[Words and photography by Andi Sykes]
There’s something oddly brilliant about standing in an old Victorian swimming pool, surrounded by some of the most beautifully built bikes in Europe. The green tiles are still intact (slippery as ever), and, above, the glass ceiling throws down beams of sunlight that make every polished lug and brushed titanium tube look like it belongs in an art gallery. Welcome to Bespoked 2025.
- What is a gravel bike?
- Can you use a road bike helmet for MTB and gravel riding?
- Mountain bike tyre inserts – everything you need to know
It’s not your average trade show. You won’t find big corporate banners or endless rows of carbon copy carbon. Instead, Bespoked pulls in the best and quirkiest of Europe’s artisan builders – the ones who still file things by hand and would probably much prefer to be welding in their workshop than have a camera stuck in their face.
Bespoked attracts every type of builder from every cycling discipline. Road, gravel, mountain bike, commuter and even e-MTB are all represented but, as a mountain biker through and through, I’ve only focussed on bikes built to get muddy… and some rather cool components that I spotted while snooping around.
Creature Cycles
Based just outside of Dyfi Bike Park is Creature Cycles, and this, the Galago MX, is its vision of a modern trail bike. Designed around a single-pivot suspension design, Creature Cycles wanted to focus on longevity and durability with the design, so the brand has steered clear of multi-pivot, linkage-driven designs and numerous bearings. The bearings used, however, are sealed needle roller bearings, offering minimal friction and maximum life.
While a single-pivot bike might seem simple, and it is, the features and manufacturing behind the Galgao are anything but basic. This 150mm travel (rear) bike uses a mixture of traditional steel tubes and 3d-printed components, all cleverly engineered to reduce vibration and optimise chassis compliance and comfort.
Sticking with the K.I.S.S (keep it simple, stupid) design brief, the Galgo uses external cable routing, doesn’t have any flip-chips, and even uses a SRAM UDH mech hanger.
Garbaruk Prototype Wireless Rear Mech
To prove that Bespoked isn’t just about welding torches and (excellent) coffee, Polish CNC supremos, Garbaruk, were on hand with a prototype wireless rear mech and shifter. This was the first time the brand has shown this in public, and rather than being just a dummy prop, it is a fully functioning shifter complete with bespoke application!
Being a motor-driven design with app connectivity, Garbaruk says the wireless mech can be set up to run on various speed cassettes. The battery is removable, similar to an SRAM AXS design, and while we weren’t allowed to take photos of the shifter, we can see it’s a very neat design with a very pleasing and audible ‘click’ to it. There is no word on pricing or a release date, but the team did say they’re focusing on gravel and MTB and might have a wireless dropper in the works, too.
Selwyn Bicycles
Based in Samoëns, a traditional village in the mountains of Haute-Savoie, Selwyn Bicycles is positioned perfectly for building bikes and then riding them on some of the most challenging terrain in Europe.
On display was a lot of beer, but the brand also had this nameless prototype, once again using a simple design, but manufactured using rather high-tech processes. The handmade steel frame boasts 140mm of travel and is designed for use with a 160mm travel fork and 29-inch wheels. 3d-printed stainless steel dropouts, chainstay yoke seatstay pivots are all neatly brazed to Reynolds 853 and 931 tubing, with the front and rear of the frame connected by a beautifully machined 7075 alloy rocker. Interestingly, the rocker is a two-piece design that fits together with a key to prevent twisting.
Other neat features include a UDH rear hanger, just two sizes of standard bearings for ease of service, and full external cable routing. Bikes will be available in two standard sizes, but there will also be custom geometry and custom paint options.
Alex McCormack Race Winning Fairlight Holt
Still covered in dust and dirt from his race win at the 2025 Atlas Mountain Race, was Alex McCormack’s Fairlight Holt. Loaded up with a ton of bike packing gear from Tailfin, the super adaptable steel hardtail can be built up for cross country, trail, or winning epic races if you have the legs for it.
Cotic’s striking new branding
If you have been in the world of mountain biking for as long as I have, then Cotic will be a firm fixture in your mind. But did you know that it’s had a bit of a rebrand? Gone is the bright orange website of old, and with it, too, all the old branding. In its place is this rather fetching new typeface, which, in my mind, gives off ‘lifestyle’ vibes. Cotic is slowly rolling out the new look and feel design with customers who have bikes currently on order getting the choice to either stick with the original branding or opt for the new style.
The bikes on show had a multi-colour faded paint job, an option that sadly won’t be available for customers, but production bikes will feature the white accent on the top and head tubes that serve as the backdrop to the new logo.
What are your thoughts on the new design?
Antidote Pathseeker Full Suspension Gravel Bike
Another first for Bespoked was this striking composite gravel bike from Antidote. The fact that the Pathseeker is a full-suspension gravel bike isn’t what makes it unique, but the way the suspension has been packaged in such a refined manner. Upfront, we have an integrated suspension fork that looks a lot like the old Cannondale Headshock and, just like the Cannondale design, it uses replaceable elastomers that can be swapped out to tune the ride characteristics.
The rear suspension, though, relies on beautifully crafted flex stays and a proprietary eccentric suspension system offering 20mm of travel (to match the front). The eccentric pivot acts like a cam and pushes on a shock in the frame.
HP Bike Project Downhill Prototype
The ‘HP’ in HP Bike Project stands for Harry Prescott (or high pivot), a 22-year-old engineer based in the Lake District. When Harry isn’t at his day job, he can be found in his garage working on his handmade downhill bike. When I say handmade, I mean it in the purest sense; everything on this bike has been welded, cut and carefully filed by hand. This includes intricate bottom bracket/rear shock tunnel and rocker links, which were put on a strict diet with unnecessary material removed to save weight.
The high-pivot design gives Harry’s bike a slight rearward axle path for the first half of the travel and uses an idler pulley above the chainring to reduce pedal kickback. The bike has already seen action at Dyfi Bike Park, and Harry now has plans for an enduro bike, which may or may not use a gearbox.
Craft Bikes
Craft Bikes doesn’t use fancy model names to leave an impression, instead, the brand leaves that to the simply elegant titanium tubing and their custom 3d-printed frame parts. Named the ‘Hardtail Mountain Bike’ on their website, this 29er hardtail sports beautiful, clean lines and internal cable and hose routing to not spoil the aesthetic. As you would expect from a UK-made, 3d-printed, titanium bike, the prices are up there, but it’s a stunning bike nonetheless.
Chumba Slackr
To take a break from all the European stuff on show, let’s jump across the pond and take a gander at the Chumba Slackr. There was nobody around to speak to about this bike, but what I found online is that this is the steel version of the Slackr, designed around a 150mm/140mm suspension fork. It has sliding dropouts giving you adjustable chainstays from 428-448mm, and you can run gears or single speed without needing a chain tensioner.
While many of the steel bikes on show used Reynolds steel, Chumba uses its own custom blend of Velospec ELITE heat-treated tubing and 3d-printed stainless steel Space Yokes.
Auckland Cycleworks
And last but not least, is it even a Bespoked bike show without Auckland Cycleworks in attendance? The guys from Auckland had one of their original carbon tubed, alloy lugged frames on display alongside a more modern bike featuring beautiful paintwork from Black Cat Custom paint. While Auckland’s radical designs have been seen at numerous shows over the years, the bikes are still in the prototype phase.
