Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

The Good Work: Mathilda’s Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle

Mathilda's Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle

There’s a distinction in the custom bicycle industry between a frame builder, who earns a living from making bike frames and the hobbyist. Chris Blandford is unashamedly and unabashedly the latter, yet his work is exceptional, just look at his daughter’s new ride.

Mathilda's Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle

He’s not a ‘frame builder’ but he builds frames, in a studio above a garage in Portland, Oregon. He completed a class after reaching a decade in his career as a graphic designer and reading a certain book about philosophy and motorcycle mechanics.

Mathilda's Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle

Living in Portland, cycling has always been a transportation staple for Chris, but he’s never considered himself a cyclist. Since he decided that making bicycle frames out of steel was a worthwhile pursuit, he has rushed headlong into it.

Mathilda's Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle

His website is an inspirational source of writing and photography that document the construction process and he obviously derives great pleasure from each. Sure, his portfolio includes eight bikes, but his journal is equally satisfying to browse.

Mathilda's Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle

Chris’s hobby operates under the banner of The Bland Bicycle, “the desperately underseasoned, inexperienced ‘work’ of a serial hobbyist. None of his bikes is for sale, he is only building to learn — about the craft, about the tools, about the work.

Mathilda's Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle

One of Chris’s first journal entries describes the anticipation of his first baby’s birth: Mathilda. A few pages later, there is the announcement of a new project, a balance bike for her and, a few pages after that, her first pedal bike.

Mathilda's Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle

Mathilda had only one request: that it be pink… “like a giraffe”. Chris also decided to build a bike for himself too. The whole process was documented, from conception to completion, with textural photography and writing.

Mathilda's Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle

Despite their size, a child’s bike is a geometrical challenge to build, but Chris demonstrated his talent. Fork blades were fashioned from chainstays, seat stays were used for chainstays and a top tube was turned into a down tube.

Mathilda's Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle

Mathilda enquired about of each component’s provenance: Paul in Chico made the brakes. Chris in Portland made the headset and Rudi and Evan made it look like a pink giraffe. The whole story is worth a read, both of Mathild’s bike and Chris’s pursuit.

The Bland Bicycle Website | Instagram

Mathilda's Giraffe By The Bland Bicycle