Tag: Apocalypse bike

  • Bespoked 26 Apocalypse bike

    Screenshot

    After last years offering, I thought I’d go small this year, not least of which because of shed space! The Apocalypse build off has some rules, that change every year. A few things led to the design of this. I still had some ex rental bikes that needed a use. The fact they were shaft drive seemed perfectly bullet proof. The rule that scored an extra point if the wheel base was less than 100cm drove the mini velo design (although not being able to change the chain stay length because of the shaft drive didn’t help matters). I had a knackered old snowboard I had been waiting for an excuse to use on a cargo bike so seemed perfect for cycle truck duty here. And lastly I wanted to use some of my Tailfin bags for their Apocalypseproofness.

    From donor bike to full cycle truck mode. It grew a rear rack from an elephant bike and a custom set of handlebars that were really comfy and more than enough accessories. Now the event is over I think it will get a lick of paint, ‘reduced’ slightly and be pressed into service as an actual cargo bike for local stuff. Very tempted to try it for a bit of bike packing too:-)

    GCN Tech review of the Apocalypse bikes – very fair;-)

  • 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/