When certified welder and machinist Danielle Schön built her first bike, she did it simply because she wanted one for herself. She learned the process of frame building from studying under Paul Brodie and worked for a year under another builder where she cut her teeth performing repairs on metal frames. This NAHBS we’re fortunate to see her fifteenth bike, a track bike she decided to build for herself after breaking out on her own. Aside from owning its jelly roll theme with dripping pink finish points, the bike is technically impressive from a fabrication standpoint and features a series of firsts for the builder- definitely something to stop you in your tracks in the new builder aisle. Rock and jelly roll after the jump…
With the construction of Toronto’s new Pan Am velodrome, Danielle already had a compelling reason to take to the track, but her new bike is compelling enough to make anyone want to be a track star. The stainless tubed bike, her first attempt at a stainless frameset, also features custom lugs – another first for the builder. Though she isn’t building bikes full time yet, she does own her own studio and fabrication shop, Schone Studio, where she constructs metal architectural features and fixtures. There is potential to scale.
The dropouts, seat cluster, and head cluster all feature the drippy jelly roll theme, chosen because of her affinity for the pastry. The non-stainless lugs were fillet brazed together using bronze, and then silver brazed to the to the stainless main members.
When she couldn’t find a fork crown to mesh with her Paragon tapered steerer, Danielle dissected and re-engineered a typical 1-1/8″ to accomplish the classic aesthetic in her stainless fork. Also worth noting are the fork end plugs – due to their taper, they had to be dropped in through the top of the blades in order to be brazed into place.
Given the technical accomplishments of the frame’s process, the detailing and theme, and especially the pop appeal of her existing works, we’re excited to see where how her style evolves in the next few years.
