Spoon Customs

10/10/2024

I got asked some mildly puzzled questions recently about sharing a post on our stories which the sender felt touched on ‘politics’.
I guess they felt that sharing a story featuring a group of world leaders coming together to call for restraint and reason in that moment was an odd thing to find on a bicycle account.
That moment quickly passed and as the ‘we don’t come here for politics’ messages hit my inbox like precision bombs bouncing off school buildings I thought I’d take note and get squarely back in my lane and share this bike built for, an apocalypse.
NB: Experimental coatings and odd single speed set ups with clever paragon machine works drop outs with an aged copper finish and FAT tyres (whilst critically important to world order here) ARE NOT guaranteed to prevent humans killing each other, or warranted to work perfectly during a nuclear holocaust.
Thanks to Paul who fabricated this extremely well made custom built frame for our amazing friend and good customer, Jannie. ❤️👌🏻✨

02/10/2024

We avoid saying ‘steel is real’ here, as we don’t really know what that means!!!
But, it is definitely hardy stuff.
To explain, this bike was bought relatively cheap second hand, sold by us on behalf of a good customer.
So when new owner Stuart brought his bargain bike back to us for a new rear wheel with a dent in the seat stay having been half wheeled by a mate, he was worried his bargain was going to get expensive real quick.
We checked it over for alignment and after careful consideration of a number of factors, we advised that the repair would be relatively expensive thanks to the gorgeous paint and a need to cut and braze in a new stay, but that he could - if he was minded to - choose to leave it and monitor the bike closely.
We felt that the dent probably wouldn’t affect long term life of the bike too badly, and that it was certainly rideable and safe to do so, with a common sense approach.
We said it was at his risk if he didn’t opt for repair of course - we can’t certify something that’s technically broken as safe - but we gave the advice we’d want if faced with a big bill.
A year or so later and he’s just sent me this picture from the end of a Flandrien cobble ride in and around Roubaix. He said the bike performed beautifully with a 30mm tyre on it. We think it still looks great too, straight as it should be too and holding up well according to his report, even with the dent in the seat stay.
Perhaps Steel is real after all, whatever that means!

13/06/2024

We have three of these HSS Spirit tubes Izoard RR frames available to ship this week from stock in our summer sale.
This one is a 52 but we have 54 and 50cm versions.

This is our fast road race bike built in steel for electronic routing and available with any components required or sold just as a frameset.
£3760 at full retail with the colour matched Enve stem and Chris King headset. Stainless braze ons, BB shell and reinforcing rings. Phosphate electroplated inside the tubes, literally nothing you could do to make these higher performance or longer lasting. Look after it and you can ride it fast forever.
The 48 has an Enve fork, the larger sizes have Columbus Futura Disc.
£3760 at usual retail. Three available brand new at £1450.
Get in quick.

31/05/2024

Ed’s new race bike is all about speed. Near horizontal top tube Geo works nicely with a low front end and position that’s only aggressive if you can’t sustain it, and Ed definitely can.
An orange bike is definitely stand out, and we’ve done some wicked Pearl orange bikes in the past, but Ed opted for something classier here, with a burnt orange metallic instead of the more usual motorsport style pearls.
I think it’s made it more classic GT40 than Focus RS, and it’s all the better for it on those classic looking round style tubes. There’s no bendy old roll cage steel here either, this is weld in not bolt on and it’s all HSS Spirit from Columbus, handpicked for a responsive kind of ‘drive with your arse’ communicative, responsive ride feel.
When you get an orange and blue fast bike brief like this one, it’s tempting to think Gulf racing, but that’s also been done to death, so I’m really happy with how this more classic take on the combo has come out.
What do you think?
Paint by Jack Kingston for
Final build by Matthew Starey
Pics by

