Tomo Bikes

Category: Frame Building

  • Bespoked Apocalypse Bike

    This was an amazing opportunity to get off the leash a bit. The bike was no more than a faint idea until 2 weeks before the event. We had to finish and prep the other bikes, do some other work and build this thing so didn’t get through every idea but I was pretty happy with the result and especially the lack of issues given that it had literally run for about 10 yards in a straight line before stuffing it in the car for the show.

    A few folks braved a test ride and this was the default expression of most:-) To categorise it, I think this is a Tall, Fat, Cargo, 2 Wheel Drive, Rear Suspension Apocalypse, Bikepacking bike.

    It was based around my son’s old fat bike, with some added bits of Apollo and Marin and a whole bunch 4130 tubes to glue it all together.

    The Apocalypse Bike built off had some ‘spec’ to built to but it allowed for some free thinking. As part of the event there was some racing, round a small car park and through a building! We did the practice lap with the 2WD in place but went all ‘short tail’ for the racing!

    Thanks to John Watson from TheRadavist for the photos. You can see his write up here: https://theradavist.com/2025-bespoked-uk-apocalypse-build-off/

  • Bespoked 2025

    I made a very decision to go to Bespoked in Manchester in 2025 and was so glad I did. Lovely time meeting people, customers, builders, media and suppliers. The bikes seemed to go down well too. We got 2nd best gravel bikes, 2nd best Apocalypse bike and lots of nice comments about the Giraffe bike.

    Big thanks to everyone we met, took photos and especially the organisers for an amazing show. Bravo.

  • Custom Beach Race Handlebars

    For various reasons I ended up entered into the Battle on the Beach race this year. It gave me the opportunity to sort out a few issues on the fat bike – slacker head angle, straighten the rear end, a bunch of nice Hope Technology components and a lighter tyre/tube combination (that saved 880g per wheel:-).

    I had also wanted to build some bike packing bars that might also work for a minimum bit of aero on the 3 mile beach straight. I had an old set of narrow bars I had made so cut bits off and added bits on to create these:

  • Custom rack and frame mods

    For my entry into the recycle project, where we took old city bikes and gave them a refresh for a future useful life, I (obviously) did a bit of fabrication.

    I chose to do some frame changes, to make it look a little more unisex, add some branding, a custom rack and some paint in a hardwearing coating in BMW Mini Orange.

    Custom with ears
    Primered frame
    Brazed rack base
    Frame mods complete
    Rack base
    Brazing Frame mods
    It’s a win

  • Mini Velo (back catalog)

    This was a built a long time ago but still fun to get it out for a spin. I love the idea of Mini Velos as a bike that takes up less space still rides well. Great for shed space or fitting in a flat. This one has an old Dura Ace 8 speed set up (because that’s what I had) and I like the look of it!

    It has a mixture of Columbus tubes and some really tight geometry for sneaking through the traffic as I used to use it commuting. To be honest it would be helped by some wider tyres in town, given the condition of the roads but these ones make it pretty lively. It was originally built to take to a bike show and did a great job of steering people over to the stand.

  • Favourite build?

    At a recent event someone asked me what my favourite build was. That’s a difficult one to answer and probably changes over time or for different reasons but the one bellow is up there.

    I wanted to make one of these after seeing Paul Brodie produce a version of the Giraffe Bike on his excellent YouTube channel. Paul kept his pretty close to the original but I preferred to change the shape (length) slightly for a better fit and to ease traveling with it, I decided to make it foldable. It’s more Moulton than Brompton but it does make it appreciably smaller. I made this to show at the Brazin handmade bike show in Glasgow in 2024 and ended up finishing it on the day I travelled to Scotland so was completely untested. Can’t wait to take it on a proper tour.

  • Custom racks

    Racks are one of the nice accessories to produce for a bike, as it creates a level of personalisation for the intended use of the rider. If it’s made bespoke for the frame it doesn’t need adjusters and can be honed down to a simple and effective form. We’ve done a few this way recently but this is the reason they cannot be mass produced. They do provide an extra special something as part of a bespoke build or give something old some extra sauce.

  • Brazing 101 2025

    So 2025 started with a bit of brazing education for Sam in preparation for his new job. Good to learn a new skill and he picked it up real quick. Next time maybe some frame making too.

    It barely got above freezing on the day so we were both happy to huddle round the flame!