Martin’s skinny bike
Number three in this occasional series, Martin asked for a more traditional silhouette (toptube closer to level), and direct mount brakes with the rear positioned under the chainstays.
The lightweight steel fork features a socketed crown into which bolts the one-piece 1″ stem/steerer. The 1″ headset is shimmed to install into the headtube for an 1-1/8″ version, which allows room each side for the gear cables to cleanly enter the frame.
I christened this style of road bike ‘skinny’ due to all the tubes being a size smaller than I would generally specify. This includes the seatmast – custom butted from 1″ diameter 4130 cromoly, with a matching custom cap to enable fine tuning of saddle height. Interestingly, the downtube would still be considered ‘oversize’ compared to where road bike tubing was back in the ’70s.
Continuing the trend of the prior two builds, Martin’s bike has a Campagnolo mechanical groupset with EE brakes.
The paint is by Colorworks, and the final weight is 15.9lbs.
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English Cycles is Rob English, 
winner of Best in Show at the 2013 North American Handmade Bike Show. Custom bicycles built in Eugene, Oregon, USA since 2009.
pfff, a beauty
Hi Rob,
This is beautiful, can this be done for a 56cm frame and 90kg rider?
Hello – probably can do something similar; as with any custom design, I would want to understand how the rider will use the bike and what characteristics they are looking for. Then I can design to suit. The frameset can be tuned with wall thicknesses and tubing diameters, but possible to retain a mostly ‘skinny’ aesthetic if desired.
thanks, Rob.
I really love the look of this bike. It looks so wild with the skinny tubing.
I am curious: what frame size is this?
The right size for the rider! Fully custom so no actual sizing, but I can tell you that the effective toptube length is just over 55cm.
thanks, Rob.