Baum v Cecil Walker?

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I'm looking to get a custom bike in Victoria (Melbourne) and I'm tossing up between going to Baum or Cecil Walker. If you have had any experiences with them on their custom bikes (good or bad) I'd appreciate hearing them.

Cecil Walker are close to me and do both steel and alu frames. Baum seem to have an exellent reputation but only do steel (and titanium) and seem a lot more expensive. I still haven't entirely decided whether to go steel or alu, but I figure I'll talk to them about it. (I'd love to have titanium but that's a lot of $$$!)

Why custom? I'm short with small hands. Having done a lot of research (I initially wanted to go carbon) I've discovered that existing WSD's which cater for small hands, don't seem to have the geometry right for me.

I've considered Kennedy's as well, but they only do campy and not shimano, and from the research I've done, the shimano set up seems better for my small hands.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Jotjepoes

I have no experience with any of these manufacturers but ......

You might want to consider Thylacine Cycles - also Melbourne based.

Hi There,

Are you after a complete custom bike, or do you know what parts you want and just want a frame and forks?

Your project sounds really interesting. We tend to do a lot of frames for taller people (I'm 193cms personally), so the challenge of fitting you and designing a killer bike would be a great experience I reckon.

From what I have read, both Cecil Walker and Kennedy get their frames made by Paconi in Braeside, but they may be made to different specifications. Hillman in Brunswick also do custom frames, but when I spoke to them I got the impression that all their frames were built overseas (not that it changes anything - Hillman get the work done to their standards and look after the warranty). Baum and Thylacine are in another league from the point of view of price and probably quality.

I'm looking to get a custom bike in VictoriasAs Roshea suggested, if you're gunna get a Cecil Walker, you might as well go straight to Paconi in Braeside (MacBeth St). Cecil Walker will obviously whack on a bit extra, and, even worse, they might put their horrible stickers on it. :p
Paconi's stickers look heaps better, and people will assume you're a h@rdcore pro who will only ride custom. :) He might even have something sitting there for you in your dimensions.

If you don't wanna spend too much; wan't something to do ride everyday and not be too scared of getting it wet, just get something in Columbus Zonal (I reckon) from Paconi

However, if you want a sexy limo that's gunna be the new love of your life, maybe go fancy with a Baum, Thylacine, or even a Teschner (!!!$$$$) in steel, ti, or fancier aluminium

As Roshea suggested, if you're gunna get a Cecil Walker, you might as well go straight to Paconi in Braeside
Kevin won't sell direct, he refers you to Kennedy or Cecil Walker.

In the past Cecil Walker owned Paconi cycles, it may be different now but i don't think so. Does anyone know?

Kevin won't sell direct, he refers you to Kennedy or Cecil Walker.
In the past Cecil Walker owned Paconi cycles, it may be different now but i don't think so. Does anyone know?oh, things must've changed.
I think he's now owned by Bike Sportz; aren't they in car-hoots with Cecil Walker?

oh, things must've changed.
I think he's now owned by Bike Sportz; aren't they in car-hoots with Cecil Walker?I understand that the proprietors of Cecil Walker and Bikesportz are brothers.

oh, that's what it is

is that why their Campag groupsets are cheaper than most? :)

oh, that's what it is

is that why their Campag groupsets are cheaper than most? :)

<rumour>
They buy 'em off PBK and sell them as Retail :rolleyes:
</rumour>

oh, that's what it is

is that why their Campag groupsets are cheaper than most? :)On the other hand, ask Dutchy about trying to get help with warranty issues on a Bianchi purchased from CW :eek:

Are you a guy? If so have you considered a women's geometry bike?

Are you a guy? If so have you considered a women's geometry bike?You didn't read his post very well did you ?

On the other hand, ask Dutchy about trying to get help with warranty issues on a Bianchi purchased from CW :eek:
...i hear that the warranty is no better on their own frames...

You didn't read his post very well did you ?
Missed out on the WSD :)

Thanks for the comments - certainly some food for thought here.

I'm looking to get a custom bike in Victoria (Melbourne) and I'm tossing up between going to Baum or Cecil Walker. If you have had any experiences with them on their custom bikes (good or bad) I'd appreciate hearing them.

Cecil Walker are close to me and do both steel and alu frames. Baum seem to have an exellent reputation but only do steel (and titanium) and seem a lot more expensive. I still haven't entirely decided whether to go steel or alu, but I figure I'll talk to them about it. (I'd love to have titanium but that's a lot of $$$!)

Why custom? I'm short with small hands. Having done a lot of research (I initially wanted to go carbon) I've discovered that existing WSD's which cater for small hands, don't seem to have the geometry right for me.

I've considered Kennedy's as well, but they only do campy and not shimano, and from the research I've done, the shimano set up seems better for my small hands.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Jotjepoes

Hi Jotjepoes,

I've been away for a while so I haven't responded sooner. My advise is that you need to find a builder who you can talk to directly. This is really important if you are going to follow my advise on bike fit which starts with getting shorter cranks of no longer than 150 mm length. Greenspeed are in Melbourne and they have in stock short cranks or will shorten them for you as they are popular on recumbents.

Something ALL frame builders will be concerned about in our litigious times is pedal overlap and this has a HUGE impact on frame design. All small frames will currently be designed around a crank length of 165 mm and this places great restrictions on how short the frame can be when pedal overlap is taken into account.

What this means is that a custom builder will not build anything different than what is available off the shelf unless you specify that you want the frame built around short cranks (and small wheels, i.e. 650c).

Anyway I think the first thing you need to do is have some shorter cranks fitted to you current bike, ride them a little while and see what you think. When you do fit shorter cranks you will need to get a rear set seatpost to move the saddle backwards or it won't feel right and you won't generate as much power as you should.

You could talk to Paul Hillbrick who built my frame, http://www.hillbrick.com.au/

You could talk to him about having a frame built using the same concepts as me, Anthony Glynn. the first thing is deciding on crank length. For a frame builder everything will hinge around that.

Regards, Anthony

I understand that the proprietors of Cecil Walker and Bikesportz are brothers.

Ah, yes. That would be one Anthony Cramer at CWC! He has his fingers in a few pies. On CWC frames, it's 26 years since they custom built 2 heavy touring R531 frames to spec for me and the set up and paint job (I specified a painted Cecil Walker, rather than a sticker!) could not be faulted.

They listen carefully to specs, but I suspect are swayed along the line by Paconi on the other end.

sorry, but I reckon Cecil Walker decals are a bit fugly.
I prefer Paconi's -- and the bigger ones on oversized tubes look even better :)

http://host194.ipowerweb.com/~penrithp/images/P2240485.jpg


http://www.campyonly.com/images/modbikes/2003/bike11.jpg

[QUOTE=531Aussie]sorry, but I reckon Cecil Walker decals are a bit fugly.
I prefer Paconi's -- and the bigger ones on oversized tubes look even better :)


I fully agree; the CW sticker on the red bike is just ugly and so 'yesteryear', but when getting a custom paint job, you can specify any number of artful ways of 'branding' the bike. One of early custom paint jobs on a 531 road frame was black/gold/red, white chamfers on seatpost/seat stays with engraved overlapped CWC. My name was red with gold underlay in 3D form. As was their usual Cecil Walker brand, painted on, not stuck on.

I have not seen a custom CWC paint job for many years, so I assume they no longer do it? It can be expensive and involves a lot of labour, but as an eye catcher, it beats stickers to a pulp!!

Those old doyens of (nearly) all things cycling, Hillman Cycles also did a custom paint job on my first MTB in 1986: sky blue/red/gold/white!) :)