Hey! I’ve insured my one of a kind dream machine with LAKA. They provide collective cover for cyclists & exist to rewrite the rules of insurance so it’s something people stand with, not against. It was super simple, even for a one of a kind custom machine like this.
GET £25 CREDIT on your policy by following THIS LINK and I’ll get the same too, awesome!
**Content Warning: Mental Health Issues and Suicidal Ideation**
Some time ago I was car doored; severely fracturing my wrist, and completely mangling my fingers in between the brakes. Needless to say such an event is pretty catastrophic for a professional wheelbuilder. Unable to work - or ride - and with the business vomiting cash to stay afloat, I quickly descended into a deep depression.
As soon as I hit the deck I knew it was bad. Nevertheless instinct and anger took over, what prick open’s their car door into moving traffic?! The taxi driver looked truly terrified, the touring bike I’d learnt to build and brazed myself with thanks to the Bicycle Academy in Frome was trashed and he had a shouty bike punk on his hands. The freewheel clicked noisily as the wheel span and the mangled tourer sat forlorn and at an angle in the middle of the road whilst my face was bloody and my helmet caved in. Traffic stopped, and then so too, did the world.
Standing up ready for a heated confrontation had been a bad idea! I hit the deck again as the effects of shock and pain lowered my blood pressure inducing a swift desire to sit back down again. Yeah…this wasn’t the time for a fight, I needed help. Farhad the taxi driver hadn’t done anything on purpose, it was an innocent – yet completely careless – mistake. He picked me up, I limped over to the pavement with him, and together we called an ambulance (though he wasn’t so keen when the police turned up…turns out criminal negligence is a thing for professional drivers…). As the adrenaline kicked in I thought more about my poor old bike and there was only one person I’d think to call. Pi got to me even before the plod did and as I scraped myself off the pavement, he did the same to my trusty steed. We waved goodbye as I got carted off to A&E ready for an afternoon of codeine and bad news; “you won’t be building wheels for a while sonny”.
Pi and I had been close friends for a long time. in 2014 we jumped ship together to escape the daily grind of employment and started both of our fledgling businesses from a tiny shared workshop space. It was a worthwhile move.
RyanBuildsWheels wouldn’t have got started without Pi’s ever thoughtful presence, and now as Clandestine.cc he’s a multi award winning custom frame builder operating out of his own space near Stokes Croft, Bristol, known for his no nonsense approach and desire to make bikes with beautiful utilitarianism at their heart.
The next few months were a blur. The stress of nearly losing everything I’d worked for resulted in uncontrollable suicidal thoughts*** and whilst no stranger to ongoing mental health struggles in the past this was something new. For the first time in my life I realised that I likely wasn’t going to get through this without some help and I took the decision to go onto anti-depressants for this period; something I’d previously avoided due to an internalised stigma and fear. Slowly and with time I healed both physically and emotionally, an insurance payout finally saved the future of RBW, and it was time to get back on the bike…and again, there was only one person for the job. Enter the Clandestine.cc X RBW Ultimate Audax.
There was just enough cash left from saving the business to do something truly special, but what? Faster paced long distance events and tours had always been my favourite type of riding. Getting places under my own steam, wild camping and the achievement of traveling far on two wheels kept me sane, it was a lifeline and now I had the opportunity to give a little back to the community that keeps me afloat. The choice was obvious, my next bike would be a one of a kind Clandestine machine. A Road Plus+ rig built just for me, bringing together other local craft folk for fitting and custom paint, spec’d just how I wanted it and using a cream of the crop of my favourite parts manufacturers with UK based businesses taking centre stage whenever possible. The joy of such a project is hard to describe – so much possibility – but as the machine took shape in mine and Pi’s head all those choices became obvious.
Step one was to get the fit just right. I’d heard many good things about Andy Sexton – the chap behind Bike Science – and his passion for precision bike fitting. With an efficient booking service we arranged a full custom bike fit. Pi had already taken my choice of fork on board and set a suitable head angle for the steady handling we desired, and I already knew that I’d be giving the Brooks Cambium C17 Carved (with a cut out to relieve pressure on…well…your parts!) as despite a love of leather saddles in the past I was looking to decrease my use of animal products.
With a host of experience and gadgets I was impressed that Andy could base the fit around so many other of my chosen components. He explored options in the Q Factor of my crank and pedal setup (XTR pedals are avaialble in two widths), added the setback of my FSA K Force Carbon Seatpost – chosen for it’s reported cantilever’ing comfort levels – and we soon had a fit that felt comfortable both ib the hoods and in the drops, a position I’d previously struggled to hold on other bikes. Andy also covered past injuries and my experience with circulation issues on long rides, aspects that I was stoked to see given such serious consideration.
