It was great to at Bespoked again this year. I’ve always enjoyed the show and can’t recommend it enough if you ever have a chance to visit. It’s more of a social occasion than a commercial show and always difficult to know (in a good way) where exhibitors end and visitors start.

For this years show I had space for 2 bikes and took along an off-road, drop bar tourer I build in 2024 (a bike I love to ride btw) and a new build done in collaboration with Vetta Wheels. Jono had seen my cross bike from the previous show and got in touch to see if we could do some projects together to promote both our efforts, one of which was couple of crit race frames he could use to race and show off his carbon wheel brand.

The bike shown below has oversized Dedaccai 7005 aluminium scandium tubing making it extremely stiff (not sure it would be comfortable for more than an hour or two) and features an integrated seat post and full internal cable routing. It was also build around specific geometry, and as Jono has a long torso and short legs the fit was designed to avoid the extra long stems and extreme saddle setback he runs on his usual bikes.

We both thought a smoked chrome effect paint scheme would look great, but a change of plan was required at the last minute. I’d sourced chrome effect paint that requires a perfect gloss black base to be applied over, but although the chrome looked really good, the water based sealer had issues and an even tint over the top wasn’t possible. Some overnight thinking gave me the idea to do a ‘crinkle’ pattern over the uneven smoked chrome effect and use antique silver foil blocking to address the issues with the chrome graphics. The end result was stunning and very different to what was imagined.

A few days later, and with fingers crossed, a bunch of bling components were added with no issues other than not having the correct tool for the T47 bottom bracket. Fortunately, after some frantic calls, a fellow exhibitor brought one to the show so the build could be finished there.

Notes on the frame: