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PBE14: Astoundingly Detailed Lugwork from Custom Framebuilder Cycles ED

Written by Tyler Benedict
22 Comments
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As I wrapped up with Hinmaton at Stijl Cycles, he pointed me to the adjacent booth. There, with quite a few bikes standing in a small 10×10 footprint was Ed Jones, who had mentored and inspired Hinmaton and is the man behind Cycles ED. Or CED for short.

CED’s bikes have a unique appearance even from afar, thanks to the tube shapes and connections, but when you get up close is when you see the real artistry. We’ve seen plenty of amazing lugs before, but nothing like this. Three dimension doesn’t even do it justice; they’re just layered and shaped and painted in ways that bring new visual depth and delight to artisan bicycles.

Click through for some amazing artwork…

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The leaves use a multi layered approach, both offset and multi-stepped. The latter we’ve seen on Stijl’s Iron Man bike from NAHBS 2013, which illustrates the influences at play.

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Note the subtle gradation of paint hues from the bottom of the frame to the top.

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The etched flowers on the brace almost overshadow the finely shaped brake mounts. Where a lot of builders are content to have flat tabs, CED’s took the extra step of putting a shoulder around the bolts.

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Oddly enough, Ed had that 29er tucked between tables, even though it had the most extensive design work. That said, the others were no slouch!

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Multi-step lugs and a bit of shaping at the top and bottom of the headtube are left unpainted to call attention to them.

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The rack and fender mounts and cable stops are equally detailed, a real step above stock items on most bikes.

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The Dragonfly road bike used high gloss and metallic paints to really highlight the handiwork, with masked painted dragonflies carrying the them across the frame.

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This is a front derailleur mount concept on another MTB frame he had.

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Another frame on display had a similar green hue, but had perhaps the best shaping around the joints than any of them. The tree is cool, but don’t miss the tapered, lateral tubes connecting the seatstay to the dropout.

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H.R. Giger comes to mind.

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He’s also making these Bi-Planar hubs with a cosmetic wood shell exterior. We’re getting more info on these for a future post.
Tyler Benedict
11,295 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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22 Comments
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muddy
muddy
10 years ago

FYI all you custom builders, post mount rear disc mount is pretty cool, so why spend all that extra time creating a beautiful bike only to put a retro IS mount on it?

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lukee
lukee
10 years ago

@muddy- there are several reasons for using 51mm mount. One is that it gives builders more space to decorate the frame(as he did above). 2. Many of the 51mm mounts have a larger brazing area than the post mounts for less weight. 3. If you really want to get into it- 51mmm needs more precision and finishing than post mount. 5 years ago I was speaking to a engineer from a very large and well known brake manufacturer and he was laughing that frame venders moved to 74mm because the tolerances in the frame can be much slacker then 51mm. I.e. they can. Make a lower quality frame for less money and make you think it’s better then ever. Kinda like bb30….and bb90…and pf30. …those were all so much better then threaded…..until your bb won’t shut up.

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Roy
Roy
10 years ago

The details are insane, I am normally NOT moved buy superfluous details for the sake of arts fartsy details but SHIT, this is gorgeous work. Like how SMALL does the file have to be to make a tree like that???? Awesome structural details all over the bike too, stunning . If this artist is not booked years in advance there are a bunch of idiots out there waiting for less.

I aggree with muddy though, ditch the IS all ye custom builders.

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MissedThePoint
MissedThePoint
10 years ago

I can’t even guess what a “bi-planar hub” is supposed to be, assuming it works different than a normal hub.

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Terry
Terry
10 years ago

how does that front derailleur mount concept work?

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sss
sss
10 years ago

What about the chain tensioner?

