During the 2014 Tour Down Under, I had the pleasure of meeting local Adelaide frame builder James Alderson at Treadly Bike Shop and photograph the matte black track frame he had built. He mentioned a few of the projects he had in the pipeline, including a fillet-brazed road bike. It has finally been completed, so here’s the latest from the South Australian workshop of Rogers Bespoke.
James was drawn towards the path of the custom framebuilder after a serious bike accident nearly cost him his life. During his recovery it occurred to him that he had never thought about giving up cycling. Oddly, he even realised that he should dedicate his career to the construction of that which had nearly been his downfall.
With a little help from some friends who run a Porsche workshop, James practised with the torch, studied every piece of literature on the subject and assembled the essential tools to achieve his dream. The stealthy Proto track bike turned out to be a complete success and he has since been practising on repairs and orders for friends before completing this new road frame.
It’s a tidy piece of work, with a sublime paint job that’s very easy on the eye. The graphics were laid down by a local motorcycle painter named Daniel Stone and continued over the matching forks and seat tube.
