Handmade steel bike frames and complete bikes
Custom made in Melbourne
Engineered lightweight, robust and supple
Tailored to fit the rider
Made in Melbourne by Ewen Gellie, Mechanical Engineer, and multiple Aussie Mountainbike Champ in Trials and Downhill '88, '89 & '91
THE 2019 HANDMADE BICYCLE SHOW AUSTRALIA #hbsa2019
Back for another year, this years' show was a great success. The Show aims to increase awareness of cycling enthusiasts about the incredible choice available in Australia from small builders.
This year I exhibited three very different bikes; Reflexa Road Disc, Tracka Gravel Road and a recently completed Road tandem. They each had new details developed in-house.
There was some great coverage of the Show and I've included links here to the articles I know about. ( Subscribe or hit the "continue reading" at the bottom of the page to read the whole CyclingTips article).
The Reflexa is my high end Road-disc model. It features 3D-printed fully internally-routed rear brake ports made to my design and a seatmast with stainless-steel sleeve and painted mast "topper". Also new were slender S-bend seatstays for comfort, minimalist headtube reinforcement rings, the third chainstay bend at the rear brake and rear brake mount bosses featuring stepped paint-masking.
The 3D-printed ports are made from stainless-steel and have a shape and features that would be difficult to achieve by previous methods, for a neat and reinforced result.
Flat Mount brakes are now the standard for Road disc bikes. These custom-made frame mount bosses are made in-house from stainless steel and feature a unique step design to separate painted surfaces from the bare stainless-steel mounting surface. The paint will not chip or scratch under the caliper and the paint-masking process is far simpler and more effective. This is the kind of optimisation that can happen with a fully custom-made bicycle.
The Tracka Gravel bike will now feature S-bend stays (the show bike had the previous straight chainstays), slender seatstays and minimalist headtube rings. The 12mm thru-axle rear end and Columbus Futura Gravel fork remain from last year. The Tracka model has full-length externally routed rear shift and brake housing for ease of maintenance. Internal routing and seatmast are an option.
The Tandem Road Disc features Di2 shifting, belt drive, monster disc brakes and fully-butted tubing for all main joints. The drivetrain essentially require no ongoing adjustment, and it will outbrake any bicycle given its length and 200mm front and 180mm rear disc rotors.
I made it for Adam who lost his sight at the age of 22, now runs marathons and is a motivational speaker. I am pretty chuffed to think that his was the fastest bike at the show and in my opinion, also the coolest for outright performance as well. This bike absolutely motors along!
Frames I designed and constructed took me to two Trials National Title wins in Mountainbike ('88, '91) and two in Downhill ('89, '91) while I studied mechanical engineering. I apply the knowledge gained from my riding, the degree and the practical expertise developed working as an engineer in car manufacturing to improve the framebuilding process.
I make custom bicycle frames and complete bikes. Let me design and hand-craft a custom bike for you. Bespoke engineering at its best, built from the best butted steel bicycle frame tubing in the world from Columbus and Reynolds. Here in Melbourne Australia.
BIKE MODELS
Click on an image below to see more on each type of bike.
CONTACT
Ewen Gellie
0407 117 100
(for lugged-frame repair enquiries, contact Gordon Hill)
Skyline Road, Bend of Islands
Victoria, Australia 3097
(20 minutes drive beyond Eltham/Warrandyte)