Master Craftsmen

Condor, Rourke and Woodrup are three British family businesses that have built frames for the stars over two or three generations.

- Simon Smythe,Paul Norman

Even though the basic design of the bicycle has not changed significantly since Starley’s Rover was launched in 1885, the cycle industry has notoriously been subject to the ‘modernise or die’ maxim.

Which is why a lot of the famous bicycle head badges of the 20th century are now doubling up as tombstones.

But those who have managed to pass the brazing torch down to the next generation are now regarded as the masters, with full order books and long lead times testament to their newfound status.

Woodrup

Three generations of Woodrup have been producing bikes in Leeds since 1949 and count Barry Hoban, Hugh Porter and Sid Barras among their famous customers.

Hoban won Tour de France stages on Woodrups in the days when pros had their favourite builder make them a custom frame that would be badged as one of the bike sponsor’s machines.

Tony Woodrup, the grandson of founder Maurice, is now brazing while Maurice’s son Steve has been building Woodrup frames since the 1960s. And the family business has just bought the unit next door and expanded. “Upstairs is the frame room and we’ve got our milling machines up there now and a little bit more room,” says Tony.

“We’ve also put in a dedicated bike-fit room. We’ve always done bike fitting but gone are the days of getting your tape measure out. Having a digital system [bikefitting.com by Shimano] in there puts people’s minds at rest, although you get pretty much the same results that we always used to get.