Ron Cooper (193212 December 2012) was a noted British "master"

bicycle frame A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles: a main triangl ...

builder. Cooper began building frames when he was 15, starting in 1947 when he began a full apprenticeship at A.S. Gillott Cycles,

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. He learned his craft from frame builders in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, most notably Jim Collier and Bill Philbrook. He was a

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

selected for the national team, the

R.A.F. The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, the Brighton-Glasgow and the London Centre in the 1952

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

(Milk Race), before an accident forced him to retire from competition. In 1967, Cooper left A.S. Gillott to build frames under his own name, and by 1970 set up a small shop in Honor Oak Park, South East London. Cooper then worked in Dartford, approx 18 km (11 miles) from his old shop in

Honor Oak Park Honor Oak Park railway station serves the suburban area of Honor Oak in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is down the line from , between and . The station is operated by London Overground, with London Overground and Southern trains servi ...

as sole fabricator, making bespoke steel frames using the traditional method of free hand

brazing Brazing is a metal-joining process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, with the filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal. Brazing differs from we ...

rather than

jigs The jig ( ga, port, gd, port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It is most associated with Irish music and dance. It first gained popularity in 16th-century Ireland and parts of ...

, in order to avoid stresses to be built into the frame, which calls for careful mitering and took about two days to make. Some reviews claim Cooper's frame builds provide more stability, neutrality of handling, and responsiveness.

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Quotes on Ron Cooper
British cycle designers Bicycle framebuilders 1932 births 2012 deaths {{cycle-manufacturer-stub

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