervous anticipation, I'll post more, including design drawings, before it's arrival in the early autumn (naturally, arrival at a time of iffy weather here, prompts a week of testing somewhere hot...). In the meantime, I hope to see more of KW's work displayed here!!
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Originally Posted by ljm
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