English Cycles | Custom Bicycles

Posted by Rob on Nov 26, 2021

Nick’s gravel frameset

Nick asked me to build him a gravel bike that would fit and handle similar to his road bike, but have clearance for 40mm tires. He also wanted to increase the corrosion protection without going to full stainless, so we settled on using stainless for all the hard points – headtube, seattube, dropouts, caliper mounts, bottle bosses, cable stops and BB shell. Being very happy with the feel of his road...

Posted by Rob on Nov 15, 2021

Yutao’s stainless road disc

Shiny! This custom road frame is built from a mixture of Reynolds, Columbus and KVA stainless steel tubing, all polished to a high shine. There is clearance for 32mm tires, thru axle dropouts, flat mount bosses and internal routing for the rear brake hose and Di2 wires. The Enve road disc fork in front matches the tire clearance, and is mated to the frame with a custom headset that negates the need for...

Posted by Rob on Nov 4, 2021

Jeffrey’s skinny bike

After I built my skinny bike, and discovered what a lovely bike it is to ride, Jeffrey asked me to build him something similar. Handily, Jeffrey had a Lightning crank, Campy 11spd shifting and Hed alloy wheels on hand. Initially we were going to use a modern 31.8 handlebar, but with the small tubes and 1″ steerer, decided that a 26.0 bar would be a better match – Jeffrey was able to find a NOS...

Posted by Rob on Oct 23, 2021

George’s V3 frameset

George rides a lot. I mean A LOT – like pro level mileage! He asked me to build him a road disc frame to be built up with Di2. The frame has a T47 BB to allow for internal hose routing to the rear caliper, and plenty of room for the Di2 wires. George asked for the carbon seatmast and headtube insert options, and the Enve fork is paired with a Chris King headset. There is an aero downtube, and a...

Posted by Rob on Oct 8, 2021

John’s Pinion commuter

John asked me to build him a fully equipped super-commuter, with geometry to match the position he required, and based around the Pinion 18spd gearbox. He also requested some curved tubes in the frame for a unique appearance. The fully enclosed gearbox keeps the gearing weatherproof, as does the Gates beltdrive, driving a silent-running Onyx rear hub. To keep with the no-maintenance theme (no batteries...

Posted by Rob on Sep 30, 2021

Rich’s stainless mountain bike

Quite a few firsts for me with this build! First stainless steel mountain frame, first stainless fork, first time using Paragon’s new 12mm adjustable dropouts, first time I needed to make a set of front dropouts (because there wasn’t anything suitable available). And first wheels built with Berd spokes….. Big thanks to Chris at Pacific Metal Polishing for his careful work to make it so...

Posted by Rob on Sep 17, 2021

Geoff’s ISP road frameset

Geoff asked me to create him a complete custom steel frame, fork and stem. He requested an integrated seatmast – this tube is custom butted in house and has a specially modified (with an internal wedge) Thomson seatpost which allows for adjusting the saddle height. The bike will run 1x eTap for shifting, so there was no need to provide for a front derailleur or gear cable routing. The rear brake...

Posted by Rob on Sep 4, 2021

Andy’s belt drive singlespeed road bike

Andy has been really enjoying his first bike, so he asked me to build him a singlespeed bike for his flat commute. I suggested we use the Gates Carbondrive belt drive for a clean, quiet drivetrain. Andy wanted the bike as light as possible; I suggested we also make some choices towards aerodynamics to assist on the flat route, so we have the deep Enve wheels, 3T aero fork, McFk aero handlebar and a TriRig...