With both 2024 Bespoked UK and MADE Australia taking place over the same weekend, we’ve got an action-packed week of event recaps ahead. First up, Josh is in Manchester, England, reporting from the historic Victoria Baths with the first group of stunning bikes and products from BTR Fabrications, Clandestine, Condor, Craft Bikes, Sour, Sturdy, Ted James Design, Hex Components, Tailfin, and Buxumbox. Let’s dive right in below!

Thanks to SILCA for sponsoring our 2024 Bespoked Bike Show coverage!

The Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show has returned to the United Kingdom this summer. Currently underway at the historic Victoria Baths in Manchester, it might be the most eclectic location for a bike show we’ve seen!

I’ve been traveling around the country for the past few days and have finally landed in the northern city to witness the coming and going of the UK’s “three days of summer,” as temps have shifted from balmy 27°C to a brisk 18°C. And what better weather to attend a bike show!

Clandestine Carrier with Pinion Gearbox

The Carrier is one of Clandestine’s most popular offerings. Like all of Pi’s bikes, the Carrier is equipped with a dual-crown fork and custom racks. But, unlike other Carriers, this one, Pi’s personal bike, incorporates a Pinion gearbox belt drive system.

To tension the belt drive, Pi made his own housing with a machined alloy plate that slides in place and tensions the belt. This method is in place of using sliding dropouts, which Pi believes creates extra faffing when installing fenders.

Designed with an upright fit for touring and/or commuting, the Carrier features a tall stack and comfortable positioning. Racks are custom and compatible with the Wizard Works Shazam Saddle Bag and, in the front, a custom Carrier Bag made just for Clandestine.

BTR Fabrications Gasser Downhill Bike and Trail Tool

Frome-based BTR Fabrications has been teasing the Gasser on social media for a while now. It’s not a bike I’d ever be in the market for, but the design and construction is fantastic to see come to fruition. This is builder Paul’s personal rig, which sports 200mm front travel and 190mm rear. The liner-progressive suspension has a slight curve with bump-sensitivity at the beginning, alleviating harsh bottom-outs.

Everything has been machined in-house, from the complex linkage system to the cable guides. Suspension is EXT with a special prototype DH fork and finished in all Hope components. Paul printed the plastic bump stops in-house, which screw into the frame.

High-load capacity bearings are used throughout and, while heavier than traditional mtb bearings, have four times the load capacity of those in other DH bikes but are meant to last through years of heavy usage.

The Trail Tool, featuring multiple blade types for various types of trail work and an anti-rust finish, has become a BTR staple for trail work throughout the UK and Europe. The holes in the middle are for locking it to a tree or other trail feature.

Condor Cycles Stainless Gravel

Based in the UK since 1948, Condor bikes are now made in Italy. Condor offers many options in each of their framesets, including material choices from carbon to alloy and stainless steel, stock or custom paint, and “house” geometries or fully custom.

The Stainless Gravel is made from Columbus XCr tubing with clearance for 40mm tires. Drawn thin at 0.4 mm thick in sections, XCr is optimal for its high strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance.

Framesets include Condor’s carbon gravel fork and a Chris King Headset.

Ted James Design Titanium Downhill

Ted James is rooted in BMX, but his bike-making spans the gamut from gravel to full-suspension BMX and mountain bikes. This titanium singlespeed downhill bike Ted recently built for a customer is absolutely mental.

At its core, the high-pivot double-cog design is tensioned by an eccentric bottom bracket (made by Ted) and horizontal bolt-thru sliding rear dropouts (also made by Ted). The overall intent is to eliminate change in chain length as the suspension moves through its travel.  The rear dropouts are particularly interesting, as two plates lock in place and the wheel can freely move in and out of the frame when needed without losing chain tension.

Pretty much everything on this frame except suspension and touch points have been made by Ted, including the chainring spider, cranks, and aforementioned bottom bracket, bb shell, and dropouts. If you’re looking for a truly special and wild and one-of-a-kind two-wheeled machine, call Super Ted.

Craft Bikes Custom Titanium Hardtail

This hardtail is the first titanium mtb from Craft Bikes. Joining the ranks of some of the bigger brands we’ve recently reviewed bikes from – like Otso and Revel – Craft Bikes offers custom fit options.

Geo numbers are modern with 55mm BB drop, 65.5° head angle (unsagged), 75° STA. Using 3D printed titanium parts in the bottom bracket, head tube, and seat cluster, Craft Bikes can design one-off pieces to fit the needs of their customers. Parametric modeling opens up the design for different rider and body types for a bespoke fit in each frame.

