Retro-Vintage Custom - Feather Cycles

Hi All,

This is my modern-retro-vintage steel road racer, custom built earlier this year by Ricky Feather at Feather Cycles in York. I was originally considering using someone well-established such as Brian Rourke or Mercian. Ricky is fairly new to the scene but his work is excellent and (at that the time) his builds were a good deal cheaper than the competition.

I really wanted that traditional look and above all, ride quality and comfort. To achieve that, Ricky chose to use a combination Columbus SL for the rear triangle and forks and Reynolds 631 for the front end.

I built it up with a Campag Athena group, Chris King headset, Nitto seatpost, stem and bars, Dia Compe tyres, H Plus Son box rims and hand engineered hubs by Royce.

Extremely pleased with the end result and she's a joy to ride. I would highly recommend Ricky for anyone considering a custom steelie. He's a top bloke and really gaining national recognition with a best in show award at this year's Bespoked Bristol and a full page in the November issue of GQ magazine (including a picture of my bike!)

Hope you like.

Tubby Geoff [/b]

Beautiful bike! I've saw some of his stuff and its very impressive, some superb touches. So how does it ride and would you humour me by telling me the weight? Oh and killer spec too, some choice bits of kit

I don't often venture into the road section but on seeing 'Feather' spring up.....

Ricky's bikes are fantastic and he is a top bloke to boot. That build is fantastic too. A real triumph. You must be stoked with how it turned out.

Thanks Kaiser.

At a smidgeon over 22lbs she's not the lightest by any stretch and with the 28c tyres can be something of a beeatch to get up steep hills. It rips around corners though - the box rims seem to pinch the tyres making them feel like razor thin tubulars. She's no slouch though - and very stable at speed. She obviously comes into her own on smooth, flat road surfaces - it's like riding a magic carpet; smooth as silk - and the frame soaks up any bumps as if they weren't there.

Trouble is, there's now a huge void in my life! I had 6-months of working with Ricky to design the frame, choose the colour scheme and source the components. It was so great to experience that and not even my wife and young child can make up for my loss!

I need a new project so if you know anyone looking to offload a vintage Hetchins, Mercian, Frejus or Ciocc let me know!!

Dr S - thanks - am totally stoked with it. Never know when to ride it and when to just sit there looking at it!

22lbs ish is perfect for a steel/brooks/28c bike would make a sublime audaxer. Can we get some more pics?

Wowsers, that's a pretty bike. Perfect colour scheme.

Feather - Lite.

Custom build?

Lot of stem extension, saddle position - pics taken before you rode it?

Looks pretty, not sure about the modern-retro-vintage monicker...modern, well it's new, retro certainly, vintage unequivocally not.

Bikes in GQ magazine, what next?

Roadking.

Custom build?

Lot of stem extension, saddle position - pics taken before you rode it?

Click to expand...

That's just the current bike sizing fashion; low top tube with the saddle sticking a lot out of the frame.

It does look a bit odd to my eyes, and also note the head tube extending up above the top tube.

Hope you re going to ride it... :?

Nice.......

Thats decided my next colour scheme for certain, pearlescent white and chrome

Shaun