Tony Malone - Old Kent Road Cycles - his new venture?

http://bikepolo.ca/files/tourneyposters/BIKEPOLOPARIS-NOV2008-72dpi.jpg

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^ Infinitely better!

But do you think he can see the difference between the two?

Beyond the polo one swinging a mallet in the air?

why don't you ask him, he's also a "communicator". knob jockey.

he's selling his own range of mountainbikes now
http://www.rhodamine.co.uk/riding/bicycles.htm

edit. no he isn't he just designed the site

Jesus, what a load of old flannel.

He's also shutting down Witcomb as a London based operation. They are moving to a unit in Wales.

He's also shutting down Witcomb as a London based operation. They are moving to a unit in Wales.

i heard that rumour also but was afraid to say anything in case it was just hater gossip.
i heard he wanted to sell his stake in the business which ammounted to the premises in deptford. so sad, you could almost see something like this happening.

^ it's official they posted it on the shop blog with a picture of the unit. They'd already stopped doing repairs for locals or actually being open apart from Saturday basically. For shame.

Our new facility will be based in Wales and will enable us create more modern fiber based bicycle frames together with our handbuilt steel bicycle frames which we have made for over 60 years.

You're not american, it's fibre.

First step on the road to Witcomb being a company that puts stickers on frames rather than a frame builder

he's selling his own range of mountainbikes now
http://www.rhodamine.co.uk/riding/bicycles.htm

edit. no he isn't he just designed the site

I'm no professional but that seems like a badly designed website to me. Its also ugly and lacks info/content.

Ah.

That explains why I can never get a reply from Whitcomb.

But they're my local bike shop. Arse-monkeys!!!

OK, guys, help. I know I should source my own components lovingly chosen from every single manufacturer on the market and drool over which rims and how many spokes I can get away with, shaving miligrammes off here and there, deciding if I should have 17 or 18 teeth on the rear cog, etc. But frankly, I can't be fucked.

I'm going to do a slow-and-steady rebuild job on my old bike I think, mainly because I just love it. But I'll build that up bit-by bit. For now, I just want to walk in a shop, sit on a few bikes, have a wiggle and go "I like that one". I can tart it up and change it after I spend some time in the saddle. My S/S experience so far has been riding at 108GI (gear cable broke, and I got to liking doing everything in top-most gear) but that is a stupid ratio for anything but on the flat. As a result, I don't yet know quite what I want and it takes a while of riding something for me to decide if it's right or not.

I live just near Greenwich and I spend loads of time in Hillingdon, if there's anything around those areas. If not, I'm happy to travel.

Where would you folks recommend I go for buying an off-the-peg if Whitcomb is shutting?

Edwardes in Camberwell has virtually every make of OTP on the shop floor plus their own brand track frames. Recommended.

Thanks for the pointer to Edwardes.

I just rang them and described my old bike - particularly the size (big old 25" frame). They told me they have loads of OTP bikes I can try but if I wanted a large frame, a Charge bike may well be best.

Anyone have any experience of these bikes?

you might want to start using the search function.

tea_bee, start using search there are plenty of threads describing OTP's and charge plugs...
Search is your friend...
;)

Thanks. A couple of other forums I use (non-cycling) have dropped their search functions in the last year because of processing overhead on the servers. I didn't even look. Apologies for appearing dumb. Searching now...

Back to Whitcomb. I went in there last summer and I asked about custom frames because my girlfriend is 5'11. I was assumed it was a dying business but they told me they have more work than they could handle. So why is a successful business relocating to Wales? I have a scratchingness of my head...

Last couple of times I've been in there it's just been Barry trying to run the shop by himself.... on the phone while trying to weld frames, etc.

I think basically Tony Malone's marketing machine got them way more custom than they were big enough for, and now Barry's trying to make a ton of bikes while having to answer idiotic questions about bottom brackets all day from morons like me. Well, he was until I moved. I have other bike shops to pester now.

I'd fuck off to Wales for a break as well, frankly.

This is all speculation by the way.

Tea_Bee: Given you were on a 25" humungoframe, you could always get one of the last remaining Fuji Track 2008s from http://biddlebikes.co.uk - 276.95.

I can't believe that they're leaving Deptford. They're kissing goodbye to their history and also to their main USPs by moving away.

The crazy hike in prices was bad enough (but then cyclists in London are prepared to shell out money which most would consider to be over the odds c.f. Rapha) but to move away from London where your old customers are based to Wales strikes me as brand suicide.

Say I had a couple of thousand burning a hole in my pocket - how would I get measured up for my new bike now that they're in Wales? How would I get enthused about the idea of my custom made bike without visiting the workshop and meeting Barry and discussing the options.

I think this is a sad event for London cycling, a sad event for Deptford and an even sadder event for the Whitcomb family. :-(

I think this is a sad event for London cycling, a sad event for Deptford and an even sadder event for the Whitcomb family. :-(

Definitely. It shouldn't have happened in this way. But as we don't know the full story, we probably can't explain it fully. There are a lot of rumours swirling around, but who knows why they made their decisions in this way? It would involve speaking to a lot of people to find out.

a mega thread dredge but seeing as i started it it's o.k.
so what happened to the grand plan?
the new workshop in wales making carbon and steel bikes
old kent road bikes?
a range of panama hats and kayaks?
a range of gay friendly mountainbikes?

or has toney dafoney finally killed of Witcomb?

Looks dead in the water, doesn't it? Shame...

a range of panama hats and kayaks?

ffs omg lol nsfw

Tony Malone has killed Witcomb. Fucker.