Luft Cycles – Luft Cycles – Bespoke Bicycles

luftcycles

It’s NBOBD (new bike old bits day) for me today!

Nice! Fresh powder coat on the frames I built a fe

Nice! Fresh powder coat on the frames I built a few weeks back. Minty green for Finn’s cyclocross bike and Navy blue for my road/off road/winter bike thing.

They’re pretty similar bikes with a few differences in geometry and tubing spec. Lots of nice @ParagonMachine works bits including an IS41/47 tapered head tube, boss mounted cable guides, dropouts and those little single cable guides.

Bonus features include stainless dropout faces & seat tube shims, braze on logos, mudguard mounts and chain pips. The blue bike also has added zits for touring accessories.

#MuddyBikes

If you like 90’s era bikes then check out my mat

If you like 90’s era bikes then check out my mate Omar’s page @OhmsCustom ⚡️

He finds bikes that have seen better days and gives them a new lease of life.

I had a go on this awesome Specialized Rockhopper today and it rides like a dream! If I could do stunts I’d do them on this and look 10X cooler doing them.

#LetsPartyLikeIts1993
#DoAKickflip

Finishing the last little bits on these frames and

Finishing the last little bits on these frames and the mess is taking over. I’m sure it’s impossible to keep the worktop tidy in the finishing stages.

Hopefully these frames will head over to powder coat this week.

#TidyUpTime

About this time last year I bought @sturdycycles o

About this time last year I bought @sturdycycles old TIG welder and (with his help) I’ve been working my way towards melting some bikes together ever since. Finally welded some full frames and it went pretty well... although I did poke myself in the eye with a bit of TIG rod.

Still a few bits to finish before powder coat but I’ve made myself a new winter/all-road/bikepacking thing and my mate Finn a lovely cyclocross bike.

Here’s a few pics of the almost finished bikes and some close ups of the good bits.

#BasicallyGravelBikes
#WeldYourDreamsTogether

Great to see this photo of Ash out in the cold wea

Great to see this photo of Ash out in the cold weather today. Loving his Luft!

#LuftLove

Here are a few close up photographs of the cargo b

Here are a few close up photographs of the cargo bike.

Big respect to people who frequently make non-standard bespoke bicycles. The little details, unique features and other random problem solving activities absolutely hoover up time.

The frame, fork and racking is made up of 47 tubes and 77 individual mitres... SEVENTY FLIPPING SEVEN! Perhaps unsurprisingly the whole build process was quite biscuit intensive. 🍪 🚲

#FrameBuilding
#PoweredByBiscuits
#TinYWheeliesOnMyTinyBike

Photos 📸 @joe_____thomas

Here’s my new commuter/cargo minivelo bike all b

Here’s my new commuter/cargo minivelo bike all built up.

I’ve wanted a nice reliable, weather proof commuting bike for ages and, despite my main passion for fancy road bikes, I really enjoyed making this bike.

Features include: segmented fork with internal routing, segmented cargo racking, 20” front wheel with dynamo disc hub, 24” rear wheel with 8 speed coaster brake hub (coasters ain’t dead), internal dynamo and gear routing, fancy little stainless Luft badges, bottle boss/accessory mounts, squishy tyres with full steel mudguards, dreamy tough blue powder coat AND a bunch of fancy build kit parts.

Thanks to @oldgreyelectricco and @clandestine.cc for the advice.

Photos 📸 @joe_____thomas

#Minivelo
#SoManyMitres
#TinySillyWheels
#CoasterBrakesForSickSkidz

The cargo bike is officially ALIVE. Here’s a few

The cargo bike is officially ALIVE. Here’s a few quick closeups before I get some proper photographs of it.

It’s the first minivelo-mullet-cargo-bike that I’ve built - it’s taken me flipping ages but it’s looking pretty cool!

Look at that blue! 🥶🧞‍♂️🦋🦕💦🚲💎💙🌀🐟 That’s what I’m talking about.

#Minivelo
#BusinessAtTheFront
#PartyAtTheBack

The mini cargo commuter bike thing is finally buil

The mini cargo commuter bike thing is finally built up for testing. First impressions are great!

