- Jon and Dan – the Stanton Bikes super team
We like to keep things real business-like here at Wideopen. So – Last night I popped up to fancy Clifton in Bristol for a pint with Jon and Dan from Stanton Bikes for a bit of ‘networking’. Not only do they like building gorgeous hardtails … they also love a drink or two and a bit of banter about bikes, riding and life in general. Jon was about to head off on holiday to do some crazy anti-gum ball rally across Mongolia in an old ambulance (no shit!) and Dan was off the chain for the evening so it was a perfect chance for a meet-up!
- Here’s Dan stuck into some cut-throat negotiations over a 6figure advertising deal. It was tense at this point.
Dan is the designer behind the bikes and is definitely the mad genius that’s pushing the ‘creative’ side of things. He’s infectiously passionate about wall thickness, head angles and BB heights. Dan was just visiting Bristol so his pint of choice was a strong cider. Given Jon’s upcoming ‘holiday’ I doubt he’s any less mad but seems to be the level headed business brain of the team that makes sure the books add up and the crazy ideas don’t get too out of hand! As a local he was on the Bath Ales ‘Barnstormer’ – a fine dark ale. Between them they seem to make a great combo of passionate ideas, intelligent engineering and sound business sense – was great to meet the pair of ’em and see how they bounce off each other!
If you’re interested, I was on the Tribute – another excellent brown ale.
- Jon’s Slackline collection on proud display. The red one is currently en route to DirtHQ.
Thanks to a couple of pints the memory is a bit fuzzy but there’s heaps going on at Stanton. The Slackline is the big one – Stanton’s do-it-all, hard hitting hardtail. We’ve got one on test and it’s a beauty. Reynolds 853 main tubes, 525 stays, 120mm-160mm friendly geometry and some impressive angles. We’re looking forward to getting some heavy miles into the Slackline and getting our report into issue 17. The attention to detail, test riding and geeky passion that’s gone into the bike is really cool to see and – again thanks to a couple of beers – was excellent to hear all about!
And what else have they got? There’s the Sherpa which is a more ‘long-distance’ orientated rig and will potentially be available in 29″ at some point. I think there was mention of a Sherpa XC (29″) and a Sherpa Trail (26″). There’s also some other projects in the pipe-line with a (you heard it here first!) potential plan for something a bit bouncier in the not too distant future!
Anyway – that’s all for now. Look out for lots more from Stanton in Wideopenmag. Cheers for the beers chaps!
If you fancy a look at the bikes up close the guys will be at the Bristol Oktoberfest race.
For more from Jon and Dan hit up http://www.stantonbikes.com
