This week is the excellent Bespoked Bike Show in Bristol.
The show is a coming-together of the weird and wonderful, mad and magnificent world of hand-made bikes and bicycle bits.
Here’s our favourite bits from the show’s opening day.
Jamie took in a lap of the opening day of the 2018 Bespoked Bike Show – as always, there’s a healthy turn out from the mountain bike builders and plenty of beautiful, bespoke off-road bikes.
Trillion Prime
Not a new one for Wideopen but definitely a highlight. The Trillion Prime is hand made in the UK, with the help of Scottish bike-builders, Shand Cycles.
The Prime is proof that you don’t need to be a bloke in a shed to hand-build. Trillion (and Shand) are both owned by Liberty, a multi-million pound company with ambitions to built strong British bicycle manufacturing.
We’ve got a Prime on test at the moment with a first-ride piece out next week. Stay tuned!
The Bicycle Academy
Bespoked and the Bicycle Academy go together like mountain bikers and mud. You just can’t have one without the other.
The Frame Academy, based in Frome, teach folk to hand build frames and are responsible for the training of some pretty well known manufacturers when they were getting started with their craft.
The Frame Academy have developed their own frame building jigs that cost less than £1000 – making hand crafting frames a much more doable and accurate operation for aspiring builders.
Baudou’s trials bike
Baudou’s street bike looks like a flippin blast.
It’s hand built in Toulouse with a Reynolds 631 fork and 853 frame. Mr Badou himself describes the bike as “a hybrid for skateparks, dirt jumps and trials” and that it’s inspired by the sort of riding you’d see Danny Macaskill throwing down.
Portus Long Karl Black Forest edition and tools
This absolute monster from Portus was built in Germany and packs in room for all your zombie survival / weekend bike packing adventures.
There’s a hidden BBQ and coffee machine and a less-hidden chainsaw. There’s also room for your Jaeger and Mountain Dew.
Almost as exciting is the Portus hand-built hammer, which is absolutely beautiful. It’s deadened with sand and comes with hand-turned nylon lumps. The shaft is hand-welded in steel. Want.
BTR Pinner
The BTR Pinner appeared at Bespoked last year and has been gradually picking up steam since then. The bike has had some subtle changes but otherwise stays much the same.
The Pinner is a link-driven single pivot frame, built in steel and has 130mm(ish!) of travel. It’s now available in 5 sizes and in 26″ and 27.5″. 2018 sees tall dudes able to get an XXL version of the bike without having to have one custom made, which works out a bit cheaper.
https://www.btr-fabrications.com
Ra bikes
Hiding away in the ‘New Builders’ room was the Ra Bike prototype, hand build in North Yorkshire by Ralph who is one of the trail builders for the Ard Rock Enduro.
Prova Ripido
The Prova Ripido is quite probably the most cutting edge mountain bike at the show. It’s evidence if you ever need it that home made doesn’t have to mean low-tech, ugly or inelegant.
Prova’s builder Mark comes from a composite design and motorsports engineering background and wants to “make things that work well and are nice to look at”. He builds in Australia and is in the UK just for this weekend’s Bespoked show having started building full time in the last year.
He’s created the bike using a combination of 3D printing in stainless steel and TIG welding in chromoly. By 3D printing sections of the chain and seat stays he’s able to create a neat and tidy 180mm direct rotor mount and create great tyre clearance without needing to compromise on frame strength.
Curtis AM7 and Curtis XR650
Curtis have been taking it slow and steady with their bikes to be 100% satisfied they’re up to everything you can chuck at them. The XR650 first appeared at last year’s Bespoked show and has been getting a proper thrashing by South West freeride legend Jim Davage ever since.
The AM7 isn’t a new frame but is the first of Curtis’ new complete bike range. Prices are still TBC though, they only just got it built up in time for the show!
Ingrid components cranks and cassette
Ingrid components are manufactured small scale in Leoni, Italy.
Their cranks come in XC and gravity versions, with the XC’ers built in two hollow pieces and bonded together. The gravity versions take on a more traditional design.
Their cassettes are machined from a solid block of aluminium and are available in 11speed with 10-46t weighing 295g or 12 speed with 10-48t weighing 315g.
Leoni full suspension
The Leoni full suspension bike is hand made in Bristol by an Italian (who happens to be the brother of the chap from Ingrid components!).
The bike is designed to be a fun to ride trail bike with 150mm travel, 29″ wheels and a 75° seat angle and 67° head angle.
Robot Bicycles R-Zero
Now this one is something pretty special indeed, the new Robot Bicycles R-Zero hardtail.
Just like their full suspension, the R-Zero hardtail is built with a cocktail of 3D printed bits and carbon tubes which are bonded together. The geometry can be customised to suit your style and the options are pretty much unlimited – it works with any wheel size, it can be single-speed, there’s custom sizing and angles and you can run it belt-drive. If you want one, it’ll cost you £2895.
Starling Cycles Sturn (and Migration)
And last but not least, the brand new Starling Cycles Sturn downhill bike.
The Sturn is a real marmite bike. It’s a single-speed downhill bike with 29″ wheels, adjustable angles and a heavy-metal look drivetrain. The bike’s name come from Sturnus Vulgaris, the latin word for a Starling.
Joe reckons that he’s never felt the need for gears on a DH bike and making it single speed means you “can just focus on the riding”. It has a Jack Drive design and an eccentric bottom bracket which allows the suspension to work without changing the chain length and allows it to work as a single speed.
The bike has loads of adjustment. The eccentric bottom bracket allows you to adjust chain length and means you can change the gearing to suit the terrain. You can also adjust the position of the shock on the downtube with swappable plates.
Alongside the Sturn, Joe also had his new round-towner / pub bike / commuter, called the Migration. The bike is built to work with 27.5″ non-boost MTB wheels and all of those bits in your garage you’ve got kicking around!
https://www.starlingcycles.com
Thanks for a great day, Bespoked!
