Welcome to the BICYCLE SPECIALTIES/HOULE HANDBUILT BICYCLES web site. My name is Matt Houle (pronounced: Hool), I run the place. If you are looking for a top of the line, custom designed, handbuilt bicycle, made from some of the finest steel tubing available, by someone with the experience and willingness to turn your bicycle dreams into reality, then you have come to the right place.


One thing that you will notice, as you peruse this web site, is that, while I am certainly not shy about my abilities, I haven’t included much in the way of over indulging self-promotion, or hype. I offer a high quality product with excellent customer service, but I’ve never liked being the target of the “hard sell”, so you won’t find me trying much of that here.


Another thing that you won’t find here, is me trying to push all the latest, greatest, gadgets that the magazines tell you that you need. The components that I offer are all from high quality manufacturers that have withstood the test of time.


So, if you want hype, slick marketing, over inflated egos, all the latest techno junk, or bad service, keep surfing.

 

On the other hand, if you want a truly custom bike and excellent one-on-one service, you have come to the right place. Beginning with the personal fit, on thru the design process, the paint job, all the way to the component selection, I believe in doing my best to give you, the customer, what you want. That means that I pay attention to what you say, answer your questions to the utmost of my ability, and help you figure out what will work best for you.

For the past few years, I have been making sculptures for friends. Now I am offering to do the same for you. I’ve got pictures for you to see some of what I’ve built already, you will have to use your imagination to picture what I can make for you.

As you surf this site, enjoy the many photos that I have all over the place. In particular, the Photo Gallery section is packed full of photo albums.


Speaking of the photos, you will notice that many of the pictures are of bikes with decals that identify them as a Rodriguez, Micro City, or CleanSpeed. As you can read on the About Us page, this is because I have been associated, one way or another, with all those brands. You can rest assured, however, that every bike pictured on this web site (unless otherwise noted) was built and painted by Bicycle Specialties.


One last thing. As you visit my site, please keep in mind that it is a work in progress. I am my own web master, and I am still somewhat new at designing web sites. I would appreciate hearing from you if you have any comments or suggestions regarding the site.

This is also a good place to be if you would rather fix or modify the frame that you already have.  I can perform just about any repair or modification that you could need or want on your steel frame. 

And if you are more of the do-it-yourself type, you can take a virtual tour of my frame shop as well as see pictures of all the fixtures that I use (all of which are made by me).

You can also find information about the one-on-one framebuilding classes that I offer (where I teach you to build your own custom frame).