Want to know the price? Sit down first. Don’t expect much change out of £6000 (OK, maybe a few hundred quid in change, depending on the options chosen). The Randonneur Chair will be made to order and handbuilt by start-up company Two Makers of Kent. The chair is inspired by the classic lightweight bicycles of the 1930s and 1940s.
While pricey, there are plenty of City types who’ll buy such a bespoke item of furniture, believe company founders Andrew McDonald and Simon Taylor. (And if cycle nut and fashion designer Sir Paul Smith doesn’t have one of these in his office within months I’ll eat my cotton cycling cap.)
Using bicycle geometries and traditional frame-building techniques – and Reynolds 631 tubing – the production chairs will be made to order, need not be rocking chairs and could be painted rather than left bare with brazing on view.
A Randonneur Chair was used as the "hot seat" in last month’s time trial at the Tour of Britain.
The two chairs on display at the Cycle Show in Birmingham are the only two in existence. McDonald and Taylor are currently taking orders for the production models.