Garth's Ride

The orange Casino Royale MKII at home on Garth's new fixie. Well done Garth, looking good.

Stolen Last Night

If, during your rides around Melbourne, anybody chances upon my rubber tree with purple(ish) leaves planted in a tall cream coloured rectangular pot please let me know. Some scumbag stole it from my front doorstep last night. Seems to be the thing to do in Carlton, a few months ago someone uprooted and took a plant from my front garden. Of course I reported it to the police with an accurate description for identification. I don't want to live behind bars but may be compelled to fit them to the front of our modest terrace house, for the garden's sake. Strangely one tends to feel violated. The picture is the front of my house, the rubber tree sits to the left of the front door, or rather it used to.

Exhibition: Cycle Craft

If anyone is interested my class of 2nd year fashion students are exhibiting their work at the Knog store in Chapel Street, South Yarra. Opening tomorrow night at 6.30, the work will be up till Thursday July 2, normal business hours.

The project was to explore the design possibilities in addressing the sartorial needs of the urban cyclist.

Next semester it's tailoring all round.

While you're online and doing the blogs check out the lovely things the Bike Snob NYC readers have got to say about my work. Here's my version of the silver foil saddle, christened The BSNYC Saddle.

Gloves?

He we go off on a new adventure in designing and making with plenty of integrated technical challenge. The completely hand stitched leather glove. It started out as a project to replace Feride's favourite leather gloves she ruined when trying to clean them and has somehow ended up with me having a go at making some stylish cycling gloves.

Actually I haven't done the cycling ones yet, here's a picture of the first prototype. The cycling ones will initially be based on this design, then we'll see how they evolve. Fingerless, perforated, plain, multi-coloured.......

Casino Royale MKII: White with Orange

The White and Orange Casino Royale took a bit of work to get it looking nice. The base saddle, an old Cinelli Suede Unicanitor (I think), was a bit beaten up and needed a some repair work to the foam padding before covering. Turned out pretty nicely though. It's to go on Garth's new build, blue frame (light blue would be nice) and orange deep V's. Not sure what he has planned for the bars, grips, tyres etc but sounds like it should be a looker.

I have recently started twisting my own thread with bees wax so that I can get the variety of colours needed in the right weight for this kind of work. Both Casino Royales and the recent purple bars have the home twisted thread.

Stay tuned for some more hand stitched leather lunacy.

Custom Made: Grips, Pants and Bras

Despite the long silence things have been happening in the Busyman studio. I've been making some made to measure stretch wool 3/4 trousers for a tall fellow in Sydney. I've covered a couple of sets of handle bars for a couple of lads in Windsor and my dear wife has been assessing the handiwork of her young students in the form of 18 brassiers. That's right, bras not bars.
Currently looking into doing a small quantity production run of the trousers, so keep posted for details.

Fixie for sale! SOLD

Lovingly customised with a selection of new and reconditioned parts this chrome moly steel framed fixie conversion needs to go to a new home. Since the build was completed back in January it's een hanging in the window of the Knog Store feeling very sad and unridden. I rode it home from South Yarra to Carlton and again it's hanging around feeling sad and unridden.

If abyone out there is interested please enquire, I need to free up some space for more projects.

Click the title to view the earlier post with info on parts and specs.

The Bike Pants Are On Their Way

I've been busy designing, sampling and testing these bike pants. I'm very happy with them, 97% wool, 3% elastane. Here's the photographic evidence that Boris' pants are well on their way. Since the photo's were taken and this posting they've actually been completed, posted, received and worn.

Casino Royale: White Leather Rolls Due

Tri has finished another bike to add to his 'quiver' which is starting to resemble something like his surfboard quiver. He seems to have a compulsion for collecting but he certainly has impecable taste and he uses everything that he collects. All three of his builds have Busyman customised saddles (thanks for your loyalty Tri). We love your new Merckx.

A Business Lunch at Busyman

A couple of weeks ago there was a business lunch hosted at the busyman studio. Here's a picture of the flowers and the food. Flowers by ? Food by Busyman.

Custom Bicycle Saddle in Leather: The Navy Goth

The inspiration cam from the stained glass windows in the small East Melbourne church I attended on Good Friday. The service was in Latvian of which I didn't understand a word. We were there to honour Opa who passed away a few days earlier.

This one was done for BSC at QV on a dusty old Fizik Arione.

The colour of the leather is deep indigo purple, the overexposed image kind of makes it look white.

Leather Bicycle Saddle: The Red Whale Shark

Here's the new one I decided to make for my

cream bike, I thought I needed something a little fancier than the plain red one. It takes a little getting used to visually when you're used to the look of the old one.

Trying a couple of new techniques or variations on my old ones, again the design is informed by the technique. My box of reclaimed saddles generously given by Fyxomatosis is now almost empty, well you could say it's officially empty because what's left is pretty much unusable.

Custom Bicycle Saddles: Busy in Melbourne

Here are a couple of saddles I managed to finish the week before heading off to London. Included, in order of appearance: Sheybeler Two Tone Tan Rolls; The Red Cross Stitch; The Navy and Gold Argyle; The Mottram Two Tone Tan Rolls; Sam Fisher's Japanese Family Crest (featured earlier, but I visited Sam in London so thought I would re post); Nghi's Reverse Japanese Family Crest (on the green Specialised Langster Seattle); and finally Boris' Skull and Cross Bone Black Concor Super Corsa.

Now that bunch keep me busy for a week or two, I also managed to make Sir Paul Smith's bunny saddle the day before I left.

I have a few more almost complete, full of inspiration from the UK trip. They'll be posted soon. And I'm thinking of making a nice new red number especially for the Melburn Roobaix.

Busy in London

Just returned from a week in London, attending a conference at the London College of Fashion and doing all kinds of bike and fashion stuff. I met Luke from Rapha who introduced me to Jos and Keith at Tour de Ville where I purchased a beautiful old Dutch track frame for Ged. No Pics of that one yet. I met Vivienne Westwood when I went to the Westwood studios to meet up with Sam after work. A touch of shopping at Westwood with much thanks to Sam and his staff discount. I hired a bike for a couple of days and rode for miles in circles and spirals and evenyually to my destinations in the north east and the south west. I came across two ghost bikes, some orange DKNY bikes and more fixies than you could poke a stick at.