Ce n’est pas un velo. This is an heirloom in waiting. It’s a marker, designating this moment in time. One to reflect upon at some later date.

I was here.

I had adventures.

I witnessed scenes of impossible beauty, and discovered things about myself that I’m unwilling to share.

When we launched Bicycle House, we did so with English Cycles as our go-to custom bike builder. Having been a fan of Rob’s past work, I (Thomas here) immediately signed myself up for a frame. While his lead times are rather long, the end result more than justifies the sixteen month wait. This, my personal bike, is representative of all Rob’s work. It’s impeccably precise. The angles are bang on, and for those of us who’ve seen thousands of bikes in our career, the build quality is immediately, tangibly better.

It’s the details, like a rear thru-axle that unthreads so easily because the frame is absolutely straight. It’s the impossibly thin seat stays, and uber clean brazes. It’s the ability to ask for an extra bottle mount on the rear of an integrated seat post. Every angle, part, and piece of this bike was considered. Perhaps too much so…

But that’s the point of a custom bike, really. It’s a celebration of cycling. Mine, is a lifelong love affair.

Design Brief

A simple, single speed specific gravel bike with room for up to 38mm tires, but not much more.
An appropriately sized head tube, so that I won’t need to run spacers under the stem.
An eccentric BB to apply chain tension, for a clean rear dropout.
An integrated seat post, and one piece bar/stem to help maintain the clean aesthetic.
Mounting points for three bottles (but not the standard bottle mount on the underside of the down tube), plus a mount for a bolt on top tube bag.
Simple paint, embarrassingly inspired by this G-wagon I saw on Instagram, and our shop colors.

Parts List

I tried to keep things as cohesive as possible for this build, and chose White Industries for this. Their build quality is superb, their parts are durable, and they’re made in the US. In addition, they use a titanium freehub that holds up well for single speed applications.

Headset/Hubs/Bottom Bracket/Crankset - White Industries
Rims - Light Bicycle AR25 28h
Spokes - Sapim Laser
Tires - Pirelli Gravel H 700x35
Tubeless Valves - Terske titanium
One piece bar/stem - Black Inc, painted to match frame
Brakes - TRP Hylex levers w/Dura Ace calipers & Shimano rotors
Chain - YBN Titanium
Rear Single Speed Cog & Spacers - Endless Bike
Saddle - Giant Fleet SLR
Pedals - Shimano XTR
Bartape - Fi’zi:k Solocush
Bottle Cages - Wolftooth Titanium
Frame Bolts - Better Bolts low profile titanium

Looking for your own heirloom? Reach out. Let’s talk about your perfect bike.