- RICKY’S DREAM MACHINE -

Over the last 10 years, I have built myself four new frames for racing, training, chain gangs and fast club rides. This bike is the product of all four of those bikes. Each one, I slightly changed; frame shapes, tube shapes, head tube angles, seat angles, headset types, full steel, steel/carbon mix, external/internal cables - the list goes on.

For this bike, I took everything I liked about the other three and scrapped all the things I didn't. The things I liked, I of course applied to custom builds for clients. For myself, I just had to live with small details I didn’t like knowing that next time I will change them and be a bit happier with the bike I’m riding. This time around, I felt it was finally time for me to have disc brakes and I can honestly say that there isn’t a negative thing I can say about them. The stubborn Yorkshireman in me put it off for a good couple of years too long.

The frame is built from a mix of Columbus Spirit and Life and Dedacciai steel tubes, a custom carbon fibre seat tube, T45 aircraft tubing and Bear Frame Supplies head tube, BB Shell and dropouts. Its painted in a gorgeous five way flip paint with 24k gold leaf lettering and head tube badge. The bike features Shimano Dura-Ace 9200, Pro Vibe Superlight, a trusty Chris King Headset and BB a custom seat mast topper and rolls on Pirelli P-Zero tyres.

This bike is everything Feather Cycles stands for, bikes built for purpose by trying new things and pushing my skillset in order to improve every bike I build and make it better than the last.

I have only ridden this bike outside on the odd occasion and it currently sits on the indoor trainer awaiting spring time. One thing I can say though, is that everything I wanted from the bike is there. Its comfortable, fast, climbs well, stiff in all the right places, seriously turns heads and most importantly, its probably the first bike I have built for myself where I can confidently says I am 100% happy with it. All I can think now is ‘bring on summer ‘23’…