As one of the best cycling shows in the country, there is a lot of ink spilled over Bespoked Bristol each year, and for good reason. The annual event just goes from strength to strength, with more people, more stands and even more amazing bicycles. Our stand was swamped with people asking about our bikes and hoping to meet Shin-Ichi Konno of Cherubim, but there was so much else to see that we wanted to show our experience of the show and add to the praise heaped on the builders and organizers for such a fantastic weekend.

There is much to much to talk about regarding Bespoked. I would happily sit and argue over the judges verdict, the best builders and the nicest parts for hours, but I thought it best to just highlight a few things that stood out. Obviously, it would be easy to  talk about the builders we know like Ricky Feather, but their achievements are covered well enough by the rest of the cycling press. I hope this shows up some of themes of the show for people who weren’t there.

Paint

This year, Bespoked held some of the most beautifully painted bikes I’ve ever seen. There is something about being able to see brazes and raw lugs, but people seem to have been taking to incredible finishes in the last few years. I was instantly taken with the finish on this Waterford – it uses the same finish by PPG as old TVR cars, but over a charcoal base rather than a silver one, giving it a gloriously muted shimmer, like a more subtle cousin to Klein mountain bikes.

 

Among the other amazing paintjobs, Field cycles are instantly recognizable. Their multi-colour layers and attention grabbing neon greens and blues run parralel to soft greys and other muted shades, bringing out the amazing quality of the frames. Field paint their custom stems and bars in the same colours, giving a really cohesive feel to their builds.

 

There is an old warning about spectacular paintjobs – good paint hides bad welding. Whilst that’s not going to be the case at Bespoked, there are framebuilders using other finishes to create absolutely unique bicycles. One of them is Colourbolt, a company coating urban bikes in the same toughened coating that London Underground use for handrails on the tube, making the bike almost impervious to scratches. Another is Slate cycles, who displayed an absolutely stunning frame with a pitted and worn copper finish. It’s curving seatstays and deco lugs made it look like a relic that had been uncovered from the earth, but the quality of the frame was unmistakable.

 

Almost every paintjob at Bespoked was special in one way or another, and there are plenty more examples in our

Components

It wasn’t only the paint that was outstanding, but there was some incredible components on show as well. One thing that stood out was the stem attached to the Winter which won Best Track Bike; a gorgeous custom-carved quill stem, a flourish on an otherwise simple bike.

 

As well as artful touches there were serious performance parts on show. The Alchemy Xanthus came with these unbelievable hubs – super lightweight disc hubs that were laces to Enve rims, ideal for non-UCI races…

 

There was also a lot of information available for the technically-minded. Having the amount of knowledgable people on-hand to answer questions, from the framebuilders themselves to Paul of Paul Components (!) meant you could learn as much as you wanted to about the parts available. I asked a helpful chap at Mosquito bikes how Chris King hubs made such a ludicrous noise; he just happened to have a opened Chris King hub on hand to explain. I still have no idea. Same goes for the .

 

Frames

Of course, the heart of Bespoked is in the frames and framebuilders exhibiting. The scope and range of bikes on show is dizzying, and unless you had a day to spend there you would have missed something. I was particularly taken with the belt-driven town bike by Merenyi; unlike many builders using Gates carbon drives, Merenyi have chosen to create the break in the triangle for replacing the drive by putting a removable ring in the drive-side seat stay, an area that they say takes much less stress than the chainstays. All you have to do is remove the wooden plug and unscrew the bolt, a simple, practical and discreet solution.

 

Demon Frameworks arn’t bothered about ruffling some feathers. I spoke to Tom, who explained that his imposing art-deco lugs were designed in opposition to the usual curves and smooth curls so beloved by British framebuilders. It’s given his frames real presence, especially when the copper-coated 853 contrasts with the uncoated lugs. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but the quality and thoughtfulness in his designs can’t be questioned.

 

As well as new builders, there were plenty of rareities and oddities on display, like this  Condor Paris / Galibier. The lug-work is absolutely stunning, even if the frame design might not have caught on.

 

Outstanding Bikes

Of course, at any show, there are a number bikes that get absolutely everybody talking. The bike that garnered the most attention by a county mile was Tom Donhou’s speed-record bike. All of Tom’s bikes are exceptional, but this one seized everyone who saw it. That might have something to do with the 104 tooth Royce chainring, or the ludicrously deep handlebars. Tom is trying to reach 100 mph on this bike, being motorpaced along abandoned airstrips. Rather him than me.

 

Another amazing story was the 7-11 Serotta. Ben Serotta built tour-winning bikes that were rebadged as Huffy for the now-defunct 7-11 team. Cyclefit asked him to create a bike that 7-11 would use now, if the team was still running. This incredible frame was badged up  in 7-11 colours, the orange incredibly vibrant, and there was a vintage 7-11 Huffy positioned behind it for contrast. It was an amazing project for Serotta to take on, and the outcome was absolutely stunning.

 

The best new builder prize was won by Irish framebuilders Woodelo for their Leafspeed – a 2.2kg wooden frame that they claim is stiffer than carbon. Whilst that is an impressive achievement, the new builder that really stood out for me was Era cycles. The frame exhibited was only Era’s 4th build, including 2 built on framebuilding courses. Similar to , the Era show frame is designed as a tribute to Barry Sheene, the dual gold bands on the top tube referencing his ’76 and ’77 World Championship titles, the 7 cut-out on the bottom bracket being his racing number and the whole paintjob designed around his racing livery. The most impressive element to the bike, however, is the forks. Designed to mimic a yolk, the way motorbike forks introduce rake to the geometry, the fork blades are actually heat-treated chainstays. Much stiffer, much stronger and incredibly innovative, Era cycles are certainly one to watch in the future.

 

 

There was so much more to talk about in the Bespoked show than the few things we’ve discussed here. It was an absolutely incredible show that let the cream of contemporary frame-building show of their art, and we are extremely proud to have been a part of it. We’d also like to thank Phil for tirelessly organising the whole event.

to see lots more from this year’s Bespoked Bristol.