To give some background, Endura are Scottish based company (just round the corner from us in Livingston) and still making products in the UK. They also make a custom range where you can provide them with a design (or ask them to come up with a design) with the result that your club or team can have a fresh look on the road or trails within around 8 weeks – club committee decisions aside… On to the review.

FS260-Pro Bibshorts
Not much to say about these, other than they fitted well with good padding around the bum. Rather than a single moulded area of padding, it’s split into segments, which conforms to the body quite neatly. The Lycra fabric is actually quite thin, so I’d probably only use them on their own for summer riding or under other cycling shorts or baggies during other times of the year.

Singletrack short
I believe Endura started out by making the first loose fitting shorts for mountain biking and I suspect this is what keeps them making such quality baggy shorts. I wouldn’t personally wear baggies on a road bike, but on a longer cross-ride with a mix of trail and road, a bit of extra protection is useful –along with pockets. Detail wise, the waist adjusters are simple, keeping everything in place and the magnetic pocket fasteners are functional simplicity with no Velcro or zips getting in the way on the move. The Velcro adjusters along the bottom hem also cinch down good for a more streamlined fit with no bunching mid-thigh. In short, I like them.

Roubaix Jacket
I suspect someone had Rapha in sight when this jacket was designed and I just loved it – and could also be my new favourite piece of kit. The fit is good and trim, with plenty of length in the arms and back. I’m not sure what the material is, but it’s warm to the touch and has a soft feel next to the skin and although thin, keeps the wind-chill off pretty good. The collar length also feels right with the off centre zip adding to comfort around the neck – and the soft-touch fabric copes without stubble causing any piling. The other nice touch is a small zip pocket next to the rear pockets for keys – and it packs down reasonably well for carrying in a pocket when it gets warm.

Cuttle Glasses
I’d heard some doubts expressed about Endura getting involved in making apparel that wasn’t specifically fabric clothing, but if these glasses are anything to go by, I don’t see it being a problem. Key points are that they stay in place due to a good amount of rubber on the legs and the fit is such that the top part of the frame sits out of your line of sight. The lenses seem to have a quality finish that looks like it will stand up to scratches well too – although only time will tell.

Singletrack II Gloves
Not totally convinced about these. They fit well and have good padding and grip which works perfectly well in the dry and wet on the road. However, when covered in mud, they’re a bit slimy and grip is reduced quite a bit (although the finger grips are ok for brakes and gear changes). They’re also cut a bit high on the wrist for my taste with no option for adjustment. They also had an annoying the inside seam began rubbing uncomfortably after wearing them all day, although for a few hours of riding it wouldn’t be a problem. They look well made though, so should last longer than just a few months of mountain bike abuse.

Coolmax Socks
Liked these a lot. I’ve always worn wool socks for running and cycling and am a huge fan of Smartwool for comfort and durability (especially in the wet), but would happily swap them for these. I’m not sure how they’d stand up to abuse running in the hills, but they’re light and warm for use on the bike – which is what they’re made for I guess. One thing I’ve noticed was a bit of piling in the heel, but that’s more down to my Spuik off-road shoes that have a rough fabric on the heel counter. Using another pair with my road shoes didn’t cause the same effect.

So all in all, I’m still impressed with Endura and I’d well recommend checking out the Roubaix jacket for summer riding – or at least what passes for summer riding here in the UK at the moment.

Plans for the weekend were mixed with Steven heading north on a cycling camping trip and me assisting a short film documentary about Shand by Bristol photographer / film director Jim Johnston and his assistant for the weekend Dan Norrish.

The photographic team headed to the highlands on Friday in search of dramatic locations and weather. We had a rough plan for where to go having poured over maps of our favourite locations the previous day after filming Steven in the workshop.

First stop was the Trossachs with some footage taken from the back of Jim’s van over Dukes pass with me following on a Stooshie, which was not dangerous in the slightest. No sir. Next up was some time spent messing about on single-track in Achray Forest then over to the Breadalbane mountains for an evening shot on the bealach to Glen Lyon. It was snowing when we got there, but like much of the weather in Scotland, it didn’t take long to change to an evening with stunning skies. It was still bloody cold though and meant wrapping up warm between takes.

Next day started with a return to the freezing bealach for sunrise, then after some singletrack along the riverbanks of Killin, we headed to Victoria Bridge and the Black Mount. The shots round here mostly consisted of the final scenes for the film, but we also managed some interesting shots in the woods and even bagged some unplanned footage of unusually curious red deer that had come off the hill to see what was going on.

All in all, the weekend was darn good fun. I got to put a Stooshie through its paces (and test some kit kindly provided by Endura) and Jim and Dan got a break from their usual photographic shoots by taking pictures of bikes in stunning surroundings. I can’t wait to see the results.

When designing the Stoater, it was always the intention that this would be a bike that could do almost anything. From racing ‘cross to multiweek tours with everything in between, centuries, sportives and commuting.

