Witcomb Cycles

be careful that you don't look up 'angry dragon' by mistake.

Tony is a big fan of the most pretentious and overpriced wheelbuilder in the world....

http://www.michael-ward.net/wheelsets.htm

what. the. fuck.

£475 for an Mavic CXP23 Ambrosio/Zenith wheelset???

I've never looked up your angry dragon Richie…

GreasySlag has seen your 'timid tortoise' though

that was for a bet

did you lose?

define lose

i lost the cash, yes.

where did you hide it?

I have no idea who this dude is, or who witcomb cycles are, but after reading his blog, I just know he's a wanker.

I have no idea who this dude is, or who witcomb cycles are, but after reading his blog, I just know he's a wanker.

Witcomb cycles were a small local frame builder in the last century... Luckily an "Evans like" shop has opened instead in the area...

Szia

L

what. the. fuck.

£475 for an Mavic CXP23 Ambrosio/Zenith wheelset???

It's not just any old CXP23/Ambrosio combo it's a Carn Bica wheelset

With the stone circle of Bedd Arthur or Arthur's Grave, this mountain has many secrets and legends. The wheelset is designed as a good club race-set, ideal for the serious racer that wants an advantage

Tony is a big fan of the most pretentious and overpriced wheelbuilder in the world....

http://www.michael-ward.net/wheelsets.htm

And another design classic.

MY EYES!

That's quite bright, do you think Mr Malone is colour blind?

.

Jesus that wheel building website has fucked my eyes! I really wouldn't recommend reading all the guff on there cos by the time you do you'll have a headache and vision problems.

I think the bottom line is that Barrie was always prepared to do frames and frame repair work and never charged what his monopoly skills were worth because he was an understated kind of guy-Tony comes along and basically offers a lifeline to an aging business but at the same time is hopelessly out of step with the realities of a small cottage industry type operation-the result is what's happened-i think it was inevitable really because there was no one to replace what Barrie does-except in Tony's fevered grandiose brain.

tony malone is ruining my eyesight.

I think that the move should iron out the spikes in pricing or they'll go under, since the 'brand' will no longer be operated by Actual Witcombs, with all that their experience and proud family history brings with it. Witcomb enthusiasts the world over will know this, and be happy that they have a frame built by the original workshop before the marque was sold off. I doubt they'd buy a new one just 'cos it says Witcomb on the down-tube and has an innovative Barber Pole seat tube (apparently Daphoney claimed this was his big conribution to bespoke £1000 paintjobs). I bet there were Claud Butler heads who stopped buying them when Holdsworth in took over in 1960, and the same will happen here, 50 years on.

Without the Witcombs what would possibly be the justification in spending big money on one of these versus a Mercian, BJ etc?

Asked in the spirit of genuine enquiry.

Exactly my point. If that wasn't clear.

I'm more trying to understand the though process of Tony Maloney here- he seems to have bought a brand that, by the very act of his buying it, has been de-valued to the point of uselessness.

He may as well rename the company "Tony" for all the historical resonance, expertese etc.

Yep.

Turns out Holdsworth made decent bikes with the Claud marque in the 60s. Maybe they can do the same.

I guess if (a BIG if) the new Witcomb drops the silly prices for things like custom paint, and makes the basic frame cost more in line with, say, BJ, they just might have a chance. As long as there are no embarassing BB-shell-not-brazed-in sort of accidents early on. But yes, dammit, you're right that by buying it the name is essentially dead, until a good rep can be rebuilt.

Perhaps they will try to keep Barrie on as an overseer/teacher for these boyos to learn from, and if they take Barrie's long-term employees with them, thy could just manage to keep it afloat.

I'd say they'd have more chance if they just asked a well-known builder like Mercian or BJ to build frames for them, and made that public knowledge, i.e. essentially to sell the brand to Mercian. I can't really see what good it can do to have a 'branding' and 'accessability' expert at the helm of such a company.

Good luck to them, I say. I know that's an unpopular thing to say, but hey I wouldn't mind a change of career, praps I'll move to Wales.... ;)

they might have the chance if they kept it local, as if it were local people would actually start going to their local frame maker beside the known one in the north (BJ's Leeds, Merican's Derby, etc.).

I think losing the London address is a big issue- although I can see why Malone would want to do it.
The house next door to Witcomb (with shop downstairs) is currently for sale for around 400K (if I remember rightly) so he wants to access that cash I would think.

However I would prefer to be able to pop into a framebuilders to talk about my requirements, rather than travel to leeds to do so.

no coincidence that Tony Dafoney moved to Wales about 9 months ago…