THE PROCESS
Titanium
All our bikes are made of titanium. We believe it is the best material for this application. The most important traits of a bike include durability, ride quality, performance, lightweight, aesthetics, and ability to customize. Titanium checks all those boxes and more. Some people say titanium is too costly, but we beg to differ, taking all these characterstics into account, it’s a great bang for the buck. You can ride a titanium bike for a lifetime, it’s an investment that will last.
The majority of tubing we use is American made 3/2.5 titanium tubing from both of America’s leading suppliers, Alleima (formerly Sandvik), and Haynes. If it’s not American (which btw it is extremely difficult to source 100% American made tubing for all parts of the frame) we make an effort to know exactly where our titanium comes from to ensure we have the highest quality and certified material available.
Design
Bingham Built Bikes are all custom. We do not make stock sizes or have specific build kits. Our bikes are designed based on the unique desires & geometry of each rider and the process is highly interactive. We take the time to get to know each client to determine what specific geometry and components will suit them best. Each rider and their cycling goals & expectations are different, and we take all of this into account. Ride quality might be the most important factor for one person, while a custom fit might be the most important to another, aesthetics for another, and that’s the beauty of owning a custom titanium bike, we can customize with your most important traits at the forefront of the process. As a client, you’re very much involved in the process of creating your dream bike. Brad creates all designs using BikeCAD design software, and he’ll work through multiple revisions with you throughout the process.
Machining and Mitering
We bend, press, and cut titanium tubes in all different shapes and forms to create many different styles of bikes. It sounds simple but using machines to bend and cut tubes appropriately for bikes requires a high level of skill, precision, and accuracy that is hard to come by. Brad also fabricates a lot of his own custom tooling in order to make make the processes as precise and efficient as possible.
We do not batch produce bikes, they are all made one by one, which is a benchmark in the handbuilt bike industry but not every bike builder does this. The majority of machining and mitering for our bikes is done in-house. If it’s not done in-house, we try our best to keep things as close to home as possible, either in Colorado or a few states away, and certainly not in a factory overseas. We receive offers all the time from ‘family owned’ factories overseas, offering to do things cheaper, more efficiently, higher volume, etc. Outsourcing has it’s place in the industry but it’s not how we operate and would compromise our values and everything we’ve worked hard to accomplish. If you’re curious about where something is made, tooling, or machining techniques, feel free to ask.
Welding
Welding is one of Brad’s specialties. We’re not really into bragging, but modesty aside for a minute, throughout the years Brad has won numerous awards for the best welding in the business. He won the Best Tig Weld at The North American Handmade Bike Show 7 years in a row. Experience as a top welder in the industry for many years puts Brad in a class of his own. Good welding is extremely important on a titanium bicycle. Of course it creates structural integrity of the joints, but the process leading up to creating a good, clean weld is incredibly nuanced and has a huge impact on the overall quality of the frame. Brad is the only welder at Bingham Built. There is something to be said for riding a bicycle that has been welded by one of the very best in the industry.
Final Assembly and Components
All the building is done in-house by our awesome and talented mechanic, Ed. He has decades of experience as a mechanic in both the bicycle and motorcycle industry. We offer full complete builds, framesets (frame, fork, headset, BB), or just a frame alone. If going with a complete build, there are so many component options it’s way too easy to get decision fatigue trying to figure out what to put on your bike. We’ll make those decisions easier! If you know exactly what groupset or other components you want, great, we can build your bike just the way you want it. If you’re unsure, want to chat about options, we’ll work with you to decide on components.
“FIRST OFF, THROUGH MY 10 YEARS AS A PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST I HAVE NEVER HAD A CUSTOM BICYCLE FRAME. CREATING MY TITANIUM BUILT IS AN EXPERIENCE I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN A CUSTOM BICYCLE, OR ANY BICYCLE REALLY. BRAD WAS SUPER FUN TO WORK WITH AND TOGETHER WE DESIGNED AN INCREDIBLE MACHINE! WHEN I JUMPED ON IT FOR MY FIRST INITIAL RIDE, IMMEDIATELY I THOUGHT ‘THIS FEELS LIKE MY BIKE!’ IT FIT LIKE A GLOVE AND I HAD NOT EVEN ADJUSTED MY SEAT HEIGHT YET. IT GAVE ME THE FEELING OF JOY AND FREEDOM WHEN I WAS KID RIDING AROUND TOWN ON MY BMX BIKE…”
Bjorn Selander