Cyclist
Meet the maker: Alex de Kraker of St Joris Cycles
‘I remember when I first started doing this,’ recalls Alex de Kraker, founder of St Joris Cycles, with a grin. ‘I would come home from the painting guy with my freshly finished frame, put it on the couch and grab a beer. Then I’d take a seat myself for 15 minutes and be, like, “Yeah, that’s nice work.”’
By De Kraker’s own admission, the shine of watching his creations come to life has faded somewhat since those honeymoon days. But only a little. He still gets a kick out of seeing a customer get their hands on their new custom-built bike for the first time, so much so that he makes a point of accompanying each one on a ride after collection to make sure they’re completely happy. It’s all part of the highly personal service the Eindhoven-based builder provides.
A keen amateur racer and qualified mechanical engineer, De Kraker is better placed than most to understand what makes the perfect bicycle.
‘When I was studying, I shared a room with a friend who was doing his PhD in bicycle dynamics,’ he says. ‘I gleaned a lot of technical knowledge from his work. Part of what makes a great bike is scientific, but there is a human element that’s not so clear cut. It’s the feeling you get when you ride certain bicycles. I think having the experience in racing coupled with my mechanical engineering background allows me to approach bike design in a well-rounded way.’
De Kraker started building bikes as a side project in the shed of his old house back in 2010. His local neighbourhood at the time was named after St George and the Dragon (‘St Joris’ being the Dutch translation of St George). Almost a decade and a half later, it’s a full-time operation that sees him working on up to four bikes at a time, with a customer list that includes everyone from bicycle connoisseurs to former pros.
‘I work with two skilled partners,’ says De Kraker. ‘One is a bike-fitting guy and the other is a painter who I’ve been collaborating with for seven years. We’re all one-man shops, which means each of us is entirely focussed on what we do best. In the end that’s what makes the process complete.’
St Joris Cycles deals primarily in complete builds. This allows De Kraker to make sure each bike is millimetre-perfect for its new owner. Everything from handlebar width to the make and model of shifters is taken into account when dialling in the geometry of the frame, ensuring the best possible fit every time.
‘If we have a good talk with a customer and they know exactly what they’re doing then it’s also fine to just do a frameset,’ De Kraker adds. ‘But in 99% of cases, it’s a complete bike.’
This one is mine
Naturally, De Kraker builds his own personal bikes – one every four years to be precise. The one shown here is his latest personal creation, complete with Enve SES 3.4 wheels and top-of-the-range Campagnolo Super Record Wireless groupset.
‘In the Netherlands we don’t really need 34-tooth chainrings,’ De Kraker says with a chuckle. ‘A 10-24t cassette works perfectly over here, no problem. I don’t really need the 12-speed either, but I wanted something special for this build as I was taking it to Bespoked with me.
‘As for the wheels, I think the Enve 3.4 is the best do-it-all wheelset. It’s light, it’s not too sensitive to side winds and it looks great too. It was a no-brainer for me.’
The frame itself is a mix of high-end Columbus Spirit and Life tubing, and it features a rather nifty integrated 3D printed seatpost clamp – something De Kraker plans to apply to all St Joris road bikes going forwards.
Then there’s the paintjob. An aesthete at heart, De Kraker is a stickler for ensuring the paintwork always complements the lines of the frame. He puts a great deal of thought into designing the best paint scheme for the bike, whether he’s working on a commission for a customer or creating something new for himself.
‘We always want the paintwork to enhance the lines of the frame. I’m always seeing really interesting paintwork on bikes but usually it could have been on any other canvas. It might not line up with the angles and curves of the bike it’s on. So that was the goal here – to create elegance by working with the lines of the bike.
‘Designing paintwork is difficult if you want to keep it original. I see a lot of bicycle makers copying ideas from each other, so instead of taking inspiration from bikes I try to find it in other places. This particular design was actually inspired by the work of a designer in Germany who does custom paint concepts for sports cars.’
De Kraker will gladly build you a bike like this one, but you’ll need deep pockets. With the high-end groupset and Enve wheels you can expect to pay somewhere in the region of €14-€15k – upwards of £12,000.
‘We just make all of our bikes the best that we can for the individual, using the best materials and parts,’ says De Kraker. ‘Sometimes that means a full build costing €9k, sometimes it’s €15k. The important thing is that it’s finished perfectly, fits perfectly and that the customer can’t wait to get out and ride it.’
Alex de Kraker’s personal steel bike, approx €14,000-€15,000, stjoriscycles.nl
• This article originally appeared in issue 154 of Cyclist magazine. Click here to subscribe
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