Art of making handmade bicycles (custom tailored in NorCal)

Jeremy Sycip was in art school when he first started thinking about making his own bikes. “I was into riding so I rode my bike a lot. A bunch of friends were racing and I was like you know what I don’t race, I’m not competitive at all and I like working with my hands so I started calling around to different bike companies and I found a guy in Santa Cruz (Paul Sadoff of Rock Lobster) and he kind of took me in.”
SyCip dropped out of art school and started building frames and finally opened his own shop, SyCip Bikes. In the nearly 23 years since he began crafting cycles, he estimates that he’s built a couple thousand bikes.
The process begins with an interview, asking clients what they are looking for in a bike and how they ride. Then, like a fitting for a custom suit, SyCip meticulously measures his clients and evaluates them on a sizing cycle. He enters the specs in a CAD program and creates a blueprint before he begins the cutting and welding: the stuff he loves.
His bikes range from racing cycles to more specialty rides. Hanging in his shop, there’s a full-frame bike with couplings so the frame breaks in half and fits in a standard suitcase to avoid oversize baggage fees while flying. At his home office, he’s finishing up a cargo bike for a woman, her groceries, and dog. One of his personal favorites is his BBQ bike: fit with a cutting board, carving knife, bottle opener, and a propane BBQ.
Original story: faircompanies.c...
SyCip bikes: sycip.com/

[@rustedcompass]

Very creative, original, and functional designs. I like seeing home garages being used much more than for only storing a car.

[@vaniavss]

Love his patience with the kids at the very start. Love his work. Love the idea of the video, way to go!

[@BillStrathearn]

Quite literally, my dream life.... I live not far from this shop and know a few folks that own Sycip frames. They are wonderfully crafted and now I know why.

[@TigerWild1]

Looks like a fun job to have. I'm sure all do-it-yourselfers appreciate the beautiful work that when into those bikes. Great video! Thanks!

[@PathwaytoAccessibility]

I just came across this! Jeremy's Wife is my cousin! Her Dad is my Dad's brother! Jeremy is such a cool guy and I just learned a lot about him by watching this and some other videos about him from a few years ago! Love you, Jeremy!

[@SarahGodfrey23]

I love this channel because you find people that use their brains and think outside the box and create things. It's refreshing to see!!

[@goldsilverandiamonds]

I love the risk taking Kirsten......great story.......love small business stories even more than small houses......keep it up.........way to explore!!!

[@asabovesotabelow]

Thanks for having already covered this!! Next step of my semi off the grid living is a need for genius designed custom bikes to get around and get things done with... You are all always ahead of things!!

[@SuperWahinetoa]

Stunningly clever and wonderful to see.

[@SandraNelson063]

That freight bike is an awesome idea! I can't walk very far or carry much, but with a bike like that I could rule the world!

[@richardedward123]

I must find a way to make a simple living like this man. I must. Very inspiring!!! Thanks, K!

[@KeeperofTheMountain]

This is art. I call it "Functional Art". It is better because it is useful. It is more than something to look at that you have to dust. When you surround yourself with functional art then your life is beautiful.

[@cantstandcraig2]

I don't believe I heard him quote how much one of his bikes would sell for. Very talented man. As always, another very interesting video. Keep em coming.

[@dontshakethejake]

This is incredible! I love your creativity, you seriously think of everything!

[@ayman6930164]

" World needs more like this Man " 👍

[@myreddays]

In Mexico and Central America they recycle bikes to power home electrical appliances like washing machines or blenders. They call it 'bicimáquinas' and it helps the poor raise their standard of living. And it's green. You can find videos on youtube.

[@simplystormie]

Thank you I will look it up

[@monoshock57]

What a happy fellow. Thanks for the upload.

[@danielleblue9071]

I am in love of your bikes...!!!! Great job.....!!!

[@taylerthompson7559]

i love your videos; content; editing style; everything is so informative and easy to watch. i am addicted

[@kristinathomas6398]

very creative & nice way to make a living doing what you really like to do. thank you for sharing!

[@TheVodzia]

Wow , incredible idea man

[@BorysPomianek]

Excellent - makes me want to ride a bicycle again!

[@iudaoh3qzad21e]

This guy is a genius. Love the video itself. I'd like to see more biking stuff :-)

[@bernhardweinbacher6390]

Great guy, greatings from Austria

[@BoopShooBee]

I really like your videos Kirsten. This one was especialy interesting to me. Well done. [the zoomuganda ad was good as well]

[@farmitecture2060]

Great inspiring video! Can't wait to get my garage built so I can start building my own frames as well. Something I've been wanting to do since I stopped racing them.