Craft Bikes is only offering complete builds at this time. Rather than selling framesets, Craft wants to work with customers to create their dream bike around specific components, which have been chosen specifically to work perfectly with the frame.

Sturdy Cycles Fiadh All-Road

Always a crowd-favorite, Tom Sturdy couldn’t make the event in person but sent a couple of bikes to display along with a description of this stunning Fiadh All-Road:

“The Fiadh model is a ‘do it all’ road bike. First and foremost, it has been designed to be as versatile as possible without compromising its performance as a road bike. The vast majority of the components that make up the bike are included as the kit of parts designed and manufactured by Sturdy Cycles. This offers us unrivaled control over the bike as a whole to make sure that the result is coherent and better than the sum of its parts. It offers generous tire clearance, and the frame has been designed to provide a bit more stiffness than might be considered standard for a traditional titanium bike. The joint design and structure mean this can be achieved without losing the smooth ride quality critical for this type of bike. The result is a bike that is as at home on a long full day ride as it is in a fast-paced group ride and something that blends what riders have come to expect from a modern road bike with the luxury of a true custom build.

The geometry is, of course, customized to an individual rider’s preference. The specific bike in question belongs to ex-pro rider Alex Paton, who has maintained a relatively aggressive riding position with which he is familiar and translated it onto a bike that allows him to spend all day in the saddle. He has chosen one of our preferred finishing themes, which features splashes of anodizing without cluttering the minimalistic philosophy behind the bike.

We like to think that any one of our bikes could be a show bike and prefer that they are seen ‘as they are ridden’. Alex has the luxury of quite an eclectic collection of components in his collection, and this is reflected in the components added to the kit (so if you are easily offended, don’t look too closely at the mixture of brands!).”

Sour Bicycles Space Cake All-Road Prototype

As we’ve seen with the recent MTB offerings from Sour, the Dresden brand is also filling out its drop bar lineup. The most recent addition is the Space Cake All Road. Joergen from Sour had his personal Space Cake on display in the White Industries/Astral booth, which is nearly what the bike will look like once it goes into production.

Fully made in Dresden, the Space Cake will have 44 mm head tube, T47 bottom bracket, and new “drop bar dropouts” that resemble the T-Type derailleur compatible MTB dropouts on the new Sour full suspensions. Max tire clearance is 38 mm without fenders; slotting it firmly in the “road” side of the “all road” category.

Compared to Sour’s other drop bar models, the Space Cake is slightly longer and lower for a borderline racey and fast positioning. But it’s still a road bike made by mountain bikers.

Hex Components

A new venture for the North Yorkshire one-man brand, Hex Components, offers a variety of 3D Printed bike bling. These intricate and attractive bits are made of additive stainlesss steel and titanium.

From top caps and binder clamps, to bar end plugs, founder and designer Ben has already assembled quite the array of bike jewelry. He’s also cooking up some wild options for brake lever replacements. Check out Hex Components for all design options and watch this space for more product news.

Tailfin Prototypes and Coming Soon

It’s no secret that Tailfin prototypes and tests products with sponsored athletes and designers long before they arrive on the market. Shown here at Bespoked, the bike of Tailfin designer Claire Cartwright was decked out with loads of prototype designs and products.

First up, the Carbon Rack is getting an updated attachment mechanism that is adjustable to better work with smaller bikes and/or dropper clearance. Additionally, Claire is using prototype printed material, in a pattern she designed, with yet-to-be released long top tube bag, full frame bag, and rear roll-top bag. Additionally, there is a new light mount that bolts to the rack’s rear end, which should be avalbale very soon.

And lastly, because Tailfin knows we want COLOR, they’ve experimented in applying a matte splatter Cerakote to one of their rack’s legs. It seems to be holding up well, in my opinion. What do you think? Should Tailfin start doing some limited color offerings?

Buxumbox Travel Bike Cases

Buxumbox is a Devon, UK-based brand that manufactures travel bike cases out of aluminum. The cases are meant to be easy to use and more durable than a soft case.

With five sizes to choose from, they have boxes that will fit the majority of “normal” road, gravel, and mountain bikes. Each box has machined fixtures that hold forks and dropouts. But unlike many other travel cases, the Buxumbox typically only requires removal of wheels and pedals, making packing a breeze.

And that’s it for today! We’ll be back tomorrow from Manchester with another full gallery from 2024 Bespoked UK!