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Tech features<\/a><\/p>\n An Escape member shares the bike he built in chasing the do-it-all drop-bar dream.<\/p>\n The bike industry is very good at selling desire. The latest shiny thing. That beautiful, unobtainable machine. The new micro-niche you didn\u2019t know existed \u2014 until suddenly you needed it. <\/p>\n N+1. Incremental aero gains. Marginal improvements in layup. Anything to make you a touch faster. To shave a few grams. To promise that this one is the new best thing. <\/p>\n We\u2019re all guilty of it. Scrolling through the bike porn galleries on Escape Collective, drooling over the dream builds from MADE<\/a> in Oregon, Spoken<\/a> in Australia or Bespoked<\/a> in Manchester. Reading the breathless copy from brands of the latest product launches. Buying into the promise of more speed, more comfort. <\/p>\n Just like you, I\u2019ve lusted after the next big thing in exotica. But for the average rider, it\u2019s about as realistic as pulling up to your local garage and driving away in a Ferrari.<\/p>\n I wanted to have my cake and eat it \u2013 to build a bike that was completely unique to me, without the five-figure price tag of full custom. A bike that could do (more or less) everything: from bikepacking to singletrack to the Tuesday chain-gang.\u00a0<\/p>\n It needed to be versatile, because I was selling my road bike \u2013 a Specialized Aethos<\/a>\u2013\u00a0to fund it. And my cyclocross bike was stolen, so it needed to be able to handle the odd \u2018cross race too. And of course it needs to nail its bread and butter \u2013 gravel racing (or at least what passes for it in the UK). The unicorn bike. The one bike to rule them all. But is it actually possible? Or is it just the worst of all worlds?<\/p>\n I wanted to find out. And most of all, I wanted it to be beautiful.<\/p>\n Design inspiration <\/p>\n I\u2019m one of the founders and the lead designer at The Handmade Cyclist<\/a>, an independent UK brand creating off-bike goods rooted in the history and culture of cycling. Design and storytelling are our bread and butter. Our Quotes mugs<\/a> pair cycling wisdom from cycling legends with colour block designs inspired by their most iconic jerseys. A personal favourite is our Mathieu van der Poel mug \u2013\u00a0Dutch champion stripes with a killer MvdP quote:<\/p>\n \u2018You have to want it as much as your next breath\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That became the theme. Red, white and blue fades equally inspired by MvdP and Stephen Roche\u2019s all-conquering \u201987 Battaglin<\/a> (the object of much teenage lust back in the day). Go-faster stripes. Quote on the top tube to slap me back to life when my willpower starts to crumble.<\/p>\n Design sorted, but budget and build were a little more problematic. There\u2019s no chance I could even think of a full custom, steel machine from the likes of Ricky Feather<\/a> \u2013 and let\u2019s be honest, even stock bikes have been getting more and more out of reach in recent times. The answer, it turned out, was just down the road.<\/p>\n A few years back, at a local Wessex League cyclocross race, I spotted something very fast and very pink at the pointy end of the field. It turned out that rider was Ian Crocker, founder of Forwards.cc,<\/a> a small independent bike brand based a few miles away in Southampton. He was racing a pair of bright pink \u2018cross bikes built to his own spec.<\/p>\n We got chatting, and I learned that Ian had launched Forwards during COVID-19 lockdown, escaping from motorsport to return to his cycling industry roots. Forwards was born from a frustration with off-the-peg bikes \u2013 you spend thousands on a bike, then gradually spend hundreds more upgrading parts until you end up with the bike you really wanted in the first place. <\/p>\n Ian decided to do it differently. Forwards would build every bike to spec from day one \u2013\u00a0no upgrades needed. And Ian wanted the bikes to be carbon, which makes things tricky, as bespoke carbon moulds cost a small fortune. Forwards started sourcing frames directly, using open moulds from factories making carbon frames for some of the world\u2019s biggest brands, then building them up in the UK to each rider\u2019s fit, spec and taste \u2013\u00a0with quality control, fitting, and attention to detail at the heart of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of snobbery around open mould frames, and I can be as snobby as anyone. But Forwards\u2019 frames are beautifully finished, bang up to date and just as good, if not better than the average, mid-to-high range bike in your LBS. All without paying a penny toward WorldTour sponsorships or glossy ads \u2013 meaning Ian is able to pass serious value on to the customer.<\/p>\n Did the plan work? <\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only Already have an account? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n \n \ud83d\udc4dYep![\"Neil](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Neil-Wyatt.png\")
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Open mould with local support. <\/p>\n
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