I wasn't really sure whether to put this in Road, Offroad or Post 98 but here it is anyway.
I'd thought for a while about getting a custom frame but never been really able to decide what, who to get to build, colour etc. As so often happens, browsing one night with a glass of red, I saw an Orlowski singlespeed cyclocross bike. Blimey. Obviously I couldn't make a decision quickly so I continued to prevaricate until one evening, red wine in hand, I pulled the trigger and contacted Jacek Orlowski. A few e-mails back and forth, some measurements with a tape measure and a couple of diagrams and the decision was made - custom ss cx fillet brazed frame with lugged steel fork, eyelets back and front so I can use it as a (very posh) Pompino substitute if i wanted, geometry based on my IF Planet X that fits nicely but with a couple of tweaks including clearance for 45c tyres. Colour? No idea.
After a short wait, it was time to make the colour choice and I had absolutely no idea; every time I made my mind up, definately, I then changed it again. It had to be something with resonance. And then it hit me, so obvious I couldn't work out why I hadn't thought of it before. Despite owning a lot of bikes, they've all been secondhand. The last new one was a Raleigh Hustler that my mum bought me in the Chadd's Blue X sale in 1976. It was purple and yellow. The Orlowski would be a homage to that little 3 speed Raleigh.
10 days later the box arrived - I was like that 10 year old boy in 1976 again.
I took my time unwrapping - I had to as it was impressively mummified - as if I waited as long for my next new bike I'd be well into my dotage.
So, to the build
I'd thought for a while about getting a custom frame but never been really able to decide what, who to get to build, colour etc. As so often happens, browsing one night with a glass of red, I saw an Orlowski singlespeed cyclocross bike. Blimey. Obviously I couldn't make a decision quickly so I continued to prevaricate until one evening, red wine in hand, I pulled the trigger and contacted Jacek Orlowski. A few e-mails back and forth, some measurements with a tape measure and a couple of diagrams and the decision was made - custom ss cx fillet brazed frame with lugged steel fork, eyelets back and front so I can use it as a (very posh) Pompino substitute if i wanted, geometry based on my IF Planet X that fits nicely but with a couple of tweaks including clearance for 45c tyres. Colour? No idea.
After a short wait, it was time to make the colour choice and I had absolutely no idea; every time I made my mind up, definately, I then changed it again. It had to be something with resonance. And then it hit me, so obvious I couldn't work out why I hadn't thought of it before. Despite owning a lot of bikes, they've all been secondhand. The last new one was a Raleigh Hustler that my mum bought me in the Chadd's Blue X sale in 1976. It was purple and yellow. The Orlowski would be a homage to that little 3 speed Raleigh.
10 days later the box arrived - I was like that 10 year old boy in 1976 again.
I took my time unwrapping - I had to as it was impressively mummified - as if I waited as long for my next new bike I'd be well into my dotage.
So, to the build
