Dave has been a good friend for a few years now, after we met when sharing a workshop in Camberwell. He has helped me out in many projects, including my stands for the Bespoked shows in Bristol. The time came at the start of the year to repay Dave for all his help in the best way I know how – new bike time!
Dave’s new commute now he’s moved out of London takes on mixed terrain with quite a few offroad and Gravel sections so we allowed room for 32c tyres with mudguards. The geometry definitely leans to the road side of a gravel bike, keeping the head tube angle quite steep and bottom bracket around road height means that the bike still feels nippy and fun to ride. The groupset is SRAMs solid Force 1x and matched with a 11-42t cassette it should keep him rolling on all terrain. After seeing us working on a couple of ISP bikes Dave was keen to go for this feature, and after his fitting session we decided it was certainly a good idea. He requires a monster 90mm setback and a custom topper can take care of this without a problem. A second set of wheels has been built for this bike with Hope hubs and a higher spoke count for touring or when riding the bike loaded. We used a T47 bottom bracket shell which allowed is to run the rear brake hose internally from down tube to chainstay keeping it protected and the lines clean.
Paint inspiration was from a Spitfire – all Dave’s doing but we love it!
