Barbican to host bespoke-bike discussion with craft frame builders

Tickets have today gone on sale for a Barbican-hosted panel discussion between five leading craft bike-builders. 

The framebuilders – each with a foundation tale to tell – are:

Matthew Sowter, Saffron Frameworks: "I’d reached a turning point in my life where I was unsatisfied with my daily routine and so I decided to bring my love of bicycles to the forefront and get my hands dirty by creating a tangible object – one which gives me much happiness."

Adeline O’Moreau, Mercredi Bikes: "Thought through function, bold colours and illustrations have been present in my work for as far as I can remember, as well as the drive to create strong emotions. As important as the faultless performance of the bike, on top of the fit, engineering and fabrication aspects, is the emotional connection."

Caren Hartley, Hartley Cycles: "You spend years of your life looking at things, saying ‘why do I like that? What is it that I like?’ and so I apply that to the way I work as well."

Tom Donhou, Donhou Bicycles: "There I was, I’d just ridden across the Gobi desert and was laying in my tent listening to the coal trucks somewhere west of Beijing. It took that point to realise, like when you realise that that cute girl you’ve grown up best friends with you actually love, that I absolutely needed to start making bikes."

Matthew McDonough, Talbot Frameworks: "A great bike is more than the sum of its parts – if those parts are well chosen."

‘On Bike Building’ is part of Make! A Season of Contemporary Craft in the Barbican Shop. It will be chaired by Somerset frame building school the Bicycle Academy, and staged in the Frobisher Auditorium on 3rd May. The discussion costs £8 per ticket.