[@benchaloupka]

How inspiring! Another Great video

[@bicyclist2]

This is what I really want to do. I already have 20 years worth of experience working on bikes. I just want to build frames now. Thanks.

[@TheDenisedrake]

And the award for best Dad of the Year goes to..... Jeremy Sycip!

[@aspenbanjo]

He understands the soul of the cycle.

[@robstorms]

Love it ! Thanks Kristen ! Great audio. Tiny suggestion, unless the very shallow depth of field is what you are going for, you might consider bumping the ISO or reducing shutter speed ( or both) so you can stop down and have more things in focus. A wider lens will also help as would editing out more out of focus stuff. Love watching yer stuff ! Thanks again ! Rob in Rochester NY

[@cartmanrlsusall]

The custom aspect is great but a simplified standard version of those cargo bikes is probably the best way of growing the company. I would like a production version of the 3 wheeler work bike

[@StBernardAcres]

good video. I like what he's doing.

[@colekonthel]

great job

[@simchabruk6078]

Really cool.

[@TheClosetedFreak]

The first bike for the woman who wants to use it for grocery shopping is a perfect example of something that I personally know many suburban mothers would use if the front could be converted into a seat for their young children--a sort of bicycle-stroller, if you will. As long as it would be used in safe conditions where it isn't too crowded with pedestrians, it would be a great way for new mothers to get out of the house, get some fresh air, entertain their child, and not feel as much as if they're burdened by their newborn and unable to do activities that they used to be able to do.

[@fafumkokum3957]

9:44 Best comment I've ever heard ! Awsome personality !

[@KlunkerRider]

1:09 Mustache bars RULE! :-D Brooks saddles RULE! :-D... I like this guy! @Kirsten, your Q at 9:01, they always HAVE been, since the very beginning, its always been possible to get specific bikes built for specific purposes to specific custom individual needs, including camping bikes, military bikes, family bikes, cargo bikes,etc. What's going on in this video, has been around for well over a century. The US was once bike crazy in the late 19th/very early 20th century. The problem is that bikes since have not been as much at the core of our transit culture ever since the advent of the Model T pushed the bike down into the realm of children for almost a century. That's why during the 1930's, 40's, 50' etc while cargo bikes and other various custom forms of usable bikes were being produced in places like Europe, Japan and China, we just got bikes like Schwinn Phantoms and the boat anchor heavy Varsity. It wasn't until the 70's that biking made a popular comeback but even then its only been since the 90's that unique bikes like this Cargo bike have made inroads into the US, They are common place in many other parts of the world and have been for decades.

[@ACCOMPLISHEDSHEIS]

I like how he makes stationary bikes according to one's hight instead of having to adjust. I would like a sitting flat against the back stationary bike without a meter.

[@jeromej221]

Cool video, thanks for sharing.

[@JippaJ]

Bad ass Serotta fitting bike.

[@wjf213]

Great video and a true craftsman. I've been looking for some one who builds custom bikes. I'm going to have to get in contact with him. Thank you.

[@jbirdperez6003]

that' was koOl .. nice job !

[@peterxyz3541]

LOVE this video!!!!! Thanks!

[@nephildevil]

custom-tailored handmade bikes? cool stuff

[@TheV1S]

nice video kirsten!

[@1961muskrat]

Nice cable Lock -

[@rodlrfilmmakercreator1460]

Nice video. Which one is better to make an aluminun frame? flux core or propane torch? What about regular metal frame ?

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

I would never pain that frame, Looks too cool raw.

[@jasonhoover2590]

this guy is a tru artest. i love bikes and would love to work for him.

[@5353iceman]

Great video, thank you.

[@lemoinexavier]

nice bikes

[@xx_PCCR_xx]

amazing! loved that BBQ bike :P. keep up the good work!

[@northcacalacka545]

I was waiting for a bike that was fully enclosed or a tiny house bike, J. K. The dude has some talent. If I were him, I would have those bikes on Amazon, if he already does not. They would sell like hotcakes.

[@persebra]

There are already bikes in the styles he showed. freight bikes, vendor bikes. They dont come cheap, however. His bikes most likely arent cheap, either. Especially since he is making bespoke bikes, custom bikes

[@BorysPomianek]

I think if he went online like that with it, it would no longer be bespoke - he would have to make a sub brand for his "somewhat less bespoke" bikes and then it would be like any other cool thing in the past that went that route where you can't really get the good stuff, you are just getting decent stuff endorsed by someone who used to make good stuff. Generally making sub brands and expanding like that beyond what you can really reach is downfall for quality - Hasselblad did that, Apple did that. Both companies are now a lot less respected by professionals seeking the highest quality tools than in the past, I would say quite a lot too. If someone has a dream of making only high quality custom products then I think it is best to only extend yourself to the point where you can still do your work properly - once you get bored it's better to just sell the company and get into something else, otherwise you are downgrading from making artisanal stuff to just peddling things off of your past successes. This generally applies to many things ifteb erroneously sold as custom made like guitars for instance - where you have regular factory runs and then "custom shop" divisions and other bullshit of the sort which is not the same as having a single person making everything from start to finish just for you. I hope the guy stays with his current workshop and continues to make his bikes mostly on his own - just building a regular company and having employes 9-5 and getting fatter as you count your money can be soul killing for people who started with passions for creating rather than just selling stuff.

