The beard of Stephen Bilenky is an institution in itself, just as much as his Cycle Works, which has been turning out fine steel frames since 1983. Currently employing a staff of 7 (8, including Ferdinand, the shop cat), Bilenky is not known for a particular speciality, but is known for connecting the customer with the bike they have always wanted.
Otto Wollin is a Swedish connoisseur of excellent bicycles who recently became the proud owner of this 650b Bilenky fully-dressed tourer from Bilenky Cycle Works. The entire project was three years in the making, from ordering to reception. A lot of that time was spent refining the vision of the Tourer into the regal machine it is today.
The Tourer follows in the footsteps of Rene Herse and the Golden Age of the constructeurs, updated with a few modern accoutrements. The SONdelux SL dropouts are internally wired to the Grand Bois fork crown and Schmidt Edelux lamp, which sits atop the custom decaleur. Tony Pereira‘s proprietary rear light is attached to the matching hammered Honjo fenders.
Columbus Life tubing was used, S&S-coupled and joined by hand-cut lugs with a Herse-inspired profile. The bottom bracket shell was even fabricated to match the lugs, and Otto supplied the head badge. The most important touch, however, is the Pearlescent Lunar Peach paint — a one-off color overlaid by gold and pink pearl — applied by resident BCW artist, Naomi Littell.
Special thanks to Otto for the photos. Head to the Bilenky Cycle Works website for more details and a video insight into the BCW workshop.
