English Cycles | Custom Bicycles

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....

Posted by Rob on Jul 24, 2020

Elion’s V3

Elion asked me to build him an old-school/new-school road frame. Old school because of rim brakes, tubulars, frame pump. New school with a carbon seatmast, oversize headtube, wireless shifting. And an unusual request for flat dropouts, rather than the socket type I tend to use. Straight chainstays, straight seatstays. Round downtube. Classic lines with a modern accent. A 3T Funda fork lines up nicely...

Posted by Rob on Jul 14, 2020

Benson’s 650B FGC

Benson asked me to build him a travel-gravel bike – so a good candidate for the Folding Gravel Concept. The pivots at the BB and rear dropouts allow the frame to foldup (once the wheels are removed) for packing into an airline checkable case. Going with the slightly smaller wheelsize of 650B, not only was a good option for this size bike, but makes packing the bike that little bit easier. Benson...

Posted by Rob on Jul 4, 2020

Christi’s road bike

Another smaller rider really needing a custom bike – Christi wanted to re-use her Rolf wheels, but the design of the bike eliminated any toe overlap, and the geometry is adjusted for the 155mm cranks. Ultegra Di2 makes for easy shifting for small hands, with a good reach adjustment on the levers putting the brakes comfortably within reach. A Enve fork takes care of the front end, then the frame...

Posted by Rob on Jun 21, 2020

Norm’s gravel bike

Norm asked me to build him a gravel bike, but like my own personal preferences, wanted it to fit and handle like his road bike, just to have the tire clearance and greater gear range for a wider variety of riding. With the give provided for with the tires, he requested the frame be a little stiffer, so I used a larger, bi-ovalised Columbus downtube, and custom ovalised toptube. For a potential future...

Posted by Rob on Jun 8, 2020

Joe’s lightweight road bike

Joe has some back issues and so worked with a local fitter to determine a position that would be sustainable for him. This requires the bars to be quite high, but he wanted to allow for the ability to lower them as his flexibility improves. We also wanted to have an elegant way to position the bars where they needed to be without an especially long headtube. After a few iterations, we settled on a custom...