- With the help of the guys at The Bicycle Academy,
we took you through the steps of exactly how to build
your very own bike frame.
But what we built,
we kept something of a secret, until now,
because here it is in all its glory,
and coming up is everything
that you might want to know about it.
(electronic music)
Now first up, we should probably explain exactly
what we were looking for from our frame.
The brief was to design a bike and create a bike
that was fun, a complete riot to ride.
Now, what fun is is gonna differ from person to person,
but for me on my local roads, it's a bike that is fast,
it's stiff, it's responsive, and it's agile,
and it basically just urges you to go faster.
So, a really racy, really sharp little bike then,
but with space for slightly wider tyres.
And the challenge then is to create a bike
that has all those race bike proportions
but with space for up to 30mm tyres.
'Cause I wanted it to be able to go really fast
through really crappy roads
and maybe even take in a little bit of light off-road.
But I didn't want another cyclo-cross bike
and I certainly didn't want an epic enduro road bike
because one of the nice things
about riding a road bike off-road
is that it's actually not the right tool for the job,
and that's kind of why it's fun.
And yes, it is compact.
Very compact, in fact, and I love that.
I didn't really want a standard horizontal
top-tube steel bike.
I wanted something a little bit different.
And the theory behind compact geometry
is really sound as well,
because the idea is that you get a mainframe
that's nice and tight, and nice and stiff,
and then you put a longer seatpost on there
to give you the compliance and to give you the comfort.
As it turned out, it needed a really long seatpost
because the original Zipp one I had on there for the show
actually wasn't long enough.
I had to get the SL Speed one,
'cause it's the only one that comes in 400mm long.
Now what Tom Sturdy did with this pretty vague brief
is very cool indeed.
So in order to keep the raised bike feel,
he's trying to keep the wheel base as short as possible.
But given that the reach of the bike
is largely dictated by my own measurements,
he's done it by keeping the chainstays
as short as possible.
And in order to do that he dropped
the bottom bracket a little bit.
And so that allows the back wheel to be tucked up
really tightly inside the frame
but while still keeping a chainline
that means you can actually use your gears.
And then up front he's also managed to keep
the handling nice and racy in spite of those wider tyres.
'Cause you see the one downside of wider tyres
is that they have a broader contact patch.
And that can mean they're sometimes
a little bit sluggish to turn in.
It feels like you have to put a bit more effort in.
So in order to maintain the feel that we want
he's tweaked that all important trail measurement,
and the head angle has been refined
so that it works perfectly with our Columbus Futura fork.
Now the funny thing is that I'm sure someone
has put this much thought into just about any frame
that I've ever ridden, but the fact that Tom
has made these tweaks and these adjustments
with the exact kind of riding that we suggested to him
it's just cool isn't it?
Now do you remember all of those tubes that we picked out?
Well it turns out there's quite a mix in here.
So we've got Columbus HSS for the top tube
and the down tube, and now they're tapered
from the steerer to the seat tube.
And part of the reason for that taper is actually
simply that you get a good mitre on the tube junctions.
And that down tube in particular
is absolutely massive for a steel frame.
Then we got Columbus Zona for our chainstay,
so that's super stiff and also strong enough
to take our disc brake.
Then we got Columbus SL, very, very, slender seat stays
and they do nothing other than
what they absolutely have to do
and also just look amazing.
What else can I tell you about the frame then?
Well we've got flat mount disc brakes on there,
we got through axle's, we've got a threaded bottom bracket,
oh yeah high fives all round.
Then we've also got a tapered steerer tube,
the brake hoses are routed internally
and those routings are fully lined.
It was a thing of beauty,
only no one's ever gonna see it now,
but believe you me it was quite incredible.
And then we've actually got an external gear cable,
and we've only got one because it was built
for SRAM 1x
And we'll get on to finishing kit later,
but for now can we just have one more moment
to admire the hard work of Jake Rusby
into getting the finish quite this good.
It's absolutely seamless wherever you look.
And the braze as well look utterly amazing
thanks to Andrew Denham's hard work.
And even actually, to be fair,
the left rear drop-out doesn't look that bad.
And then there's the paint.
Oh my days there's the paint.
(gentle music)
Right, okay then.
Finishing kit.
So we built it up with SRAM Force 1x,
and the reason being firstly
that it simply looks super clean.
But also because I wanted it to be tailored
exactly for the type of riding that we're doing,
just like the frame, but nothing else.
So I've gone for a 50 tooth chainring on there
and an 11 to 32 cassette at the back.
And you might thing that's still
quite a tough easiest gear but actually it works out
50/32 is the same as 39/25.
And admittedly that is still reasonably hard
in this compact day and age
but actually if I'm going fast
up the kind of three to six minute climbs
that pepper where we are,
then it's actually just about right.
And then of course I've gone for hydraulic disc brakes.
Now firstly, you get that tyre clearance that you need.
But then also principally it's about braking performance.
Particularly the confidence to razz it down
filthy little lanes in the middle of winter.
Now a major side benefit of using disc brakes
is that they don't wear your rims out in poor conditions.
So that means that I can run Zipp 303 carbon wheels
all through the winter because those conditions
simply won't impact on them at all.
The only downside, at the moment, to this build
is that I've actually, rather ironically,
still got 25mm tyres on there.
But they will be changed for 30s very shortly.
Now one final point to mention is
that Tom thought it would be funny
to actually braze on a chain keeper.
Knowing how much Dan Lloyd loves them
and how much that irritates me
there is actually now a chain keeper
permanently attached to this bike.
And I still don't actually know what to do with it.
So then, what is the weight?
Well the frame alone we actually weighed,
is 1.8 kilos immediately after brazing.
And then the complete bike?
What's that say?
8.7-something,
8.7 kilos.
So, it is a little bit heavier
than I'm normally used to.
But the important question is actually,
how does it ride?
And the answer, amazing.
And that actually brings with it
a very interesting question because
what does make a bike brilliant?
'Cause, the chances are that this isn't as aero,
and it's certainly not as light
as what I'm used to riding.
But, is it fun?
Hell yeah.
Woohoo!
(upbeat music)
Now I did say at the beginning of this video
that I would tell you everything you wanted to know
about this frame, but clearly if I haven't
actually managed that then do just ask a question
in the comment section down below
and I will do my best to answer it.
And indeed, try and get the guys
from The Bicycle Academy themselves
to get stuck into the comment section as well.
Now please give this video a like
if you do like this bike
and I sincerely hope you do.
And then make sure you subscribe to GCN
as well before you leave.
And then finally if you're after some more content,
if you haven't seen the How To series
then the first video in it is just up there
and for a video about the UK hand-built bike show
where this and loads of other absolute beauties
are on display, that's just there.
When I say beauties I mean bikes, obviously.