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- Custom built bikes have to be one of the coolest
parts of cycling.
I'm sure many of us dream of one day owning a bike
that was designed and built especially just for us.
So with that in mind we thought we would take a look
at a few of the coolest custom bike builders
from around the world.
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Bastion bikes don't really look like anything
else out there thanks to their unique
3D printed titanium lugs and their custom made,
filament wound carbon fiber tubes.
Bastion was founded by three former Toyota
engineers in Melbourne when Toyota announced they would stop
manufacture in Australia.
They simply decided that bikes were the way forward.
But, being automotive engineers, they weren't going to
half ass it.
Bastion pays amazing attention to detail.
Take the fact that they use
Ti-6Al-4V titanium in their lugs.
This is a higher grade than is usually used in
bicycle manufacture as it's really hard to work with.
But because they use selective laser melting,
using a laser to form titanium powder into the lugs,
they can make use of the amazing combination
of vibration dampening and stiffness that titanium brings.
Off to the USA now for a brand that is mixing traditional
techniques with modern design.
I'm talking about English Cycles.
A multiple award winner at the North American Hand Made
Bicycle Show.
English bikes was founded by Rob English,
a mechanical engineer and cyclist from the UK.
He moved to the USA to work in the cycling industry
before launching his own bikes in 2009.
English has been a pretty successful time trialist
coming seventh at the British National Championships.
In fact his first bikes were time trial bikes.
The skinny tubed super aero bikes with inline stems
are unmistakably English creations.
But these days he makes everything from mountain bikes
to trans continental bikes.
Even time trial tandems and 29 overcumbent mountain bikes.
A bike builder, a painter and a graphic designer.
No, no, they don't go to the pub,
they set up Field Cycles.
Field bikes are all hand made in Sheffield,
something the guys take great pride in.
Sheffield was known as the steel city,
the traditional home of steel production in the UK.
So it's only fitting that the bikes are made there too.
Field offer their bikes in two formats.
The traditional, completely custom build
or something known as field works.
Field works bikes don't feature completely custom
geometry or paint jobs but what that does mean is that
you can get one in an incredibly short amount of time.
And with their unlimited color choices available
every Field works bike you see is still
very likely to be unique using their in-house paint
department Chromaworks to create the absolutely
incredible designs.
Amazingly they don't use stickers or decals,
everything you see on the bikes is paint.
Our next custom builder comes from Dublin, Ireland
and in fact is the only one on the list to build
their bikes completely out of carbon fiber.
You may have see Fifty One bikes on our channel before
thanks to their 24 carat gold bike that was designed
and built for UFC fighter Connor McGregor.
John Cannings had a look at it at the tour down under
last year if you remember.
Aside form the custom geometry and carbon fiber layup
to ensure that each bike matches
the new owners riding style,
one of the most striking things about Fifty One bikes
is the story that goes with each bike that they make.
From a bike made to commemorate a customers childhood
in the Bronx and his time in the Marine Corps.
To the Anaconda, a bike featuring a snake skin pattern
and a framed ribs to ensure stiffness for a former
track sprinter and reptile enthusiast.
Aidan at Fifty One bikes clearly takes the time
to get to know all of his customers
which surely has to be the biggest benefit
when buying a custom bike.
Last but by no means least we are off to Japan
to take a look at Cherubim bikes.
Making bikes since 1965, they are by far
the oldest manufacturer on our list.
Founded by Hitoshi Konno the brand have gone on
to produce bikes for the Japanese Olympic team
at the 1968 Olympics, they've become an NJS certified
Kiron bike manufacturer and won accolades
at many of the hand built bicycle shows around the world.
Most notably in 2012 when the Cherubim Humming Bird
won best in show at the North American Hand Built
Bicycle show.
What makes Cherubim bikes so cool though is
their ability to mix super juditional design
such as that on the skinny, steel lugged, R2
alongside the ... on the Serina.
Or road bikes with disk brakes and the ability to use
700c and 650b wheels.
Oh, and of course they make the Hummingbird
and the Airline these bikes are pretty bonkers.
So there you go, five of the coolest custom bike
builders from around the world and, I know,
we've left out hundreds.
There are many, many custom bike builders
from around the world so please let us know
your suggestions in the comments box below.
And right now if you want to check out another video,
have a look at Johns visit to Corsa Corsa.