Evanson BikeWorks
Frame building must be one of the most satisfying of trades. To see something that you have sweated over, poured your heart and soul into, welded together and shaped to fit the rider down to the very last detail. To see that ridden and enjoyed must be a fantastic thing. Inside his workshop just on the outskirts of central Colchester Richard has created a hub for his frames to be measured, constructed and sold and where each component can be selected and fitted to every frame and build.
Headtubes and geometry plans for the next lucky Evanson owner.
Richard started building bikes on his own in 2015, from there it has gone from strength to strength, winning awards and building show bikes for Hope Technology and worked with companies such as Brooks England, 3T and Columbus. Inside his store come workshop, it is clear that this is a working environment, from the Columbus tubing stored under the well-stocked work bench to the welding equipment in the corner and customers bikes in the stand ready for cabling, this is a space where his customers can come and explore both his and their own love of cycling in all its forms.
Bespoke paint jobs finish each frame perfectly.
Evanson's frame range leans more toward all-road, gravel and adventure bikes. Bikes that can go off the beaten track, explore your surroundings and act as a go to, do it all bike for 12 months of the year.
“It’s about getting more people on bikes isn’t it? I had a customer trade in his carbon road bike for an Evanson and he keeps coming back asking me why I didn’t convince him to do it sooner! He does all his commuting on it, his winter miles and he can go anywhere on it. They’re built to take a bit more abuse and come out the other side.”
Richard also stocks other frames from companies such as Brothers Cycles
Looking over at Richards current ride I couldn’t help but notice the rims he was running, a set of 650b Hope Enduro rims, found on mountain bikes used to tackle much more gnarly terrain than bridleways. Bend one of those and you’re doing well. His bikes are decorated with a mixture of high quality parts from the likes of Hope, WTB and Brooks.
Most of his builds use either Reynolds or Italian Columbus tubing, Paragon Machine Works dropouts and various parts made in the UK. On his workbench you can see bundles of bottom bracket shells and head tubes beside dropouts and head badges! A lot of the frame painting is done in house and indeed we are standing next to a beautiful multi-coloured build while we got onto some future plans over a cup of coffee. Richard explains that in the future some of the painting will be done elsewhere why he experiments with Hydro-graphics and powder coating for durability on other frames.
Nothing speaks more than a well used shop owners bike.
"We are looking into a few things for the near future with the adventure bike and gravel market becoming bigger and bigger. It is nice to see smaller brands getting a look in as cycling rediscovers the joys of getting off road, bike packing etc."
Richard wants people on his bikes and has a series of demo days lined up and events in the pipeline with other great companies such as Surly, Brothers Cycles and All City. Days out exploring the countryside, not racing but getting out, off the beaten track and enjoying cycling.
Creating unique bikes, literally piece by piece.
Richard is based just outside Colchester, Essex. Check out his website www.evansonbikeworks.com and blog http://penpapersteel.com/