When did you first have the idea to start this craft?
The initial idea came in 1997, but it was not a craft vocation so to speak. For my brother and I, it was a question of building practical cycles (at the time, scooters), based on our observation of the evolution of modes of transport in the city. It was more of a rather design project with a commercial purpose.
How is your craft linked to the place where you live?
We could say that France was a great pioneer in the history of the cycle. Creating or recreating this kind of machine in a traditional way with simple methods and 'old-fashioned' materials if I dare say, is my way of keeping the memory of a time when small bike builder brands and ateliers flourished.
©Bruno Hadadou
How would you define what you do?
It is a kind of 'bicycle breeding'. Not everything is successful. Some projects remain unfinished or morph into something else – there is a great deal of randomness. The results are the fruit of long reflection, technical and aesthetic consideration, research and testing.
How is innovation expressed in your work?
There is not much of it! If you look closely, everything was said long ago, at the end of the Belle Époque. I have only developed processes that allow me to make products that are almost industrial in nature – by hand.