Aluminum is at once as white as silver, as incorrodible as gold, as tenacious as iron, as fusible as copper, and as light as glass. It is easily worked; it is widely spread in nature, alumina forming the bases of most rocks; it is three times lighter than iron; in short, it seems to have been created expressly to furnish material for our projectile!

From the Earth to the Moon – Jules Verne

Since leaving Shand Cycles in 2018 I’ve missed the enjoyment and creativity of making bikes so in 2023 decided to get my hands dirty again, this time to explore making frames in aluminium, alongside my custom frame painting services.

Why aluminium? Well, why not. I personally think it’s an overlooked material and easier to work with than steel, lighter and more resistant to corrosion. It’s also more cost-effective to machine small parts without resorting to 3D printing or similar processes in steel. Don’t get me wrong, I love steel bicycles, but there’s a place for aluminium and I’d personally wanted to try something new. I like the feel of the material, the welding process and the different aesthetic. It’s something to explore and have fun with.

At the start of Shand Cycles in 2008 we were ahead of the curve with our steel frame designs: 29ers, disc brake drop bar bikes and all-road/gravel bikes, that are all now mainstream and I feel that aluminium has the same potential to have a renaissance as steel bikes did back then. Not many frame builders offer aluminium, especially in the UK and I think it’s good to offer something different.

So, what do I build? Well, I’m interested in lightweight road and cyclocross race bikes, but also off-road trail, touring bikes and gravel, where my heart lies and where I spend most of my time riding. I have also bought into the concept of 32” wheels and will be doing various MTB and gravel builds to figure out what works best with this wheel size.

Since starting I’ve been gradually building up a workshop and with each frame developing a design framework to understand what tubing options work best. It’s also been interesting to discover the small changes in workflow required to account for different standards, dimensions and nuances in aluminium tubing compared to steel.

Having a simple framework makes designing frames easier by reducing variables (and mistakes) and the amount of tooling, fixtures and experimentation required for each build. Rules are of course there to be broken, but the core basis of my current framework is as follows:

• T47 bottom bracket shell in two widths

• Tapered headtube (44mm / 56mm)

• Flat mount rear dropouts with 12mm thru axle with replaceable mech hanger

• 35mm seat tube

• Round or elliptical tubing rather than hydro formed

• Full internal cable routing

• Smoothed out welds.

HROK is the name I’ve chosen to put on my frames rather than Stout and the name is an old Scandinavian word for rook, of which there are many roosting where I’m based who wake everyone up at 4am during the summer months. It’s fun to watch them outside the workshop go about their business during the day.

Custom paint services is currently my core offering whilst I develop my skills in aluminium, but if you are interested in a frame do get in touch as I am starting to take orders depending on what you’re looking for. You can also read a bit more about me here.