NEWS by Wil Barrett December 7, 2016 5:51 pm
NEWS by Wil Barrett December 7, 2016 5:51 pm
We’ve had a bit of a titanium theme going on lately at Singletrack Towers. The latest run of unobtanium started with that very rare Lynskey full suspension bike we spotted at the Cycle Show, then we were sent a press release about some ludicrously expensive titanium jockey wheels and chainrings, followed by the news on the redesigned Bestia hardtail from Lithuanian framebuilder, Wittson.
We’ve also recently published the bike test feature from Issue #108 of Singletrack Magazine, which saw a three-way titanium-off between the J. Guillem Tomir, the Kona Honzo Ti, and the Stanton Sherpa Ti.
The model you see above is called the Locum 650 B+, and it sits in the Pilot Cycles range as a 27.5in off-road hardtail. This particular model is built with a Lauf carbon fibre fork, Schwalbe Rocket Ron 27.5+ tyres, a Pinion gearbox, and a Gates Carbon Belt Drive. While it is missing moustache bars, it basically has all of the other niches covered. Fancy making yourself an aeropress coffee in a very inspiring but awkward mountaintop location? This could be your vehicle to Instagram success!
Pilot Cycles doesn’t appear to be a very big company, with the focus being more on the bespoke custom side of things rather than mass production. A quick browse around on the Pilot Cycles website shows that you can basically have any option you could possibly imagine during the design process.
Pilot Cycles offers stock geometry options for those who are happy with them, otherwise you can have your new bike tailor made to your proportions, with custom head and seat angles, chainstay lengths, bottom bracket heights, head tube lengths – everything. You can spec different bottom bracket and hub standards, seat tube diameters, and you can even choose what shape the top and downtubes will be. As long as those choices are round, oval, bent or hydroformed. Don’t ask for triangular, it’s not an option.
Also in the Pilot range is the Primum 29er hardtail, which is targeted at the race bike crowd. And those with big wallets. Like all Pilot titanium frames, a Primum will set you back a not inconsiderable €1999. At current exchange rates, that’s about £1702. You want custom geometry? Add another 250 euros on top of that. Want entirely bespoke tubing from top to bottom? Then add on another 250 euros to make it €2499.
Still, that’s not ridiculous when you consider our titanium test bikes from Issue #108 of Singletrackwere all around the £1600-£1800 mark. In the case of Pilot however, all of its frames are handbuilt in its Dutch workshop, and apparently the Dutch know a thing or two about bicycles. Plus, LOOK AT THIS;
If you want to dizzy yourself with the number of customisable options on these intriguing bicycle-shaped works of art, then get yourself lost in a wormhole on the Pilot Cycles website – seriously, we were there for AGES.