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i
i
10 years ago

@lukee, your arguments make no sense.
1: decoration, ok that’s the point of a frame like this… and a pretty weak reason for making engineering decisions… “well, yes, I did use an inferior interface, but I managed to decorate it really nice…”
2: Larger brazing area for less weight; well, it seems like less weight until you factor in the fact that there’s no such thing as an IS mount caliper, so you’re adding the adapter and a set of bolts, net result is a bike with an IS mount weighs more than one with a PM
3: a design REQUIRING more precision is never a good thing. That’s why 100% of modern forks are PM. You got the BB analogy backwards: the problems you encounter with pressfits are because they require tight tolerances where threads have built-in accommodation. Think about it: I have 2 designs, one requires me to have a $500 facing tool to work, the other doesn’t; which is better?

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Monty
Monty
10 years ago

Way to go Ed. Great recognition for a great guy and artistic builder!

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Bryan
Bryan
10 years ago

Ed is a respected trail builder in the Richmond Va area also.
Good work Ed!

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Loki
Loki
10 years ago

Amazing bikes, phenomenal work, one can really appreciate that the love in the labour.

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jinknobat
jinknobat
10 years ago

@i
Both ISO and post mounts might require faceing and I’ve had to face way more post mounts than ISO mounts in my 15 years in bike shops, and they haven’t been around for as long.

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Icycle Bay
Icycle Bay
10 years ago

Such an amazing builder. I visited his workshop, and he does all of this out of his garage in Ashland. I saw a drill press, a torch, and a manual lathe (no DRO) that was well over 50 years old. I’m surprised he didn’t bring any of his steel full suspension designs. Way to go Ed!

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Trudo
Trudo
10 years ago

It’s James Hetfield from Metallica!

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mudrock
mudrock
10 years ago

When working with steel, the post mounts would definitely be heavier than IS: less steel, more aluminum. But the industry may all be going towards Shimano’s new Flat Mount standard anyway.

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Ed Jones
Ed Jones
10 years ago

Post mount vs IS was strictly a matter of builder choice – there is virtually no weight saving in a post mount over IS. A .250″ IS mount with mounting screws for the alum adaptor ro caliper weighs in at 76 gms. A .187″ IS mount which is more standard plus the screws weighs in at 70 gms. Paragon’s post mount plate with cylindrical nuts weighs in at 74 gms. I can and have used used both, it simply depends on the overall desired appearance and application which I wish to portray in any particular build.

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hellbelly
hellbelly
10 years ago

Ed is a great guy. I used to hassle him routinely on the CCVA forum and while he thinks I am creep (sorta) we enjoy bikes and goofing on the world. His work is amazing and I wish I could afford to have him build me something.

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BikeHoarder6
BikeHoarder6
10 years ago

@mudrock-It’s James Hetfield from Metallica!
You beat me to it!

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crank
crank
10 years ago

@sss – The tensioner is the same style as that used by Pinion on their gearboxes. The Pinion version is a simple spring loaded tensioner that works very well. It does look a lot cleaner than a rear derailleur style tensioner.

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diddlebop
diddlebop
10 years ago

With regards to IS vs Post, I’d much rather strip an adaptor than a frame. IS all day!

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UnZipp
UnZipp
10 years ago

@i
My guess is you haven’t worked in a shop before, or not for very long, because if you had you would know how much a pita press fit BB’s are to keep quiet. ALL of them start to creak because of the ‘tight’ tolerances they require to not make noise.
See your statement above: a design REQUIRING more precision is never a good thing.
The real reason is, it is cheaper and lighter for the frame manufacturer to make a non-threaded BB shell, not an actual improvement on anything.

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Brian
Brian
10 years ago

While the lug work is pretty amazing, the fillet brazed joints look terrible, especially on the first bike shown. It’s a real shame to see excellent craftsmanship on one aspect of a frame, but not the rest of it. Do the basics first, then add the decoration.

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Mark
Mark
10 years ago

This was my favorite stand at the Philly Bike Expo. The bikes caught my attention the second I laid eyes on them like no others did. Simply stunning work, and Ed seemed like a really good guy as well.

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