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Paul Skilbeck

Paul Skilbeck
The founder and publisher of the Handbuilt Bicycle Guide, Paul has long experience worldwide as a cycling journalist and communications consultant at bicycle showcase events such as Sea Otter Classic, North American Handmade Bicycle Show, and more recently the Philly Bike Expo. He has owned and ridden handbuilt custom bicycles since the 1970s. Paul lives in California's northernmost reaches, with five bicycles.
Paul Skilbeck

Shows & Events

August 2024

Brazin' - Scotland's handbuilt custom bike show highlights

Now in its second year, the Brazin' show - while still an intimate gathering - once again exceeded the organizers' expectations in both exhibitor numbers and public attendance. Phil Hodgkiss was there for HBG to introduce Scotland's frame building community to the world.

Frame Builders

July 2024

Roubam: a Cycling Odyssey

The 2024 Concours de Machines winner, David Barou, took up frame building after a one-year cycling odyssey in central Asia that changed the course of his career and his life.

Shows & Events

July 2024

Frame Builders

July 2024

July: An Unusual Talent

The Covid shutdown of 2020 was pure opportunity for Ben Jurgensen, then a 33 year-old sculpture studio teacher at the Rhode Island School of Design. Freed from the routine of everyday life, he started on the path of bicycle frame building to create July Bicycles. He describes that time as “my sourdough."

Bicycles

July 2024

Bilenky's Gravel eBike

Bilenky Cycle Works stands among the select few bespoke frame builders ready and willing to craft ebikes, a fact starkly evident at the Philly Bike Expo where Steve Bilenky’s enterprise stood as a beacon amidst a sea of – albeit excellent – custom built convention.

The Ride

June 2024

The Everything Bike - And Then Some

An astonishingly efficient all-rounder, this bike by Naked does everything well. Its primary purpose is 75-100 mile mixed-surface rides with 10,000ft climbing and descending. Good riders on other bikes have been unable to even finish these rides. In my view, energy saved by this bike is what made the difference.

Frame Builders

June 2024

Fine Bikes are in The House!

Stepping up from bike maintenance to frame building is, well it's more a leap of faith. Charles Thompson of Fine Bikes completed that leap last year, and in the biking boom town of Raleigh, North Carolina, he's plying a healthy trade in partnership with Oak City Cycles.

Bicycles

May 2019

Saffron's retro racer

Matthew Sowter set out to create a reminder of his competitive days with a bike designed for those that still like it fast, long after hanging up their racing kit.