31/05/2024

This custom painted Melee features gold and green inspired by the roads around Dublin where new owner Jason has recently moved away to.
Designed and specified in house at Unit 2, with Jack Kingston filling the guns to produce this awesome two colour Audi green fade, with a grey almost sea foam green contrast. Details include custom decals on the hand built wheels with gold highlights to tie in with the matte black and gold Chris King hubs, built with Enve’s 4.5 AR rims.
We got wind of the launch date for the new SRAM gear and on the rumours, Jason bravely opted to wait for the new SRAM Red AXS groupset and we’re glad he did as it landed right on time, with some brilliant updates; the new calipers are much improved (and look awesome) along with improvements to the ergonomics. Gone are the chunky pistol grips, with a slimline hood design, and in is a more direct way to actuate pistons at the lever.
Ceramic pulley wheels as ‘standard’ now, add ‘value’ in what is now a very expensive set up, and a raft of other aesthetic changes, and a Hammerhead head unit for better integration are welcome surprises SRAM hopes will steal a few more Shimano customers.
We’ve not ridden the new groupset yet, but the brake improvements make sense for better set up, reliability and performance, and the levers look and feel way better too. Some of the other changes are evolution not revolution, but the group is definitely the best looking on the market now; claims some very low weights which we verified on all the parts we tested before build, and on Enve’s incredible Melee platform, we can’t wait to get feedback on how it rides from Jason.
Ahead of delivery we’ll be adding a Berk Lupina saddle and tan walls. But we couldn’t wait so wanted to share it just like this for now!!!
We have the new Groupset and frames in stock in most sizes or shipping imminently, so shout now if you’d to secure your dream spec SRAM (or any other build) and we’ll get straight to it.

01/03/2024

Motor Neurone Disease affects 5000 people in the UK every year.
Tomorrow, our good friends Matt Parker, Rob Duffin and James Golding will join Rob Wainwright to take part in All Roads to Rome, an epic 1800 mile endurance event that will see them ride from Murrayfield in Scotland, to Stadio Olympico in Rome, in just 8 days. Arriving just in time for the penultimate round of the Six Nations.
The event will raise money for the My Name’s Doddie Foundation, to fund the essential research needed to cure Motor Neurone Disease.
The charity was set up by Doddie Weir whose famous tartan adorns this very special bike we built to help get them there. Thanks to Jack Kingston for knocking it out of the park with this impossibly complex tartan paint. 🤯
If you can afford to help, follow the link in our bio and give what you can today.

24/12/2023

Thank goodness it’s Christmas. So many of our colleagues; mates; heroes, are watching the things they gave their life to broken this year.

To borrow from Rudyard Kipling, whatever struggles you’ve faced in 2023, I hope you can gather up your worn out tools and build ‘em up next year.

Big love to everyone that’s hung in there and got through the tough bits. We’ve had our fair share, so thanks to everyone that’s been there for us too. You know who you are, and I’m forever grateful for your kindness, strength, love and wisdom.

Merry Christmas from Spoon Customs.

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This festive-ish single speed gravel bike (what’s not festive about single speed gravel?) is designed at Spoon Customs, fabricated by Paul Burf, then Copper Plated. Shot mid process by our dear friend 📸👌🏻

11/11/2023

I’ve got to agree with this. I used to go into a store called Surf 55 in Norfolk at every moment I could and spend ages looking at this bike. Dreaming of buying one. I never did, but I can’t help thinking we’ve got some pretty clean bikes in the Unit 2 workshop now that owe more than a little bit to bikes like this.

When it comes to vintage mountain bikes of the mid-1990s, it's hard to not mention the 1995 Kona Cinder Cone. It had one of the most unique stances at the time and the painted to match fork and stem were straight from the playbook of #26+
https://theradavist.com/?p=300426

23/10/2023

Stoked to see Sam’s work out there AGAIN. I still love this bike and it still rides just as good as it did way back then.

Check out the Spoon Customs 01 Sam Dunn road bike. Made from Columbus steel, it features an amazing hand-painted finish. Gorgeous! road.cc/304621

13/10/2023

.cc

13/10/2023

Massive thanks to .cc judges for selecting our new fully integrated Izoard RR XCR for the ‘Best Finish’ award at this year’s Dresden Show, announced this evening.
The bike was painted by and features a special colour match to a customer’s Ferrari Roma.
The finish was singled out for its exceptional level of technical prowess shown in what to a casual observer might be considered simple. It’s glassy and classy, and showed an exceptionally high level of skill.
We are exceptionally proud of the high standards we have always achieved with paint, working with the very best painters, and I want to thank Jack from the bottom of my heart for making this a standout at such an incredibly competitive show.
The award was presented jointly, with Jack’s work recognised on Rob Quirk’s bike also. Congratulations to Rob and too.

Thanks you legend! ❤️👌🏻✨
Thanks also to for these mega pics. We’ve not done with them yet buddy 🤘🏻