The Bespoked UK handmade bike show is now in its sixth year and features many of the world's prettiest and most special bikes, along with their creators. The beards were long, the coffees were strong, and some of the bikes were things of total wonder. Here are five of the most gorgeous:
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- A special-edition Condor Leggero, created in collaboration with Brooks. Its eye-catching copper paint job cost more than £400 in terms of materials; rivets on the Brooks Cambium saddle match the finish exactly.
- Robin Mather's mind-boggling Beast came about from its builder wanting to know more about geometry, especially whether there are objective qualities corresponding to perceived stable, neutral or responsive handling. With a head angle that's adjustable through four positions and huge range of trail adjustment, this machine can emulate literally thousands of other bikes' geometry – while also packing a crazy analogue 'data logger' in the middle of its frame.
- Rusby Cycles' custom adventure bike was a consistent crowd puller. Lovely detailing includes an asymmetric seatstay bridge, a Di2 box clevery mounted under the saddle and some nifty internal hose routing.
- A one-off creation from Bristol's Engineered Cycles took the show's best finish award. After a frame was built especially, Engineered commissioned artist Tim Cox to paint it – without a brief, giving him full license to unleash his creativity. It took him more than 20 hours to complete.
- Japanese builder Ogre's Weld One was a real showstopper – one of just 20 produced this year, it features hand-bent titanium tubes, a gorgeous flame-burned finish, rubies in head tube and even a saddle handcrafted from a single sheet of Ti.