Of course I’m biased, but I had a real blast riding the bike this weekend. It’s always weird when loading up a bike with camping gear as it tends to dull everything down a bit but even with camping gear, cooking gear and (nearly) enough gear to keep me warm on a very chilly night, the bike still felt really light and on a very long descent down into Comrie on some appalling roads, the Stoater felt really stable.

Congratulations to Stewart Ferrie of Lanarkshire MTB club in winning one of our first production frames, having been chosen out of around 200 people to complete our online survey in the latter part of 2011.

Rob Penn (author of It’s all about the bike) kindly took time out of his busy schedule at Bespoked to do the draw – pictured above. Having been whisked around all the builders as part of the judging panel he was obviously feeling a bit ‘overwhelmed’ by things by the time he joined us for the draw.

We’d also like to say a big thank you to everyone else that took part in the survey and helped persuade us we were on the right track of building steel production frames in the UK. We were taken aback at the passion most people have for steel bikes and we hope to match those expectations with the type of frames we want to build.

Look out for some more photography of our new frames on the website in the next couple of days.

More than a year since we started planning a range of handbuilt production frames, we’re proud to launch our new frames, all inspired by Scotland’s roads, trails and mountains and the fast and furious cyclocross scene.

The Stoater allroad frame takes its queues from the US gravel grinder and monstercross scene, but reflects the British attitude to steel road and trail riding. Equipped with disc mounts, the frame design allows clearance for mounting a rack and mudguards and the optional adjustable rear dropouts provide flexibility for fitting either a Rohloff/Alfine hub, derailleur gears or a simple single speed.

Whether bashing out 40 miles along road and trails, or a challenging century or two over a couple of days, however it’s specced, the Stoater is all about the pure enjoyment of go-anywhere riding.

The Stooshie is a no frills, Reynolds 853 steel cyclocross race frame  equipped with discs mounts and massive tyre clearance to keep things rolling on muddy race days – or longer endurance-cross style events.

At the end of April 2012 we’ll launch the Skinnymalinky road frame. Again built using Reynolds 853 frame and fillet brazed for the same smooth look as the Stooshie and Stoater, it will also come with options for mudguard and racks front and back.

If you happen to be at Bespoked in Bristol this weekend, do come and say hi. We’ve even got biscuits – oh and t-shirts!

More pics of our stand over on www.facebook.com/shandcycles.

Our production frames are shaping up nicely and although we’ve been too busy preparing for Bespoked Bristol to properly update the website, we thought we’d share some shots of the Stooshie and Stoater cross and all road frames here – with more pics of the Stooshie to be found on our Flickr pages.

Well get more information and photographs online next week (along with an online order form), but if you’re interested in making a preorder, just drop us a line.

All production frames are configurable for any braze-ons. This one’s getting a single bottle cage mount (I know!) and routing for a 1×10 drive train. Twist our arm and we’ll put cantis on it instead of disks.

We’re officially launching these at Bespoked Bristol but we’re taking pre-orders now. Call or email for more details.

No posts for ages then three come along all at the same time!

This time headtube badges. Pewter headtube badges to be precise and although a bit more work’s required, the first samples have exceeded expectations with plenty of definition retained in the details.

Main issue is finish and we’ll be looking at darkening the background, along with finding the right shade of blue. We’re also planning to reduce the thickness and maybe the size a bit too.

Can’t wait to see them on our first finished frame.

We’re pleased to announce that on 23rd to 25th March we’ll be exhibiting at the Bespoked handmade bicycle show in Bristol.

Here’s what the organizers have to say about Bespoked Bristol:

Bespoked Bristol is a UK based public event promoting the international talents of independent makers and designers of the bicycle world.

This is the place for the public, industry and press to meet independent makers and designers of everything bicycle.

We are currently working hard at putting together the best show we possibly can for Bespoked Bristol 2012 . On the strength of last year’s show, we have managed to exceed all our expectations and pull in some of the best builders from the UK, Italy, France, USA and Germany.

This’ll be the first public outing for our production frame range and we’ll also have some custom goodies on show too.

Phil Taylor, the organiser, is also putting together a series of talks and he’s been kind enough to ask me to contribute by giving a talk on Sunday morning. I’ll post more details of the talk when I have them. So if you’re able to make it to Bristol at the end of March, please support the handbuilt bicycle scene in the UK by paying the show a visit. If you are able to attend, please stop by our stand and say hi to myself and Russell.

You’re able to buy tickets online here.

In the meantime, check out this video from last years show:

We’ve been a bit quiet online whilst getting the new workshop in order, but we took a break for a bit of a geek-fest yesterday with the arrival of our new jigs that had been held up in customs.

Made by Don Ferris at Anvil Bikeworks in Colorado, they really are a work of art in their own right – even how they were packed into the crate shows the care and attention Don takes in his work. You’ll find some more pics over on the Shand Facebook page.