royal h cycles started in 2006. it started as a feeling. a love of the
bicycle, sure, but something more. anyone whose been stopped dead in their
tracks by a passing benotto on the way to work or a locked up eimei
outside their favorite bar knows this feeling- there’s something in those
frames! when you combine this love with a background in mechanics and a
childhood that saw it’s first century by age fifteen, you’ll have a bike
company. there’s a little more to it than that- there were the
expert-taught brazing and design courses at the united bicycle institute;
the years working at seven cycles in watertown (first as a finisher and
ultimately as the head builder/machinist/program manager of the carbon
fiber program); the innumerable weekends spent tracking down columbus max
tubes and wishbone stay lugs for my first frames; my first actual race on
an actual purpose built race bike; and, most recently, the decision to
leave the nest and get some frames out into the world!
all royal h cycles are built by hand in somerville, ma. to say 100% hand
built would be an exaggeration, but an intense focus is placed on a low
impact approach to fabrication. on the average frame, the electrical usage
is limited to minor power drilling and shop lighting; the chemicals used
limited to acetone for cleaning and oxy-acetylene needed to melt the
silver during brazing; and the physical waste limited to sandpaper and
scotchbrite for the final finish. everything else is deft file and saw
work. so maybe 99.9% by hand. it’s great for the bike and it’s great for
somerville.
one of the things that most excites me about a handbuilt bike frame is the
quinticential /small thing/- the extra touch that makes it unique. you
often have to crouch down to see it, but when you find it, you know- the
subtlety of internal cable routing, the braze on spoke holder on the
chainstays, the tiny cutout on the lug tine. in a world where countless
talented builders have left their mark, i believe there is still room for
one more. for the royal h.