ISEN Workshop at Bespoke Cycling, London

ISEN choose tubing from Reynolds, Columbus and Dedacciai, tailoring it to suit the requirements of the particular model and frame size. Smaller frames are built to accomodate 650b wheels, and not just the geometry but the tubing selection is matched to ensure the desired ride quality and stiffness.

When it comes to paint, you may not have realised that you were in the market for some sick candy fades, but that's because you hadn't seen ISEN's #sikcandyfadez®. Colour blend fades are incredibly hard to pull off, but ISEN have made them their speciality, and they're perfectly judged with a beautiful selection of colours.

Just check out the photos here, they're stunning. All paint, no stickers or decals, and lacquered for protection - ISEN do all their paintwork in-house and can even provide colour-matched components.

Each frame features an individually handcrafted brass head badge, a lovely touch that really highlights their personal touch.

Their distinctive asymmetric brake bridges are also individually finished to fit each frame, bringing increased stiffness and strength to the rear triangle, together with a uniquely stylish appearance. Form and function, with a handmade frame you can have both.

We operate as a small, highly skilled team who are all involved in every aspect of the production of every frame. To maintain quality and make sure we have full control over the product we deliver, we do everything in house. Four separate people will be involved in building your bike, and every day they all eat lunch at the same table in Mitcham.

The Bikes

All Season

The All Season is ISEN's versatile do-everything model, not just gravel/adventure but commuting, audax and more.

Available in steel, stainless steel or titanium, all individually hand crafted in their London workshop from the best blend of tubing to achieve the perfect ride quality.

The All Season is our bike with a true can-do attitude. It's a bicycle for adventure and adrenaline that goes beyond the road. Whether you are planning to cross a continent, do a gruelling audax or heading out on a bikepacking escapade, the All Season is the bike for you. It'll even be by your side on the daily commute. It comes fully equipped with everything you need in a modern adventure road bike; flat mount disc brakes, dynamo routing, 12mm bolt thru-axle fork and much more.

This is a frameset designed for versatility, allowing you to tailor your wheel and tyre choice to suit your distance, tempo or terrain. Meaning this frameset builds as well into a fast road machine as an endurance mile muncher.

The steel is a custom blend of tubing, specifically selected from the best of what Reynolds, Columbus and Dedacciai has to offer, to create an optimal balance of flex and rigidity. To build you a bike which is stiff enough to attack another 20% climb out of the saddle, yet comfortable enough to deliver you to the end of a 400km in the best possible condition - considering the circumstances.

All Season Gravel

The same spec as a standard All Season but with slightly increased clearance to accommodate a 650B x 48 mm tyre. Basically an All Season for those that want less road and more gravel! Frames 53cm and smaller come with curved seatstays, all part of the ISEN process of tailoring the bike to suit the size. The increased frame clearance limits the use of ultra narrow Q-factor road cranks such as Cannondale SISL-2's, this is generally not a problem if you're wanting the more gravelly end of the spectrum, but worth a mention.

All Season +

This is the All Season's better looking big sister. Aimed at fast-packing and off-road adventures. It has clearance for 700c x 47 mm or 650b x 2.1" tyres. As with the All Season it comes in a fine-tuned mix of Reynolds, Dedaiccai and Columbus tubing, adventure bosses, the new Columbus Futura Cross+ carbon fork (complete with adventure bosses too, and internal dynamo routing). Rack and mudguard mounts aren't standard but can be added as an upgrade as required.

Race Ready Road (R3)

Single-mindedly race-focused, the R3 is ISEN's out and out speed machine. Available in steel, stainless or Ti, with a carbon seat tube and integrated seatpost giving the perfect blend of stiffness for power delivery and buzz-absorbing refinement.

This is a one-track minded road weapon. Developed with leading UK crit riders and emphasising speed, effortless handling and 'chuckability', the R3 was born. There are no allowances for all year riding or any attempts to make the R3 a do-it-all frameset. Mudguard mounts? For cowards. Rack mounts? No way grandad! We've mounted the rear brake at the BB to maintain the clean lines of the frame, sub-optimal if you're commuting every day in slush and slime, but perfect for turning your bestie into a green-eyed monster.

We've chosen the lightest tube set possible - a mix of Columbus Spirit and Life - to maintain class-leading stiffness where it is needed most whilst minimizing road buzz thanks to our custom rolled carbon ISP and topper system.