[@northcacalacka545]

Borys Pomianek I agree with what your saying Borys Pomianek, exept that passion doesn't pay the bills. Staying true to ones passion is key to just about any type of success. Ultimately, it is up to the business owner to decide how his or her passion is going to be perceived.

[@BorysPomianek]

northcacalacka545 "passion doesn't pay the bills" - neither does selling out necessarily, especially in such a delicate global economy we have now - say you make a million dollars net and then get burned out, that's not going to be worth the 5 years you spent selling out to get there + the 25 you don't count where you where building up your skills and resources on the side or at schools of all sorts. This is my current situation: where I believe selling out is not what I want to do but also that it does not pay the bills and I have a number of people telling me "hey, check it out, it could pay the bills man, it could pay those bills you have, you could go on vacation". People who spend a lot of time honing their skills like artists of all kinds and artisans hear this all the time, at least I hear it and the people I know do - that they could work at X, Y, Z and that the money is good but the money is not all that good in my opinion - it's not 6 or 7 figures, it's regular money, regular people make and if you put irregular effort into something for many years it can be really soul crushing if you wake up one day in a cubicle. Salesmen tend to say "at the end of the day" - I once tried doing a sales job when I just moved to a new town and quit it after 3 days because found it immoral and disturbing - incidentally everyone at that job used to say "at the end of the day" in almost every sentence when asked about literary anything that could be an issue at work. Nothing was immoral or not worth the potential fallout it can cause because "at the end of the day". So that is true to a degree, time passes and you might forget or not care but I always wanted to tell them that at the end of the day the price for not following your dreams is immense and on your deathbed when you are truly at the end of your day, would you rather not look back at the fantastic things you made rather than just a life of paying bills? So not necessarily aimed at you - it's just my few thoughts about attitudes towards money. I am constantly offered soul crushing jobs where I am supposed to use my artistic related skills and I always wanted to ask those people (I don't because they mean well and I don't want to be rude) what is the point of paying more for living where your work is, getting up every morning, commuting just to work under someone else when I can otherwise do almost whatever I want everyday and when things get rough put away the artistic beret and just take out a metaphorical shovel for a while. Say someone loves reading light fiction books and wants to be a "paperback writer" - does it make sense to climb corpses to work a top job at a big city publishing house, earning a lot and spending a lot and taking part in expensive writing workshops with big name has been writers hoping to make the jump to writing yourself at some point or does it instead make more sense to work in a tiny business of some sorts out in the countryside tending the register where you have a lot of time to read on the side at work and think about your ideas that you can then write about in the evenings? Dominating in business is really only a personal success if you want to be a business man or woman - money can't buy you happiness, it can buy you a boat thought and you can sail all the way up to happiness in it - my point is that the price for that boat in 2015 is hundreds of millions of dollars and just getting an extra figure a year is not worth it :)

[@northcacalacka545]

Borys Pomianek Aright Borys P. It appears you can type forever. Nothing wrong with that. Not exactly sure how to respond but, IMO, a person should ultimately do what they want to do. Whatever drives them. As long as it is legal. You don't have to make money at something you love to do, just have fun doing it. Work is exactly that, WORK. One should do something that they like doing to make money, but, at the end of the day, you will want to do something else with your time after work.

[@genericeric0102]

I have a lot of friends who like to travel and the suitcase bike be perfect.

[@apoorv806]

I want to build a bike this vacation for myself, do you have any advice for me

[@kmuralikrishna1582]

URL is redirecting to search page. How can contact him directly.

[@davyrockxx1563]

pretty awesome ...

[@cyclelistallabout2004]

I want to learn this tooo ... I'm a cycle lover and i ride almost everyday. I want to learn how to make complete cycle

[@smolanchad]

I missed what town he was in. was that chico?

[@Failmora]

I've been a subscriber for a long time now and I love what you do and what you are trying to share with the people. It's a great video but there were several shots that were out of focus and I think it can be fix, anyways love your work and keep it up :)

[@jesse2081]

awesome

[@cettejuste4398]

masterclass

[@eugenejaceldo]

right on bro

[@aaaada]

this is good the video the topic everything

[@jakobw135]

Where is your shop?

