Over the years, we’ve become quite enamored with Rob English’s steel bicycle handiwork. Anyone that can build up a 10.8lb road bike with this material earns instant respect.
His latest is a full custom stealth Di2 time trial bike for an Oregon customer. The frame is similar to his own TT bike with an ultra low front end that creates a one-piece fork/aerobar/bullhorn assembly. All wiring and cables are minimized and run internally, and a custom battery is hidden in the seatpost with a micro-USB charging port.
UPDATE: The frameset would run about $5,000. Built as shown with the Zipps you’re looking at around $11,500!
What we love about his bikes is the attention to detail, and this one in particular has some really slick details…
The most dramatic feature of the bike is the steering section. The bullhorn handlebars are based at the fork’s crown, which is partially offset forward of the steerer tube. It’s super clean, and the front brake is tucked in so well the cable pierces the steerer tube to make it all fit.
Brake cables are hidden inside the bullhorn blades. On the right, the front brake housing pops out only long enough to get straight to the TRP caliper. The Di2 controller is hidden in the aero extensions, collecting wires from button shifters on both the brakes and aero extensions. A single wire exits from the left side to run to the junction box, battery and derailleurs.
Logos were blasted into the steel by Colorworks before the entire frame and parts were clearcoated.
Note the shaping of the tubes at the joints, particularly the seatstay at the dropout.
Battery is hidden in the post with a small charging port at the top (shown uncovered here, there’s a rubber plug over it during riding). Rear brake cable pops out just in front of the bottom bracket and feeds straight into the TriRig Omega center pull TT brake.
As shown here, claimed weight is 18lbs. See more of his bikes at EnglishCycles.com.
