British bike brand Pashley is nearly 100 years old, but its new range of Roadfinder bikes marks a bold new direction.
Based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Pashley has a storied history of making traditional bikes, from load-lugging specials that predate the modern cargo bike to trikes and cool, classic-inspired machines such as the much-loved Guv’Nor.
Pashley was a fixture on British roads for decades, building the bikes that British postmen rode to deliver the nation's post until the Royal Mail stopped the practice in 2010, citing safety reasons.
Now Pashley has a taken a new direction with a range of new all-road bikes that blend traditional frame building with cutting-edge technology, including 3D-printed junctions and laser-cut parts.
Pashley is also embracing electric bikes for the first time with a Mahle rear hub motor-equipped do-it-all road machine.
Pashley Roadfinder
Pashley's new Roadfinder Collection includes frames for conventional and electric bikes, with options for road and gravel bike builds.
Pashley says the Roadfinder is designed, developed, tested and handmade at its UK factory in Stratford-upon-Avon.
CEO Andy Smallwood, whose CV includes running Boardman and driving Ribble’s reinvention from budget bike specialists to designers of cutting-edge models such as the Ultra and genre-busting AllRoad SL R, is behind Pashley’s bold new direction.
Smallwood says: “The brief for the Roadfinder project was to develop a collection of extremely versatile bicycles that give cyclists the ability to conquer multiple terrains, journeys, and adventures on one beautifully hand-crafted machine. From all-season endurance road rides and off-road gravel trails to bike-packing exploration, this is the ‘Swiss Army Knife of Bicycles’.
“The Roadfinder collection also perfectly showcases and builds on our heritage of artisan frame-building, appealing to all riders who appreciate true versatility, performance and the unique ride experience you only get from a high-end steel frame, built by hand using the very best materials."
New tech meets tradition
The Roadfinder frame design embraces the tradition of frame builders' past with details that signify the builder. Think Hetchins' curly stays, Colnago’s Club-logo inspired lugs, Wilier's Ramato finish, Bianchi’s Celeste and GT’s triple triangle.
With the Roadfinder, Pashley’s detail doesn’t come from a cut lug or paint finish. It comes in the form of a 3D-printed seat tube to top tube junction, which smoothly flows the stays on either side of the seat tube to blend seamlessly into the top tube.
It's a detail we expect to see in the future from Pashley's next models, rumoured to include new commuter and cargo bikes, alongside the Roadfinder range.
The dropouts proudly display the Pashley P logo and a laser-cut enameled aluminium head badge completes the details.
Roadfinder frameset specification
The Roadfinder frame is finished with seamless welds and full internal cable routing. The design is all about versatility, with clearance for 45c tyres with mudguards. The frame features mudguard/fender bosses, front and rear rack mounts, three sets of bottle bosses, top tube mounts, and triple anything mounts on the full-carbon Columbus fork.
There are two versions of the Roadfinder available. The all-road Roadfinder and gravel-focused Roadfinder X. Both are made from premium Reynolds 853 steel, which Pashley uses an e-coating corrosion protection on before painting.
The rear dropouts are UDH-compatible, the front derailleur mount is removable and the 44mm head tube is precision-machined. Both models use the Columbus Futura Cross+ carbon fork with a fork trail-adjusting flip-chip dropout.
The electric Roadfinder E and Roadfinder X E frames are built from a combination of Reynolds 725, 631 and 525 tubing.
They share the same e-coating electrically charged corrosion protection as the traditional framesets. At the rear, the dropouts are Mahle X20 compatible. The top tube replaces the bosses with a housing for a Mahle controller and, up-front, an ebike-compliant carbon fork completes the frameset.
All of the Roadfinder framesets are wet painted by hand, with all graphics stenciled and painted rather than decals or stickers.
Available with Shimano, Campagnolo and SRAM groupsets, the Pashley Roadfinder costs from £2,795 / $3,995 / €3,695 to £5,995 / $8,595 / €7,995. It is also available as a frameset for £1,595 / $2,295 / €1,595 / AU$3,495.
