Bespoke bicycles that fit like a glove

But these are not suits or shoes – they are bicycles.

Pete Bird has been hand building bespoke cycle and tandem frames for the last 30 years and it is a traditional craft which is seeing a complete revival, much to his delight.

Former goldsmith Pete aptly plies his trade in the Ironbridge Gorge where he runs his business Bicycle by Design.

There, in the John Rose Building in Coalport, the 54-year-old and his business partner Rob Wade create stunning bespoke bicycles under the brand name of Swallow.

Pete likens his job to that of a tailor – after all he takes customer's measurements right down to their inside leg length – to get the bike just right.

And bespoke really means bespoke, he says.

There is no stock Swallow frame.

"Each bicycle is a journey", says Pete, who originates from Essex, "and each is unique to its owner and built for life."

In fact the only thing each Swallow frame shares is a solid silver head badge and a hallmarked solid silver number plate which is initialled by the maker.

"Swallow started in my shed at my parents house in Essex and the rest is history," he says. "It has been 30 years now and it has been very eventful, joyful, sometimes sad but uplifting time."

Before he ventured into creating bicycles Pete was a goldsmith.

And ,over the years, he has worked on trophies for Sports Personality of the Year as well as the Wimbledon trophy and the FA Cup.

"I was apprenticed in the city of London in 1976/1977.

"It is a very old trade and I happened to get an apprenticeship in the very oldest goldsmith's firm in Hatton Garden.

I think I was the last apprentice of that company," says Pete.

"It was great as I was literally around the corner from Condor Cycles."

So after being told he was unlikely to secure a job at the end of his apprenticeship, Pete also learned another trade – hand building bikes.

"Today you can buy all kinds of bicycles but there is no connection to the builder," says Pete.

"We build things at the same price as the big boys are doing but the beauty is that you have got something very unique and personal."

But with cycling now becoming one of the fastest growing hobbies and sports in the UK, not everyone is content with buying a mass-produced bicycle.

And hence the resurgence for bespoke and made-to-measure bicycles.

He adds: "Hand-making bikes has now gone back to where it was.

"In truth I didn't think it would ever come around again. I thought it was dead.

"I finished building 13 years ago because it was dead and everyone was buying bikes from elsewhere," he said.

Swallow Bikes are like a work of art.

Each one is lovingly hand produced using brazing torch and steel tubes and hand-painted to individual, personal designs, with each bike being a one-off.

And the people who buy the bikes, says Pete, are those who ride a bike for more than an hour each day.

"If you think about cycling, you can ride any bike for an hour.

"After an hour things start to hurt, so that is where we come in.

"And we help with getting the bike just right."

He adds: "We only build ten handmades a year but we have a made-to-measure brand called Landescape. It is still handmade but it is made in Europe."

There is currently a year-long waiting list for a Swallow bespoke bicycles as they can take months to complete, such is the painstaking attention to detail.

And they start in price at about £1,500.

Landescape made to measures, however, take around four weeks to complete.

Pete says people want these type of bikes because they are one offs, created for them.

"It is the same when people have handmade shoes and suits, you wear them with enormous pride. Bikes are the same thing," adds Pete.