As everyone at ISEN was too fat and slow to really show what this monster could do, we gave the prototypes to local elite riders who have a far lower volume and higher velocity than ourselves. So far they have repeatedly won races at the renowned Crystal Palace Crits, and ridden in the OVO Tour Series, with great success.

Mountain G.O.A.T.

A mountain bike for those who like to travel far, designed not just to lug loads but to climb like a dream. There's nothing quite like a handmade hardtail, and the G.O.A.T. is available in steel or titanium to give the feel you're looking for. Nimble, rugged and fun.

The Mountain G.O.A.T. is a bike unlike any other. In a world of long, low and slack mountain bikes, there are plenty of choices for those wanting to go very fast downhill, but very few for those who also enjoy going back up, and even less for people needing to carry a weekend's worth of food, bivvy, sleeping bag and tarps.

Slam your dropper post, hunker down and your G.O.A.T. is a class leading descender, guaranteeing the sort of ear-to-ear manic grin only a bike so truly confidence inspiring can give you, allowing you to push yourself more and more on every run. What makes the G.O.A.T. so very special though is its climbing capabilities, nothing climbs like a G.O.A.T. The sort of weekend adventures it was designed for don't come with uplifts, and there is no car taking your kit from one base to the next. If you need something, you are carrying it, and you are getting it there. With mountings on every single tube but chainstays and headtube, even the smallest sizes allow you to carry enough gear to be fully self sufficient for days of isolation, even over the biting cold winter months and the added bulk this weather brings.

If your idea of a good weekend is getting lost in the forest with no phone reception, being woken by badgers attacking your bivvy, with only a spork and a fire starter for company, the Isen Workshop Mountain G.O.A.T. is the bike for you.

The Classic Road

This is basically our answer to the classic steel road bike. Similar in function to our Race Ready Road, but with a more classic look and feel. Comes with a 1 1/8th head tube and a Columbus Futura Super Light fork. Made with Reynolds 853 and Columbus Spirit and life tubing. It has the same geometry as the R3, with slim diameter tubing and caliper brakes only, so will take up to a max 28c tyre. The slimmer profile tubing gives a more forgiving, all day ride quality.

The Derelicte

This a fun all-rounder; part commuter, part beater, part off road adventure machine! This bike will remind you of those early 90's MTBs you dreamed of, long and low with nimble handling, but equipped with all the modern standards. It comes with a steel fork, adventure bosses, mudguard and rack mounts, 12mm thru-axle front and rear and a PF30 bottom bracket so you can run it single speed or geared. Designed for use with flat or Jones style bars. Made from Columbus Zona and Dedacciai tubing.

The Materials

Titanium

ISEN now offer all their models in Titanium, (apart from The Classic Road which would be too noodly with it's narrow tube diameters!). The geometry and tyre clearance specifications are the same as the equivalent models in steel, and tubes profiles and diameters have been selected to maintain the ride characteristics of each of their models.

They are built with the best Ti bicycle tubing available in a mix of Reynolds 3/2.5 seamless double butted tubing, and Dedaiccai, with Paragon Machineworks frame components and Reynolds 3D printed thru-axle flat mount dropouts (All Season, Gravel & +, R3 disc). An All Season frame in a 55cm weighs approx 1300g. And most builds will shave at least half a kilo off the steel equivalent.

A benefit of Titanium is that it doesn't need protecting from the elements in the same way as steel, so in addition to the standard paint options, raw, custom part raw/part painted and custom anodized finishes are available.

Stainless Steel

ISEN offer all models in a stainless steel option (apart from the Mountain G.O.A.T.).
The specifications are the same as the equivalent models in steel. They use a mix of Reynolds 953 and Columbus XCR tubing, chosen to maintain the ride characteristics of the equivalent models in steel whilst shaving off a few grams and giving you protection from the elements. Similarly to Titanium raw, custom part raw/part painted and custom anodized finishes are available.

STEEL

All ISEN models are available as standard in steel. They choose the best from Reynolds, Columbus and Dedacciai to suit the particular requirements of each bike, taking into account ride quality, stiffness and frame size.

See more of ISEN's superlative build quality and finish in our detailed photosets, here in the Bespoke build gallery.

To discuss your own individual ISEN build, contact our Bespoke bike fit experts, who work hand in hand with the ISEN team to ensure that your new bike is perfectly tailored to your requirements.

We also have ISEN bikes on display at Bespoke Gresham Street - come and take a look, grab an award-winning coffee from our in-store baristas, and see them for yourself.

photos by ISEN, and by Bobby Whittaker at Bespoke

Handmade in London; Stylish, modern bikes crafted from classic materials.