How many hipster points do you get for a bespoke Patagonia bag front rack/basket? Surely the cheese plant backdrop also adds a few points? 🧀 🌱

I’ll add some full build photos when I’m happy that nothing needs hacking off and rebuilding. 🔥

#Framebuilding
#HipsterPointsGalore

Another little L for the cargo bike. This one is a

Another little L for the cargo bike. This one is an end cap on the rear rack.

Kudos to the people that make cargo bikes frequently, it takes ages... Including the forks it has 38 tubes!

#FrameBuilding
#TooManyTubes

Yas! How cool is this?! I wrote a little article a

Yas! How cool is this?! I wrote a little article about the scrap/gravel/not MTB/spare parts bike that I built right at the start of lockdown and I submitted it to the @rsfarchive Journal. Very cool to see it got included in the latest issue.

The RSF are an absolutely brilliant cycle club that focus almost entirely on the joy of adventure and being outdoors with a bike. Totally unpretentious and genuine in every respect. Often the cyclists featured on the cover aren’t even riding their bikes! (they’re usually pushing them through some mud). You should join.

#Framebuilding
#OutdoorsIsReallyCheap
#RealCyclistsTakeAKettleOnEveryRide

I usually like head tube logos to be painted becau

I usually like head tube logos to be painted because it’s lighter than sticking bits of metal onto a frame BUT it’s hard to deny that custom brazed on badges look awesome.

This cargo bike is going to weigh about 10 tons so a tiny stainless L is probably fine.

#Framebuilding
#100%WeightWeeny

Currently putting together a minivelo cargo commut

Currently putting together a minivelo cargo commuter bike - the frame is all ready to braze but there’s still plenty of work to do.

There’s a bunch of additional tubes to miter for the integrated racks and I also need to make a fork.

There’s also a bunch of 20” and 24” wheels parts heading my way! 🚲

#minivelo
#PipesPipesPipes

Fancy biscuits build fancy bikes - back in the wor

Fancy biscuits build fancy bikes - back in the workshop making something tubey 🍪 🚲

#BiscuitsBuildBikes

A few details from the latest build. The dropout

A few details from the latest build.

The dropouts are an obvious custom detail but I’m also really pleased with the internal cable routing on the top tube. It’s achieved by using some really lovely little 3D printed, internally reinforced cable stops. Lighter and tidier than some alternatives. They’re a nice little detail even though they’re invisible.

#ShinyBike
#BespokeBikeLife

Happy #NBD to me! I’ve been waiting to build thi

Happy #NBD to me! I’ve been waiting to build this one up for months! Finally built up the beautiful @Tunede hubs and bought the @SramRoad AXS groupset.

Featuring @Columbus_Official tubing and forks. @BlueWhippetPaintWorks brought the bling with a peacock flip paint fade and glitter silver logos 🎨✨ NICE.

There’s some cool little custom bits on this build so there’s more photos and info to come - full build weight is 7.3kg.

#BlingBlingBling

Sarah’s bike is finished and has been for its ma

Sarah’s bike is finished and has been for its maiden voyage!

Featuring a paint job inspired by the Californian sunsets from our honeymoon 🍯🌛 and named after one of our favourite cities.

I’ve only seen Sarah ride a bike twice in the 11+ years we’ve been together so this bike is designed to encourage confidence. Low stand over, high stack height, slack head angle, long wheelbase, no toe overlap, low BB, flat bars, 1X groupset, hydro brakes, big squishy tyres, comfy saddle and big flat (pearlescent pink) pedals.

The DIY paint job has an awesome iridescent glitter clear coat - I’ll get some nice photos soon.

#CaliforniaDreamin
#ConfidenceInspiringGlitterPaint

The next bike is for my lovely wife! It’s anothe

The next bike is for my lovely wife! It’s another budget build but it should be fun.

She’s not confident on a bike so it’s been designed with stability and comfort in mind.

#tinybike

🔹❄️Shiny blue things! ❄️🔹

🔹❄️Shiny blue things! ❄️🔹

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