The 2014 Tour de France seems like a lifetime ago, but it’ll stick in my mind because I was fortunate enough to be in the UK and be part of the Yorkshire Grand Depart. While I was there, I made sure to catch up with some of the friends I’ve made through The Spoken, like Tom of Donhou Bicycles.
The Donhou Bicycles workshop is located in London’s Hackney Wick, an industrial and creative hub. It is there that he creates some of the finest bicycles we’ve enjoyed on The Spoken. Tom builds all the frames there, and paints them as well. Here’s a few snaps I took around the workshop:
Tom has a great passion for the tradition of English racing and engineering. His Flying Miler landspeed bike was an example of this.
These are the tools of the trade: torch, silver and brass rods, Myford mills and vices Made In England.
His girlfriend’s townie was in the shop: another fine example of his brazing and painting skill.
The paint room, which Tom assembled himself. He taught himself how to apply paint, but by all accounts, does a damn fine job. It also keeps the final part of the build process in-house and under a close eye.
Make sure you browse the Donhou Cycles archives on The Spoken for more of his work. You can contact Tom through his website. Thanks for sparing the time to take the readers of The Spoken through the shop, mate!
