Family firm recycles handmade bicycles business

A safety bicycle from 1887. [Photo/IC]

Maison Tamboite, founded in 1912, had an A-list clientele including the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Maurice Chevalier, Edith Piaf and Josephine Baker in its heyday.

"My grandfather didn't brag about his customers," said Frederic Jastrzebski. "It was by flipping through his order books and his diary... that we found mentions of these people."

It was an uncle who closed down the company in the 1980s when bicycles began being mass-produced and could be found even in supermarkets, Jastrzebski said.

After working in finance for two decades, Jastrzebski was turning 50 in late 2014 when he persuaded his brother－and their wives－"to revive the brand with the same sincere, artisanal workmanship, the same quest for authenticity and perfection."

In the new workshop near the Bastille in eastern Paris, Jastrzebski has kept the old wooden drawers from the original shop on the other side of town.

He also has the original tools, an old catalogue and the counter on which his great-grandfather built bicycles.

Production has begun, with the Jastrzebskis peddling their two-wheeled creations as an "urban aesthetic" for the well-heeled.

Gleaming but not bling, the bicycles are virtual works of art, their metal frames contrasting with the honey-toned oak from Italy's Lake Como region used in the wheel rims and the mud guards.

Hand-burnished leather is everywhere: used for the seat of course, but also on the handlebar, the pedals and the lock－as well as the optional satchel.

They sell for an impressive 11,000 euros ($12,000), with the electric version priced at 15,500 euros.