Ellis Briggs Fixed Gear

Does anyone know anything about them? Are their bikes any good, some bikes on their Flickr site are over 40 years old and gone back for resprays, so I'm guessing they last.

Elliss briggs are excellent..they are my lbs too. They still make there own frames in house. They used to enamel them but it's contracted out. They are quality framesets. Not cheap but you get what you pay for. I was in last week drooling all over a just back from enamel brand new frame and forks in 531c with stunning lugs all painted a different colour to tubes. Deffo on a par with bob jackson in the quality stakes in by pointless opinion.

Nice shop building frames with that infamous Yorkshire quality...

Based in shipley...about 10 miles from leeds town centre.

yep, they're only 30 miles from me, i'll ride over next week and have a ganders. thanks guys.

Along with Woodrup and the more famous Bob Jackson, they are some of the best (and still operating) frame builders from that part of the world.

I would definitely rather a Woodrup or Ellis Briggs than a Bob Jackson...

Pennine Cycles is another old cycle shop still building nice frames in Bradford. We're spoiled for choice in West Yorkshire, definitely more going on than just BJ.

And there's the guy out Keighley way, is it Chris Marshall? He's meant to be good too... Where's Pennine cycles? Rings a bell but can't think...

They're an old company, used to be called Whittaker & Mapplebeck. The shop is out on Thornton Rd in the west of Bradford.

Had no idea about any of these places. Pennine Cycles isn't that far from my folks, will try to pop in next time I'm up home.

Forgot about Pennine.

W. Yorks is definitely an oasis of traditional frame builders.

It certainly is! I have a Woodrup Giro Custom, and I desperately want a Feather.

To complete the fleet, I'd want a Bob Jackson Audax End-End, an Ellis-Briggs (though I'd probably want a tourer from them), a silly fast Pennine, and a classic Baines VS37. South Yorkshire also has JF Wilson, I should say, for completeness, and MB is not far from that. It's all West Riding (barring Dronfield).

Pennine Cycles is another old cycle shop still building nice frames in Bradford. We're spoiled for choice in West Yorkshire, definitely more going on than just BJ.

Pennine may be old (1946), but Ellis Briggs is ten years older than that! Bob Jackson started as JRJ in 1935 (though the shop was closed during WWII). Merlin Cycles, though not a Yorkshire brand, bought in the 50s by BJ, was started in 1918. JF Wilsons is more recent (1948). Woodrups is a newcomer, dating back only to the 1960s.

Lots of classic history around.

A very different type of bike but Pace Cycles started as a Saltaire company, who specialised in the manufacture of cast aluminium frames:

Cast aluminium? Not sure about that! Square tubing, though, which was unusual.

But I see Pace now do a singlespeed:

http://www.pacecycles.com/?page_id=38

I don't mean cast.

Retrobike:

Pace frames are famed for the use of custom extruded and externally milled square section tubing, making them instantly recognisable. The reason for the square tubing has been explained as offering more stiffness to weight over traditional tubes. The externally milled butting allowed accurate placement of butting on the face of the tubes where it was best suited to reduce weight and not stiffness or strength.

The reason for the square tubing has been explained as offering more stiffness to weight over traditional tubes...
...but the more credible explanation is that they could lay the tubes flat on the workbench and weld them without the need for a jig.

You can see the milling in this photo:

I rang them today and spoke with Paul, he's asked me to send my request via email to their frame builder. He warned me that the builder may say no to building to my requirement, I hope not. My requirements are, a fixed frame that can take 35mm winter marathon tyres as it gets icy up here for up to 3 months at a time, a tourer with straight track ends sorta thing.

All I can say is when I have enough money to spend on the Aende im sending to them for painting. seems cheap and good quality plus is close-ish (notatall) for me.

I've just had a frame painted by them. Cheap, as you say, but the quality of the work is very good. I don't know how hard-wearing it is yet. The lead time is 5 weeks for resprays, they have a bit of a backlog at the moment.

yep your probably right no answer as yet. might have to just pimp up the on-one

If they're out of the picture, steve goff should be able to help in term of budget.

no need now thanks, the winter marathons fit my pearson touche so i'm well chuffed and sorted thanks ed.