Freedom to choose your road surface

Gravel bikes are brilliant, and I love making them. They’re versatile and fun. People that enjoy cycling but don’t like traffic can gain so much from a dedicated gravel bike.

Made to fit its rider

A well-fitting bike will be a well-ridden bike. All the bikes I make are made to measure. End the day as comfortable as you started it, but with sore legs.

Made to fit its use

Each bike I make is unique and designed to meet the needs of its rider. But to make things easier, I use a series of “starting points”. My starting point for gravel bikes is an “all-road” bike – it’s fast on smooth roads and great on fairly well-packed gravel; this bike loves canal footpaths, excels on poor-quality/unsurfaced road, and is great to ride on solid mud paths. The category “gravel” is broad, however. As such, I also make “gravel” bikes that are more off-road oriented – feel free to ask me about the “adventure gravel” bike, and take a look at the specification below.

Features

detail of green gravel bike with pink rack

Adventure ready

As standard, the d.r.k. gravel bike come with all the braze-ons for bikepacking and/or cycle touring¹.

detail of green gravel bike with pink water bottle

Practical design

I recommend having external cables for ease of servicing and cable-actuated gears for reliability.

green gravel bike with pink racks viewd from behind

A frame built around wide tyres

A gravel bike needs space for wide tyres (and even mudguards for year-round use). The beautifully curved seat and chain stays keep things elegant while achieving this goal.

green gravel bike with pink racks and water bottles

A coherent
package

Together with the frame made from the right tubes, we can design and make the ideal fork, stem, and racks. You’ll get a package that suits you down to the ground.

I can’t stress this enough: This is just where the conversation starts. Get in touch and let me know what you’d change.

Frame specifications

I primarily use Columbus tubing for these bikes (a mixture of Life and Zona), and they're built around 27.5” wheels. The frame and fork have plenty of space for wide tyres. Depending on your intended use, either a 142x12 or 148x12 thru axle may fit the bill. Here is what I consider a sensible specification for the frame and components:

Frame, fork, and stem

Columbus Life/Zona, d.r.k. cycles, custom built

Axle standards

100x12mm (front) and 142x12mm/148x12mm (rear) thru axle

Bottom bracket shell

68mm (all road)/73mm (adventure) BSA threaded

Headset

ZS44

Steerer

1 1/8”

Seat post

27.2mm

Brake mount

Flatmount (all road)/IS2000 (adventure)

Handlebar style

Drop

Wheel size

27.5"

Paint

Powder coated in a single RAL color

Typical components

I am always happy to accommodate requests for a special set of components. Below is what I consider a fairly standard build with a sensible set of components for the d.r.k. gravel bike:

Crank

GRX 2x (all road)/Deore 1x (adventure)

Headset

Cane Creek 40

Front derailleur

GRX (all road)/N.A. (adventure)

Rear derailleur

GRX (all road)/Deore (adventure)

Shifters

GRX (all road)/Microshift bar end (adventure)

Handlebar

Ritchey Comp Butano

Brakes

GRX (all road)/Tektro (adventure)

Wheels

Custom made: DT Swiss 350 hubs, Sapim Competition spokes, and Stan’s NoTubes EX3/MK4

Gravel

Fun and fast, regardless of the road surface

Freedom to choose your road surface

Gravel bikes are brilliant, and I love making them. They’re versatile and fun. People that enjoy cycling but don’t like traffic can gain so much from a dedicated gravel bike.

Made to fit its rider

A well-fitting bike will be a well-ridden bike. All the bikes I make are made to measure. End the day as comfortable as you started it, but with sore legs.

Made to fit its use

Features

Adventure ready

Practical design

A frame built around wide tyres

A coherent
package

I can’t stress this enough: This is just where the conversation starts. Get in touch and let me know what you’d change.

Frame specifications

Typical components

¹ If this bike seems perfect for your next tour but you want to take a heavy load, consider going for Columbus Zona tube set – it’s great quality and more robust. If you intend to tour with panniers, let me know and I’ll put longer chain stays on there to avoid your foot hitting the pannier.

Gravel

Fun and fast, regardless of the road surface

Freedom to choose your road surface

Gravel bikes are brilliant, and I love making them. They’re versatile and fun. People that enjoy cycling but don’t like traffic can gain so much from a dedicated gravel bike.

Made to fit its rider

A well-fitting bike will be a well-ridden bike. All the bikes I make are made to measure. End the day as comfortable as you started it, but with sore legs.

Made to fit its use

Features

Adventure ready

Practical design

A frame built around wide tyres

A coherent package

I can’t stress this enough: This is just where the conversation starts. Get in touch and let me know what you’d change.

Frame specifications

Typical components

1 If this bike seems perfect for your next tour but you want to take a heavy load, consider going for Columbus Zona tube set – it’s great quality and more robust. If you intend to tour with panniers, let me know and I’ll put longer chain stays on there to avoid your foot hitting the pannier.

A coherent
package

¹ If this bike seems perfect for your next tour but you want to take a heavy load, consider going for Columbus Zona tube set – it’s great quality and more robust. If you intend to tour with panniers, let me know and I’ll put longer chain stays on there to avoid your foot hitting the pannier.