English Cycles | Custom Bicycles

Posted by Rob on Nov 22, 2020

Nate’s Super-commuter

Nate’s build is the latest interpretation of my winter bike theme. But heavily customised for Nate’s unique bicycle! We start with the ever-reliable Alfine 8spd hub, in it’s Di2 guise. To fit a Gates belt-drive sprocket with the Di2 motor unit, the cog has to be offset to the inside. So then to allow for a straight beltline whilst providing for larger tires, the whole rear-end is...

Posted by Rob on Nov 14, 2020

Andy’s road bike

Andy asked me to build him a disc brake road bike that would climb and descend well, and of course, precisely fit his size and weight. His design features a Columbus carbon fork, and Vision integrated bar/stem, both painted to match. The initial build has 25mm tires, but there is room for 30mm. SRAM AXS eTap provides the wide gear range and wireless shifting, with an upgraded Ceramic Speed pulley cage....

Posted by Rob on Oct 28, 2020

Javier’s road frameset

Javier wanted a modern, yet classic steel road bike. So we have a custom machined, round integrated seatmast, with custom made adjustable cap. A lightweight aero bladed fork. And a signature stem to match. The frame is for rim brakes and mechanical shifting, with internal routing for each. Curved stays allow for larger tires if desired, and the aero downtube gives a nod to the speed side of performance....

Posted by Rob on Oct 10, 2020

Pete’s lightweight gravel bike

I am always game for a lightweight project. Pete wondered if we could get a complete gravel bike under 16lbs, so we set about to find out…. Starting at the front, we went with a US-made Allied carbon fork. A custom EC headset with Cane Creek AER bearings mates this to the frame. The frame is mostly Columbus Life tubing. The downtube is custom ovalised at the BB, and the toptube is taper ovalised...

Posted by Rob on Oct 1, 2020

Ryan’s V3 road bike

Ryan had a good sense of what he wanted for his custom build; with a couple of conversations I was able to distill that down to a bespoke design to suit. Finalising the exact component spec took a little longer, and then making final decisions on paint a little longer still! But that is both the beauty and the trouble with the custom process – so many options…. Then end result was worth...

Posted by Rob on Sep 7, 2020

Stefan’s stainless Sub-6 project

I previously built this frame for Stefan, and was glad when he contacted me for another project. This time he had the goal of a very lightweight build, with the project titled ‘Sub-6’ as the aim was to have a steel framed bike under 6kg. We opted for a stainless steel build, as Reynolds 953 is currently just about the lightest tubeset available (this alloy is very strong, which allows it to...

Posted by Rob on Aug 20, 2020

The skinny bike

Road disc brakes are pretty great, in terms of stopping power, modulation and consistency. However, the very tight tolerances between pads and disc can be very frustrating to set up without rub, and it only takes a very slight ding to the rotor to have a constant noise that can be tricky to remedy. So – a thought experiment. Why are the pads so close to the rotor? In order to get the most mechanical...

Posted by Rob on Aug 5, 2020

Mansoor’s lightweight road bike

It is kind of fun to do the full weight-weenie builds now and then :- Sure, the fit and ride characteristics are more important than the weight, but when you can have those things AND make it really light – well, everyone loves a light bike! The frame uses the very lightest Life tubes from Columbus, along with custom seatstays and a carbon headtube insert. All carefully fillet brazed together....