[@bonilla2022]

Bravo! 8-)

[@benpenuliar3852]

How can I contact this guy?

[@philiq18]

Nice craftsmanship. Is there a website or Instagram page I could check out?

[@philiq18]

Never mind! Found it facebook.com/pages/SyCip-Bicycles/362210118042

[@marksadventures3889]

Things I like about this, you don't speak like everything you say is a question, you don't say "go ahead" every 3 seconds. I hope you do really well.

[@J3envenuto]

Does anyone know what kind of grill that is?

[@smact1]

Wearing thongs(flip flops) to work, thats freedom. I'm jelly

[@deeeeeee5868]

What camera are you using?

[@ahikernamedgq]

I feel like that BBQ Bike has mass appeal.

[@AnthonyRizzo2]

Recumbent ?

[@danieltheteacher]

He did what I wanted to do with my kids.

[@oswallcruisemont]

master

[@generalstrike7187]

No goggles when brazing? Crazy. You should wear grade 5 tinted lenses when fillet brazing like that.

[@burningmanmike]

He likes the word ACTUALLY a lot.

[@TigerWild1]

Word of the week. LOL!!!

[@leloodallasmultipass]

+BurningMan Mike he also starts every sentence with the word "So";) Isn't he the terriblest?

[@AntonWidiastanto]

my eyes burnt

[@Jackwagon]

I need a BBQ Bike!!! now

[@antonio_siete]

Mola. Hubiera sido genial entender algo de lo que dicen :(

[@nicolasboullosa]

Tengo confianza en que el "autotranslating" llegue pronto a un nivel potable y sea fácil seguir cualquiera de los vídeos de Kirsten con subtítulos (activando la opción de subtítulos en varios idiomas que tiene KZbin). Desafortunadamente, a veces los resultados son un poco erráticos. Espero que pronto no haya barreras idiomáticas. Siento la ausencia de subtítulos.

[@persebra]

The film makers husband- the one who was measured for a bike, is Spanish, I think, You can always write him and to edit the Spanish subtitles so that they will be correct. which i think the makers of the video can do, although I am not sure about that.

[@nicolasboullosa]

per sebra I'm, indeed. I was explaining there's an auto-translating option that shows the conversation in English, so I'm sure he'll be able to read the subtitles. Sometimes pronunciation and speed are the biggest barriers.

[@maultx]

it's not dying

[@salvadorvega66]

hire me!

[@raffZato]

wooooowwwww

[@6kmanu]

bbq bike!!!

[@michaelchoki2133]

custom anything should be expensive, he should make a lot of money, maybe because he didn't hustle the richest rich

[@ajp5290]

I love your videos but please get a better camera! Lots of blurry shots in this one.

[@NSResponder]

I've got to say, I winced when I saw him just bend the frame at 4:34. Doesn't he have the tubes in a jig when he welds them? That shows me that he's lacking very basic metalworking skills. -jcr

[@dudeonbike800]

No, not at all. First, he did indeed weld the frame in a jig. Problem is, welding results with inevitable warping, causing the tubes/frame to lose alignment. Every frame builder experiences this. It's expected and remedied in the next step of production... Second, and most importantly, "bending" the frame is called "cold-setting" the material and it's done industry-wide. This is why alignment tables are massive, immovable and have a really strong bottom bracket clamp - so the builder can properly align the frame. Steel does very well with cold-setting, so you can relax. Without it, your custom, hand-made steel bike would be out of alignment. Head and seat tubes are parallel because of cold setting. Your rear triangle is centered because of cold setting. Your rear dropout spacing is on the millimeter because of cold setting and your dropouts are parallel because of cold setting. Yup. lots of "bending" happens to a frame before you even see it.

[@tijuanero4154]

I want a bike 🚴🏼 please

[@Masterclipart]

Why you brazing it on ???

[@worldofameiso5491]

That is not a cargo bike, it’s a trike, it has three wheels...doh.

[@frederickstaana1269]

McGyver bike builder...

[@nashowun334]

enfoca las weas po xd

[@ellerybice3787]

🚴🏼🚴🏼🚴🏼🫡

[@steffo1]

Most of the shots are out of focus, too bad

[@shannontrainer5857]

It's a trike, not a bike.

[@homermedici]

nice vid, bad videographer lots of out of focus scenes.

[@cristineorcena126]

he is a filipino thats why.

[@charliedevine6869]

BBQ implies hickory or mesquite wood smoke. That is a gas grill not a BBQ.