| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Framebuilding and Cyclesports Equipment |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Headquarters | Unknown, formerly at 25 Tanners Hill, Deptford, London, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Ernie Witcomb, co-founder - Lily Witcomb, co-founder (both retired) Barrie Witcomb, director and framebuilder - Nicholas Young |
| Products | bicycles, accessories |
Witcomb Cycles, formerly known as Witcomb Lightweight Cycles, is the trading name of the Witcomb Trading Company. It was a British company based in Deptford, south London specialising in custom handmade steel bicycle frames. The company was founded in 1949 by Ernie Witcomb and his wife Lily. The London shop closed in May 2009. It was one of the last custom framebuilders in London, leaving Roberts Cycles in Croydon the only framebuilder in London, and according to Witcomb Cycles one of probably about 15 framebuilders still working today in the UK[1].
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Witcomb's father,Tom, a steel worker in local dockyards, started to build frames in 1928 in his east London cellar. In 1951 Ernie bought E.A. Boult, where he had been working since before the war, and by 1952 started trading as Witcomb Lightweight Cycles with Wally Green as frame-builder.
Barrie Witcomb, Ernie Witcomb's son, started his apprenticeship as a frame-builder in 1958 at 15, under Malcolm Barker, a former builder at J.R.J. Cycles in Leeds.
In 1959, Witcomb Cycles bought Rotrax Cycles Building.[2]
In 1961, Witcomb co-founded the Lightweight Cycle Association, one of cycling's first trade-focused organisations.
In the 1960s Witcomb Trading also made frames for Sid Mottram, Rotrax, Velosport and others. More recently they have made frames for the fashion brand Carhartt and Reynolds steel.
Richard Sachs, Peter Weigle, Chris Chance and Ben Serotta, four American frame-builders, trained at Witcomb Cycles in the early 1970s.[3][4]
The 1980s and the fashion for mountain bikes put a strain on the business which went into decline. In 1998, Ernie Witcomb retired. The company seems to be dormant since 2009.
From its beginning until 2009 the company's HQ was located in London, starting in Woolwich, then later moving to Tanners Hill in Deptford. After moves from one building to another, the workshop stayed at 25 Tanners Hill, a late 17th century Grade II listed building for many years. During the late 1960s until the early 1980s the company also operated a factory in Llanelli, Carmarthernshire, Wales. The London site was closed in May 2009 and the business announced an intention to move production to Wales. This does not appear to have materialised.[1]
In 1971, the company represented the UK at a British Fair in New York. The next year, Witcomb, while exhibiting in San Francisco, received HRH Princess Alexandra and her husband, Sir Angus Ogilvy. This marked a short-lived foray on the US market. Witcomb USA was founded in 1972 in East Haddam, CT. by Richard Sachs and Peter Weigle. Problems with suppliers meant the company could not fulfill demand and the venture was dismantled after a couple of years.[5]
In the 1960s, Witcomb Cycles sponsored the London Coureurs and the Hadrian CC Riders, then the Witcomb Metro CRC, and the Witcomb Vulcan CRC. Witcomb organised races including Dover-London. At this time Barrie Witcomb started racing as an independent (semi-professional).[6]