A number of weeks ago I took a couple of days away from the office to go and see Sturdy Cycles, a custom titanium bike business nestled in an old forge in Frome, a little distance from Bath in the southwest of the UK. On the first day I was shown the workshop, and saw a bike become whole from a tray of 3D-printed parts at a pace I could scarcely believe. If you want the full story on that front then check out my behind-the-scenes at Sturdy Cycles piece. The second day though I spent with Tom Sturdy on a completely custom machine in the beautiful Brecon Beacons, or Bannau Brycheiniog to be totally correct.
As reviews go the following are my thoughts from a day in the hills, but it should go without saying that, given the custom nature of the product, it’s hard to be truly representative. I was fortunate that Jack from Sturdy is the same size as me, and so it’s his bike that I was on, but as much as this is a review of a product it’s also going to be a more an experiential piece on my time with what, for the majority of us, will forever remain an unattainable dream bike.
Image 1 of 5
Design and Aesthetics
Custom is not the same as bespoke, it’s worth outlining from the start. Bespoke is like getting a suit made for you from scratch, with every measurement chosen by you. Custom is like taking an off-the-peg suit and tailoring it to fit you. In bike terms ‘custom’ means there are still distinct models, but within each, there is a range of tweaks that can be made to suit the individual rider. I was using the Fiadh (fee-ah) model, the de-facto general purpose road bike, but there are also options for a more aero focussed road bike (the Sidhe), a TT bike that we’ve featured before after it won best in show at Bespoked (the Éimear), a gravel bike (the Cilla) and a hardtail (the Tara). Distinct models, but all with an identical manufacturing process.
For the nitty gritty then head to the workshop piece, but the short…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…