Aside from his signature desire to leave fillets unfiled, preferring instead to present a truth to both material and process. Pi’s bikes are known throughout the framebuilding community for their custom fitted racks and each set is built just for your bike. The Ultimate Audax features a rear rack with wonderfully clean cable routing for an integrated rear dynamo light as well as stepped down rails for panniers. This the top of the rack to used to my tent or other luggage with bungees, themselves of which have two tabs at the bottom of the rack fitted especially for their hooks. The front rack is a mad design we came up with to accommodate the fork (a Whisky No.9 CX) that was already in my possession: I chose it for it’s clean lines and provision for mounting my extra long Giles Berthoud stainless fenders (further customised with the addition of appropriate mudflaps). This did mean we’d have nowhere to brace the front rack’s load bearing structure, but Pi quickly overcame this by with a crown race fitment, supported by a specially designed headset spacer strut to make it really solid. The rack has custom mounted magnetic attachments for my rando bag from Restrap. Plus there’s the dynamo light mount of course. Clean!
As the build progressed, and the spec list proving how much of a super bike this really was it became obvious that this was NOT a job for the powder coater! We needed to go custom, an audacious paint job for the Ultimate Audax machine!
Enter the talented 7PotCustoms, also here in Bristol. Andrew’s been obsessed with high end custom paint since I’ve known him. I chose two of my favourite colours for bikes and entrusted the final finish to his personal tastes. The deep purple to fiery orange candy fade with molten metal patina simply EXUDES class without being in your face. I think it’s a truly luscious finish and – it goes without saying – simply his best work yet. Mmmmmmmmm!!!!!
Rounding out the rest of the bikes groupset was simple. Middleburn RO2 Cranks are also made right here in the UK, and I think their simple, gentle curves are just lust worthy. Middleburn’s cranks are almost infinitely tuneable thanks to the crank arms, spiders and chainrings all being separate components. I opted for their sub-compact double chainring option because – whilst I like to push it when I can – I also carry load and HATE climbing! Paired with Shimano GRX-810 hydraulic STI controls and ‘gravel specific’ front and rear ‘mechs you’ll find no ‘road’ components here! I’d be off the beaten path from time to time and wanted durability over lightweight. By pairing the sub-compact’s 30t small chairing with a 40t 11 speed XT Cassette out back this combo delivers me a super spinny, climb all you like, 20.4 Gear Inches; enough to get me and my gear up any ascent that should make itself known, even if I have picked up a few beers for the evenings campfire session along the way. Hope Tech RX Calipers and Rotors provide ALL the stopping power I want. As one of my favourite UK Based manufacturers the build also uses their headset, bottom bracket and rear hub. KEEP IT LOCAL PEOPLE!
“BUT WHAT ABOUT THE WHEELS RYAN?!?!” I hear you ask! Well, fear not, I built some of those too!
I’ve been the official custom build partner for UK Based Parcours.cc having known founder Dov since he came along to one of my wheel building masterclasses back in the day. Although – like most all carbon rims – the Parcours range are made in a high quality facility out east I greatly respected Dov’s desire to understand and practice what goes into a high quality wheel build from the get go. Coupled with his transparency, honesty and clarity when discussing aerodynamics and rim profile design / testing I’ve always felt that his and my brands are a good match. Parcours rims have become my go to carbon option for my in house range of road, gravel and tri/time-trial wheesets (with prices starting from only £900 the pair, you can check out some of my featured Parcours — dream — builds on the ‘gram!).
The Parcours Alta is a 400g (in 700c), light yet sturdy 35mm deep, tubeless ready gravel rim with a generous 21.5mm Internal Width. I spec’d these in 28h spoke count both front and rear (Q: what’s an extra 4 spokes? A: About 20g in this case…) given my weight and load carrying desires and they’re rock solid. Laced with high end bladed Sapim CX Ray’s throughout to shave off rotational weight, the rear spec’s a Barnoldswick born and bred Hope Tech RS4CL hub whilst what Audax / Touring bike would be complete without the ability to generate it’s own electricity? I run a SON 28-12 Nabendynamo hub out front, opting for the ‘non delux’ version due to it’s higher power output; meaning brighter lights and the ability to charge my peripherals (phone, Garmin, ‘plant matter’ vaporizer (heh!) etc…) whilst travelling thanks to my go to charger of choice from Igaro, another UK based manufacturer and the only charger I recommend here at RBW.
The wheels are shod in only the FINEST handmade tyres from Challenge in Italy. The 36mm wide Semi-Slick Strada Bianca is insanely supple thanks to it’s high TPI, rolls SUPER fast, corners like a beast, and thanks to it’s width means I run these at 35psi front and 40psi rear (unladen) for a comfy yet fast rolling combo that I find hard to beat. I’ve been running wide tyres for several years on both my commuter and on road/gravel and, let’s just say I’m not going back. For those that haven’t yet joined the wide-revolution and think that skinny means fast think again; Jan Heine and co have many excellent articles about just this subject.
This is a bike that will with no doubts be with me for life. I took the Ultimate Audax for it’s inaugral spin for a 20 mile loop just after NYE, ’22, a huge smile beaming on my face as I rode in the few hours sunlight that appeared that day, a bike like no other, a bike that’s made just for me, by one of the people that I hold dearest in my little corner of the bicycle world and who’s workshop, tucked away in a quiet corner of Bristol, I barged into with that smile still on my lips as I returned home, “Pi me old mucker, this bike is FANTSATIC, make us a cuppa and let me tell you ALL about it!”
