Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Under The Bridge: Granville Bicycles Commuter

Under The Bridge: Granville Bicycles Commuter

Granville Island is a 35-acre peninsula at the south edge of downtown Vancouver that’s a tourist destination and a haven for artists and artisans. Vancouver’s Tim To was inspired by the island’s ambience to name his frame building workshop Granville Bicycles after it.

Under The Bridge: Granville Bicycles Commuter

After a frustrating decade of corporate work, he enrolled in Doug Fattic’s course in Niles, Michigan and returned to start building frames for family and friends using minimal tools and utilizing old-school methods. He’s now fifty-plus frames into his new career.

Under The Bridge: Granville Bicycles Commuter

Granville Bicycles is now established in a workshop closeby in East Vancouver. This is an earlier build, purchased on Craigslist by Richard, a local rider who gave it a complete overhaul — right down to bare metal — including a new semigloss pale green paint job.

Under The Bridge: Granville Bicycles Commuter

Richard wanted a year-round commuter so went for a mix of Deore and XT for the build, with Salsa Bend bars and a saddle and grips that he reupholstered in leather himself. After his inquiry, Tim supplied Richard with decals and a head badge for a final touch.

Granville Bicycles Instagram | Flickr

Under The Bridge: Granville Bicycles Commuter