English Cycles | Custom Bicycles

Posted by Rob on Apr 26, 2026

Sam’s gravel bike

Sam asked me to build him a gravel bike to fill in the gap between his road and mountain bikes. We kept things simple with a 1x XPLR drivetrain, with the addition of a dropper seatpost and clearance for 50mm tires (shown with 45s) to take the bike right up to the point where it is time to choose the mountain bike. Enve provided the In-Route fork and bar/stem to keep the brake hoses hidden, combined with a...

Posted by Rob on Apr 12, 2026

Eric’s aero road bike

Eric is a tall bike racer, and despite constant tinkering, had been unable to achieve the forward-aero position he wanted for the best biomechanical and aerodynamic efficiency and performance. But he knew where he needed the saddle and handlebars to land to put him in that position – so I could then join the dots to make that possible, created with a geometry to match the resulting weight...

Posted by Rob on Mar 28, 2026

Pete’s V2 gravel bike

I built Pete’s original gravel bike in 2020 – that bike was designed around 35mm tires, with a 2x groupset. Over the intervening years, Pete rode the sh*t out of his bike, and learnt about the limitations which led us to version 2. This time we designed around 55mm tires, and went to 1×13 with SRAM’s XPLR groupset. The design shifted to internal brake hoses, with an Enve In-Route fork...

Posted by Rob on Mar 15, 2026

Prototype 32″ mountain bike

It’s alive! Prototype 32” build ready for testing (once the trails dry out a bit). I maintained the geometry as close as possible to my current bike so I can see how the wheels change the ride. The CaneCreek EE Wing cranks are running a Garbaruk 3mm offset ring for a 52mm chainline. 55mm isn’t a nice chain angle for the low gears. But that made things a little challenging to clear the 2.4” tire,...

Posted by Rob on Mar 8, 2026

Max’s single-speed gravel bike

Max decided upon a single-speed, beltdrive, fat-tired, fendered gravel bike. Doing a custom fork too helped with fitting a 55mm tire with a full coverage fender and allowing for geometry that ensured no toe-fender overlap. There is an eccentric BB for belt tensioning and allowance for a different gear ratio if required. Plus a UDH dropout in case of wanting to add gears later. I used one of the pivots from...

Posted by Rob on Feb 19, 2026

Chad’s road frameset

Chad asked for a road bike that would fit up to 35mm tires. We decided upon a half-stainless frame (PMW dropouts and BB shell, Columbus XCR chainstays, Reynolds 953 downtube), so that there could be a polished raw chainstay on the driveside and a polished logo with reverse-masked paint (expertly applied by Colorworks). The fork is one of the last US-made Allied models, mated to the frame via a custom...

Posted by Rob on Feb 6, 2026

Gary’s FGC

This one called for some creativity with the limited edition Cane Creek EE gravel brakes needing to be fitted around full coverage fenders and a custom front rack. All whilst not impeding the Folding Gravel Concept design that allows the bike to pack into a checkable case for travel. Gary was able to visit last year for a fitting session, and to discuss the build, then I set about with the design and...

Posted by Rob on Jan 20, 2026

Brad’s FRC

Brad asked me to build him a sporty road bike using the Folding Road Concept travel system. His frame has the latest iteration of this design which eliminates the pivot at the dropouts and instead uses the thru-axle to secure the removable seatstay assembly. Wireless shifting is great for a travel bike, so there are just the hydraulic hoses to be mindful of when packing the bike. That shifting is provided...