Framebuilders - Bob Jackson -- opinions?

Do they do good work? Where would you place them in the pantheon?

i can chime in here. i own two currently, and have owned one other that i sold off because it was too small.

the two i own now are magnificent. one is a fillet brazed 853 road bike and the other is a lugged 631 fixed gear road bike with paul's components track ends brazed into it.

the quality is superb. the price is surprising. i've owned a handful of waterfords, some custom, some not and i've had a few basso/battaglin/olmo/bianchis.

the jacksons are as nice as any of the italian ones i've had.

if you want to see a whole mess of them, check out dennis stone at stones cyclery in alameda, ca 10 minutes from san francisco next to oakland.

i can send you some pics if you're interested.

cheers.

Bob Jackson's range from good to great. You need to be careful since the older versions were set up for 27" wheels and long reach brakes which are essentially unavailable these days.

By the way, I think I have a set of 27" wheels with Campy Record hubs spoked up to MA-40 rims somewhere.

The period when they were out of BJs ownership (late 1980s, early 1990s) has some quality issues that BJ solved when he took back the company in about 1993. I have a 95 version that is very good.

I have compared my BJ to a Waterford tourer (both companies are of a similar size). The Waterford had better looking braze work with a very crisp finish. The BJ had better paintwork.

wow. I'd given up checking on this thread, it went so long without a response.

So it sounds like I've no worries if I want to have them do me a frame (they're the only ones willing to build a mixte, that I've found).

Thanks!

wow. I'd given up checking on this thread, it went so long without a response.

So it sounds like I've no worries if I want to have them do me a frame (they're the only ones willing to build a mixte, that I've found).

Thanks!

I bet some of the other English makers would oblige. Mercian are pretty famous in the US too, but there are some lesser known frame builders. Robin Mather has a good reputation, and my wife is ecstatic with her Vernon Barker (although the paint finish is not standing up to the appalling bike racks we have in Virginia). Dave Yates is another popular one, especially amongst the audax crowd. There a plenty more!

Mercian were the first ones I thought of, but they no longer do mixtes. The reason they give is that Reynolds are no longer making the long tubing for the lateral stays. I'd have thought Mercian could piece the shorter lengths, but perhaps that's my ignorance showing.

I'll have a look at the others you mention, thanks! I'm desperately trying to resist the growing sense that, by the time I finish building up an older mixte frame I'll have spent nearly the same money and still won't have a bike that completely suits.

Yes the Bob Jackson always has a great finish, i know i worked in the paint shop for 7 years with a guy that is still there doing great work, although i have moved on i still look at every Jackson i see and wonder if i finished it off. I was there during the late 80s period when you say the quality dropped, well i was there, who told you it dropped? it was the same guys doing the work b4 , during , and after the little take over episode. The only thing that may have dropped is the customer service because of the idiots running it at that time, they were not into bikes or cycling, no idea, and they were not good at buisness either.

Here's a question -
I have visited Bob Jackson's web site and given serious thought to ordering an Audax End-End. Problem is, it's a long expensive trip from Leeds to Arizona. SO if there is any problem with build quality, wrong size, wrong color shipped, transit damage, etc. I'm pretty much stuck it seems.
How about Stone's Cyclery? I read that they sell a lot of BJs (that sounds bad) but I have not been able to get through to them, and their web site seems to date to 2007 so they may not even be there any more. Has anyone ordered either through Stone's or direct, and how did it work out?

Thanks
Muttley

I bet some of the other English makers would oblige. Mercian are pretty famous in the US too, but there are some lesser known frame builders. Robin Mather has a good reputation, and my wife is ecstatic with her Vernon Barker (although the paint finish is not standing up to the appalling bike racks we have in Virginia). Dave Yates is another popular one, especially amongst the audax crowd. There a plenty more!

The list of quality framebuilders in the UK is almost as long as you want it to be :-)
I'd immediately add Chas Roberts and Brian Rourke to that list.

Regarding Mr Jackson, I was up in the their shop about four years ago, getting my DMR repainted - the finish is still gloriously gloss but for a few scrapes where we wiped out in a deceptive corner and I had a look at one of their new 953 frames while we were discussing decal location and the finish and construction - filletbrazed silver solder - was astounding :-)

Here's a question -
I have visited Bob Jackson's web site and given serious thought to ordering an Audax End-End. Problem is, it's a long expensive trip from Leeds to Arizona. SO if there is any problem with build quality, wrong size, wrong color shipped, transit damage, etc. I'm pretty much stuck it seems.
How about Stone's Cyclery? I read that they sell a lot of BJs (that sounds bad) but I have not been able to get through to them, and their web site seems to date to 2007 so they may not even be there any more. Has anyone ordered either through Stone's or direct, and how did it work out?

Thanks
Muttley

Steve Garro, Dave Bohm, Ed Foster....there are some seriously great builders already in AZ! No need to "order out" ;)

True... :love:but a Jackson "Off the Peg" frame is about $600 (plush shipping). Bohm is many times that. Ed's a bit closer to my level, but his stuff is still pricier than Jackson...

True... :love:but a Jackson "Off the Peg" frame is about $600 (plush shipping). Bohm is many times that. Ed's a bit closer to my level, but his stuff is still pricier than Jackson...

Ah, I see. I figured that since your were posting in the Framebuilder's forum that the Jackson must be a custom bike. So, thinking along the lines of the mass produced Rando bikes, have you seen this?
http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/frames/rando/rando.html Not US made of course, but a US company.

In other news...sent you a pm.

BJ is a batch producer , and probably has gotten the torch array fixtures down pretty well.

I visited the Gazelle Pro frame division,in the early 90's they were building with 531 then,
and doing a size run with a production torch array jig, series of them
the brazing of a Lugged frame can be made to produce a lot of frames in a short order..

saw what was a dozen main triangles, braszed , hot alignment checked,
and ready to attach the rear triangles in what I recall as a couple hours..

but I was not there to see the Jig set-up time, I imagine It took a little while
to shift things around from the last size run..

The list of quality framebuilders in the UK is almost as long as you want it to be :-)
I'd immediately add Chas Roberts and Brian Rourke to that list.

Chas Roberts learned the craft from his father Charles, who also did fine work. But son Chas appears to have raised the bar by a couple notches.