?WHEN man invented the bicycle, he reached the peak of his attainments. Here was a machine of precision and balance for the convenience of man. And [unlike subsequent inventions for man?s convenience], the more he used it, the fitter his body became. Here, for once, was a product of man?s brain that was entirely beneficial to those who used it, and of no harm or irritation to others.

Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle.? ?Elizabeth West, ?Hovel in the Hills?

IF there?s one thing that tree-hugging eco-activists and conspicuous-consuming yuppies agree on, it?s that bicycles are cool. Granted, the former ride them instead of SUVs to reduce their carbon footprint, while the latter like to drape them on the roof racks of their gas-guzzling Fortuners or Explorers as expensive accessories, oblivious to the irony of driving hundreds of kilometers so they can ride their mountain bikes on a stretch of pristine nature trail.

The bicycle remains the most efficient form of transport known to man. If it ran on gas instead of calories, someone calculated, a bicycle would get 3,000 miles to a gallon, with zero emissions save for the rider?s sweat.

But while some people ride them to save the planet, most just enjoy the sensation of self-propulsion. ?Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride,? John F. Kennedy once remarked. He ought to know.

But beyond the pleasures and health benefits of riding, people like the bicycles themselves. They are, as one designer put it, ?rideable art.? Some owners treat their rides as simple utilitarian objects, but for many riders, the bicycle is a platform for self-expression. Depending on their inclinations, riders may strip their bikes down to the bare minimum, or more likely, weigh them down with accessories and upgrades jeepney-style: The more, the many-er.

While the basic bicycle?s design has remained unchanged since Leonardo da Vinci first dreamed of it in one of his sketchbooks ? two wheels on a frame driven by pedals and a chain ? modern technology has introduced a few new wrinkles.

Today, most bicycle frames are mass-produced in giant factories in Taiwan or China. Most are now made of aluminum alloy, although some are still made out of steel, and a relative handful of high-end frames are made from laminated carbon fiber or titanium, exotic materials that come at a premium because they combine strength and lightness.

Many experienced riders, however, swear by the virtues of the most traditional material: steel. ?Steel is real? is their mantra. Correctly made, a bicycle frame of chrome-molybdenum steel is light and strong while giving a ride that balances stiffness and responsiveness. This means that it efficiently transmits the rider?s energy into forward motion, while absorbing some of the shocks of the road for greater comfort. Aluminum frames, they claim, tend to give a harsh ride, while carbon fiber and titanium are simply too expensive.

The sine qua non of the ?steel is real? brigade is a bespoke frame, handcrafted out of select steel tubing by an artisan who knows what he?s doing. Like bespoke suits and bespoke shoes, a bespoke bicycle frame is a one-of-a-kind, built to the customer?s taste and made to measure.

Like RTW, mass-produced bicycle frames are sized to fit averagely proportioned people. But people come in all shapes and sizes. Some are taller than average, some shorter. Some have proportionally long legs and short torsos, or vice versa. Like the best tailors, the best frame builders can size up a customer?s anatomical quirks and design a frame to suit both his build and his riding style.

Before the advent of mass-manufactured bicycles, all frames were built by hand. But today, bicycle frame builders are a dying breed. In the Philippines, you can count them on the fingers of one hand. But ask around bicycle shops and hardcore riders? groups and check the Internet and one name keeps coming up: Ave Maldea.

?His craftsmanship is second to none,? says one cycling aficionado who owns nine Ave Maldea frames. He admits that he also owns bicycles made of aluminium, carbon fiber and titanium and rides and enjoys them, but he says his steel frames are his keepers, especially his custom Ave Maldea frames.

What inspires such enthusiasm?

Simply put, Maldea is an artist with an acetylene torch. Out of his home workshop come bicycle frames that can match custom frames costing thousands of dollars abroad. Indeed, many of his clients are based overseas and take his frames with them when they leave. He can also build special-purpose bicycles such as tandems, track bikes and cyclocross bikes that are unavailable in local bike shops, most of which no longer sell steel frames either.

A Camarines native, the 43-year-old Maldea originally studied to be a diesel mechanic, then did a stint as a merchant seaman before his love of cycling drew him to bicycle frame-building.

In the 1980s, he served an apprenticeship under a Pasig-based frame-builder who used to make frames for the now long-gone Patria Bicycles. In the time-honored way of the artisan, the apprentice Maldea started by doing the menial tasks in the workshop ?sweeping up, cutting the steel tubes and filing the welds ? before graduating to the actual welding of the tubes.

After five years, he felt he had learned enough and struck out on his own. The first thing he did when he opened his workshop was invest in a jig. Old school frame-builders used to draw a life-size diagram of the frame on paper, with the correct dimensions and angles, then weld the tubes together by hand. This was a hit-and-miss affair, since the heat of welding would sometimes throw the tubes out of alignment. A jig is a device that holds the steel tubes in precise alignment during welding, and Maldea got the best, a jig made by the Henry James company, which set him back a whopping $3,000 plus shipping. It was well worth it, however, since it set his frames a notch above the rest.

?There are many other secrets to frame-building,? Maldea says. Some of them he learned during his apprenticeship, but most of them he mastered after rigorous self-study, reading manuals and watching videos.

Controlling the heat of the torch is one key: too hot and the joint will weaken, not hot enough and the weld won?t hold. Maldea carefully watches the flame and the color of the steel as it heats in order to achieve the right temperature. It takes a sure hand ? pulso in the vernacular ? to wield a torch with confidence.

Intimate knowledge of materials and their properties is also important. The steel tubes that Maldea works with are butted, meaning they are thicker at the ends for strength and thinner in the middle to save weight. Maldea either fillet-brazes them or builds them with lugs.

In fillet-brazing, the tubes are meticulously hand-mitered or shaped with saw and file so they join seamlessly together. They are then joined with molten brass. As a final step, the welds are hand-filed and sanded for a smooth, seamless look.

Lugs are cast end-pieces that hold the tubes together. Maldea uses silver instead of brass to braze the tubes to the lugs, resulting in a frame that is considerably more expensive but which many old-school cyclists prefer for its retro flavor.

He also doesn?t skimp on the materials. There are fake welding rods and even fake welding flux in the market, he says, the use of which will result in weak joints that could come apart under the stress of riding. Maldea is confident enough in his workmanship that he can offer his clients a ?lifetime guarantee of craftsmanship.?

Word of mouth about the superb frames coming out of Maldea?s shop soon spread among the local cycling fraternity, and pretty soon, there was a steady stream of customers beating a path to his door.

Today, says Maldea, he builds an average of four to five frames a week. He could build more, he says, and make more money, but he doesn?t want the quality of his frames to suffer. A client will have to wait an average of two weeks for delivery, but an Ave Maldea frame, they say, is well worth the wait.

Depending on the tubing he uses and the kind of construction, a frame without fork can cost as little as P3,000-plus for garden-variety hi-tensile steel to over P16,500 for one made of top-of-the-line Italian Dedacciai Zero tubes.

One of Maldea?s strengths is the fact that he is also an avid rider. On any given weekend he is usually out on the road on one of his own bikes, one might say field-testing the equipment. This gives him valuable insights into what makes a superior bike, and how minute differences in angles and dimensions affect the way a bike handles. This allows him to advise clients on the right frame size for their needs. For instance, he recently built a frame for bowler Paeng Nepomuceno, whose height necessitated an unusually large 60-cm frame.

Ave Maldea is one more example of Filipino artistry and craftsmanship that gives meaning to the phrase ?proudly Philippine-made.? ?