Six superbikes to see at the Bespoked show in April

Bespoked, the UK’s only celebration of handmade bicycles, takes place on 15-17th April in Bristol and among the many exhibits will be these six superbikes. This is a mere amuse-bouche to whet your appetite, you can expect there to be many other superbikes on display at the show in Bristol.

Baum’s £10,500 titanium Corretto

Australian brand Baum has built up a pretty good reputation over the years and it’s largely down to the stunning paint jobs it treats its creations to. The top-end model in the company’s range is the Ti Corretto, a fully customised frame built to the exact requirements and specifications of an individual rider. Such customisation doesn’t come cheap however, and neither will speccing it with the Campagnolo Super Record and Enve wheels, such a build would cost you £10,500. Well, you’re hardly going to put Tiagra on such a frame are you? Prices for Baum bikes do start at £5,800.

“The Corretto is our attempt to do away with the usual cycling dichotomies of weight and longevity, acceleration and road feel,” says Baum. “Feather light and tough enough for years of hard use, the Corretto is as smooth as it is capable. It’s the ultimate scalpel, a perfect tool. Part jewel, part weapon, maybe two or three parts secret lover - this is as good as we make them.”

Reilly 600SL - 695g carbon

Reilly is a Brighton-based company specialising in custom steel, titanium and, with carbon specialist Neil FitzGerald, who has a background in Formula One, carbon fibre frames. road.cc tested the debut frame, the 600 SL which is a demonstration of the custom carbon frame service they offer. The frame is made from unidirectional and 3K carbon fibre and has a claimed weight of

The frame is made from unidirectional and 3K carbon fibre and has a claimed weight of 695g - the complete bike we tested weighed just 6kg.695g - the complete bike we tested weighed just 6kg.

Colourbolt - Coventry handbuilt frames

While Bespoked increasingly has more international brands exhibiting, it’s really all about the British companies, and Colourbolt make some mighty fine road bikes, all handbuilt to order by Coventry framebuilder Lee Cooper. This is the latest creation, and it’s called the Maximum Black Road Disc. That;’s a cool name. It’s a TIG welded Columbus Max tubeset and comes with a £4,000 price tag. Like many of the bikes on show at Bespoked, this one has been designed around disc brakes and like all its frames, it’s personalised and customised for the customer.

“Built with the very finest components and finishing kit, the ColourBolt Max Black Road Disc is a bike for those who seek to push the limits in riding - and blackness” says the company.

Saffron Frameworks

We always enjoy our time at Bespoked, there are so many nice bikes to see. Always guaranteed to grab your attention is the Saffron stand, and it’s no wonder that last year the framebuilder won an award for its Death Spray Custom painted cyclocross bike. Making just 40 frames a year, Saffron’s approach is one that focuses on meeting the needs of each customer, with a fully bespoke frame. Prices start from £1,500 for a frame and fork so they’re a bit more reasonable than some of the prices being asked of custom handmade frames. Complete bikes cost in the region of £5,000 and you can opt for a custom paint job to ensure your pride and joy really stands out and is unique.

Demon Frameworks

Demon Frameworks (cool name) is Tom Warmerdam, based in Southampton making steel frames the traditional way, with lugs. Creating custom lugs used to be a highly prized skill back when steel frames was the only material of choice, and most framebuilders had a signature lug.

Tom has attempted to reintroduce that neglected tradition to framebuilding. Naturally, the frames are beautifully made, and naturally they’re quite price, a frameset costs from £3,500.

Craddock Cycles

Looking down that list, it might be easy to think Bespoked is all about retro steel bikes. That’s not the case (did you miss the Reilly?). Craddock is doing something very unique, and that is manufacturing carbon frames right here in the UK. Just about all carbon frames are made in the Far East (nothing wrong with that) but that does mean there’s very little manufacturing expertise in this country. Craddock has set up his own carbon fibre frame manufacturing facility in Worcestershire and produces small numbers of bespoke carbon frames. A frameset costs from £2,680.

To see those six bikes, and the many other lovely bikes on display, the Bespoked show takes place at Brunel's Old Station, Bristol on 15-17th April. Tickets cost £10 in advance and can be ordered from billetto.co.uk

More info at www.bespoked.cc