The handmade bicycle show Bespoked has just announced that it will return to the UK later this year with a new Manchester venue, so we thought it would be a good excuse to look back at the Reilly T325D titanium road bike that we first saw at the expo in 2019 – a bike that remains in the British brand’s range today.
The first Bespoked took place in Bristol back in 2011, and it has been staged at various venues since then, most recently taking a trip to Dresden in Germany.
> Check out 10 stunning bikes from Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show 2023
There will be another Bespoked show in Dresden this October, but before that, the UK edition will be held at the Victoria Baths in Manchester from Friday, 28th June to Sunday, 30th June. You can expect to hear much more about the event on road.cc between now and then.
In the meantime, we thought it would be fun to take a look at a bike that we first saw at Bespoked five years ago: the Reilly T325D. This is the disc brake-equipped version of the T325 that we first featured on road.cc back in 2015. Both the rim brake T325 and the disc brake T325D are still in Reilly’s range.
> Take a look at our Reilly T325 titanium road bike first ride review from way back in 2015
The T325D is made with a 3Al/2.5V titanium tubeset, from which the model name is derived, and it’s Reilly’s least expensive road bike. The round tube profiles give it quite a classic look although the sloping top tube geometry and the carbon fork are nods to modernity.
In his first ride review of the rim brake version (pictured below), David Arthur said that the T325 was fast and very direct, and a worthy alternative to a carbon-fibre race bike. The model that we had was built up with a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset and matching Shimano wheels, and a mix of Deda, 3T and Fizik finishing kit, and it hit the road.cc Scales of Truth at 7.86kg (17.33lb). The frame weight was a claimed 1,275g, giving away a few hundred grams to a carbon fibre alternative, although if you’re buying titanium, weight likely isn’t top of your list of priorities.
A smooth ride might be a higher concern, and the T325 certainly delivers here. It’s not soft or vague, though, this bike feeling stiffer and more direct than many rivals.
“Where the T325 most impresses is on the descents,” Mr A reported. “The sensation when you bank it into a wide fast turn is quite exceptional. The small amount of initial flex helps to smooth out rough road surfaces that can unsettle a stiffer bike mid-corner. It’s no slouch on the climbs, and the front end is reassuringly stiff under load. I didn’t get to race the T325, but I reckon it would be right at home in a race, maybe with some deep section wheels to boost the speed.”
Although Mark Reilly died in 2021, Reilly Cycleworks remains and markets this model as suitable for both road racing and sportiness, saying that it’s “equally suited to the Sunday club run or crushing the miles on your next endurance challenge”.
Whatever size frame you go for, the stack height will be a little higher than you get from the race geometry on Reilly’s Fusion aero road bike, but it’s still a performance-minded setup. The short head tube (150mm on the medium-sized version) puts you in a head-down position, and a compact rear triangle keeps the handling sharp and pointy.
A Reilly T325 frameset is priced at £2,199 with a complete bike built up with a Shimano 105 mechanical groupset costing £3,699. A Reilly T325D frameset is £2,399 with complete bike prices starting at £4,199. You can choose your groupset and Reilly will modify any aspect of the build you like.
Find out more about the Reilly T325D here, and find out more about Bespoked 2024 here.
9 thoughts on “Bespoked flashback: check out the smooth-riding Reilly T325D titanium road bike”
Bought one of these in their
Bought one of these in their Black Friday clearance sale it was an ex demo with quite a bit off. When I dropped them an email on the Sunday I got a reply back on the same day and I even got a little bit more off the sale price. I have to say it’s a lovely bike and it was the disc brake version with mech 105 group set but it performs perfectly. With the money saved I bought some carbon wheels and I changed the handlebar to a Deda carbon one I bought through the wiggle sale. The bike is reasonably light but rides lovely and the service from Reilly was impeccable and they still gave me the lifetime warranty on the frame and 2 years on the components. At the time I was looking a few months before a rival company ( think German coding machine) was doing something similar and would not move on their sale price which ok was a bit cheeky of me to ask but they halved their frame warranty from 10 years to 5 and wouldn’t negotiate and no warranty on the components .
I wouldn’t call Enigma a
I wouldn’t call Enigma a rival, they’re an actual framebuilder, not just a reseller of far eastern imports. They repaired an out-of-warranty imported frame for me, after being turned away by a couple of other “rivals”. All these companies claiming “designed in the UK” means naff all, they’re just picked out of a catalog.
Fair enough shame they won’t
Fair enough shame they won’t back their frame building then and slice their warranty in half ?
I’d imagine it’s less of a
I’d imagine it’s less of a hit to just wholesale replace a cheap frame with another? Also, I’m sure that a warehouse is a lot less expensive to run than a full-blown workshop.
And to be fair, 5 years is still more than most. I bet a lifetime guarantee comes with a hell of a lot of caveats too!
Funny enough that’s what they
Funny enough that’s what they said however back your product if you believe in it .
oh and just to add the enigma core range so basically off the shelf are also made overseas so their workshop is probably the same size as Reilly??
I enquired about the core
I enquired about the core range a few months ago as I’m looking at a gravel build, they were pretty transparent about the imported aspect, but they still make frames in-house. A frame building workshop and a warehouse where bikes are put together are two different things entirely. I’d trust an imported frame from people that also manufacture them themselves over someone that just opens boxes of frames…
And so do Reilly in fact
And so do Reilly in fact there is a video on this website showing them building a frame. Ultimately companies will use overseas frame builders it’s cheaper for them to do so and if works for Enigma, Reilly and Laverack then great they all state they have a say in the frame design or use their drawings or whatever. Ultimately most Ti bikes are coming down to a reasonable price point and that reads the core product is made overseas. My point is as said earlier back your product whether it comes from overseas or handmade here in the uk!
All i’m going to say is that
All i’m going to say is that if your Reilly is ever damaged (hopefully not!), will they fix it in this magical framebuilders workshop they have or will you be heading over to Enigma?
So chances are if it breaks
So chances are if it breaks and looking at their warranty if it does break they will honour it and replace it and I have got a whole lifetime to try it. In regards to enigma bikes I really like them and even now would buy one but would steer clear of an ex demo being sold as a bargain as 25% off a 2023 spec bike to me doesn’t equate to chopping the warranty in half with no come back on the components.when I did enquire and in the end I was going to go for it I asked what the frame condition was like and told great but effectively told you will have to buff it yourself to get back to original frame lustre enough was enough. This was the best part of £3.5k so not particularly doing me or anyone for that matter any favours and I might as well have looked on EBay. Now I don’t doubt the frame building prowess of Enigma home or abroad and I haven’t in any of my posts mentioned whether I think their products are good or bad and as already alluded to think they are very good . I hope you enjoy your new bike if you do get one and hopefully not require their frame building expertise to repair it ?
PS as you like steel ( and who wouldn’t) you might fancy signing up to their frame building course for beginners via the Reilly web site then you can do some of your own repairs ??♂️