Bike as Work of Art

We discovered Josh Hadar’s shop around the corner from our office.  The doors were wide open to let in the fall breeze, but the inner sanctum was off limits, thanks to an iron work gate, reminiscent of the branches of a tree draped across the entrance.  Even from the outside the space was filled with the scent of charred metal and the skeletons of half finished bikes could be seen hanging from the walls.

On his website, he describes the building process as intuitive, growing from a fully realized image in his mind that then informs the construction techniques.   The end result is a one of kind bicycle that is both work of art and functional transport.  He further elaborates on his methods below:

I use only hand tools in constructing my bikes. No hydraulic pipe bending equipment, no computer driven metal cutting machines, just leverage, heat, hammering and time. Tubes are anchored and bent by hand around columns or signposts, even trash cans. Literally any object that will produce the desired result. The process of building each bike individually using different and completely original building methods is what separates the art of bike building from the repetitive business of bike manufacturing. Each bike is truly a handmade one off. Each simple angle-iron jig is built and dismantled after each bike is completed, insuring that no two bikes will ever be completely alike.