Donhou Expedition Bike: COMPLETED.

Django is born!

It's been a while in the making, but now my Donhou expedition bike is complete!









I went to Phil's shop in Seoul (Dongdaemun Gu) to get the beast assembled. It's a sturdy ride! I spent the day watching Phil assembling the bike. That was my choice as I thought I might learn a thing or two. It was to be a long day! It was a busy afternoon in the shop: a lot of customers, a lot conversation and LOADS of cake. Yes, cake.

I decided to call the bike Django for two reasons. Firstly it was a beautiful sunny day when it got built and I was listening to Django Reinhardt. Secondly, Django is one of the best western movies I have ever seen and he is a complete badass. Also it has an epic theme tune which I can sing whilst riding!



I took Django for a spin around Seoul yesterday. He rides like a dream - not one of those dreams where I'm being chased and gunned down for murdering someone. I also did a spot of shopping, so I splashed out on a Supernova E3 Pro iris lens dynamo headlamp (see below). It cost an arm and a leg, but it is BRIGHT. I tested it out on the ride home from Gwangju Station and I was impressed. I might have to take it for a whirl in the countryside one night to see just how bright it gets.

I'll be updating my expedition bike page with more nerdy details and photos ASAP.

The Suspense is over!

Finally the suspense is over! Here it is, my brand new Donhou frame. It's beautiful! I'm going to be assembling an expedition bike over the next month or so, and this is its very core. It's time to start sourcing some more parts. Thank you Tom!

Donhou Expedition Frame (The Finished Product)

Here are some photos of my new expedition bike frame. It was built over in Norwich, UK by Tom Donhou of Donhou Bicycles. It's a steel TIG welded frame which has been built with big tours in mind, so it's ready for some front and rear panniers to be attached. There are also mounts for three bottle cages. What can I say? I sweat a lot. Plus I can store fuel bottles for cooking.






It has a large chain stay plate to mount this Pletscher twin kick stand. It's a complete nightmare standing up a fully loaded touring bike, they're always tipping over, so my friend Harry (bicycle nerd extraordinaire) recommended this twin kick stand.





I can't thank Tom enough, he's done a fantastic job. Now I need to get this beauty shipped over to Korea ASAP and start thinking about what parts I want to purchase to complete this set up. Project ON! Any suggestions would be welcome.

I can't wait to razz around the countryside on this.

Bike Frame Update 01

Tom just sent me this photo of my bike frame. It's just about to get welded. I'm really excited!



Check out Tom's website to see some of his finished work - donhoubicycles.com

Donhou Bicycles custom frames

I've been fantasising about going on an extended cycle tour for a long time. In 2008 I rode around New Zealand on and off for a few months but I haven't done any extensive touring since then.

I recently found out that a friend of mine, Tom Donhou has been building custom bicycle frames for a while now. I didn't have a clue that he was in that line of work. With one look at all the glorious bike porn on his website I knew I had to get him to build me a frame for an expedition bike which I had been planning on building. You should take a peek at his site: Donhou Bicycles. Tom is based in Norwich and recently won the "Best in Show" category at the Bespoked Bristol UK Handbuilt Bicycle Show 2011. I challenge you not to drool over his designs!

I put the deposit down as soon as I had the chance. Setting up recipients with Lloyds TSB when you're living in South Korea is a pain in the arse. It takes 7 days to register a new phone for internet banking..

Today I got the draft design emailed to me and I'm getting feverishly excited about it! Now I just have to figure how I am going to get it to South Korea. I can either ship it directly to Korea, or try to get my sister to bring it with her to Malaysia where I'll be spending Christmas with my family. Go on Pip! I'll pay for the extra costs!

Tom and I first met in Marseille in 2002. I was skateboarding at the infamous skatepark on the beach whilst he was riding his BMX. He was riding towards me, so I spoke to him in French as I guessed he was a local, to which he replied, "I thought you were English". Correct assumption Tom! We got chatting and little by little figured out that not only did we both live in Sheffield at the time, but we both studied in the same building and we had a bunch of mutual friends, most notably Lucien, "The Panda". When I was living in London I shared an apartment with another mutual friend of ours George Marshall, so I got the regular pleasure of having Tom round for drinks.

I've spent hours ogling at the bicycles on his site and suggest that you do aswell! I'll keep you posted on the development of my expedition bike. I've got a lot of parts to think about and would welcome any advice.

Below are some photos that I've lifted straight from the Donhou Bicycles website.

donhoubicycles.com