BEST OF BRITISH BTR FABRICATIONS

With this Best of British series we’ve been looking at the trails that have had a direct influence on bike designers and, in turn, the bikes we ride today. But what happens when a bike designer creates a bike specifically for a trail they’ve never seen, let alone ridden? What happens when vision eventually meets reality — and to top things off it’s a race?

The mill building in Frome that houses BTR Fabrications’ workshop is a hub of activity. The Bicycle Academy, which teaches frame building to anyone keen on recognising their MIG from their TIG, occupies much of the ground floor. While enthusiastic students learn the ins and outs of wielding a welder, next door in Unit 19b, Paul ‘Burf’ Burford is polishing his own brand of perfection.

BTR Fabrications HQ is exactly what you expect of a brand that’s more interested in the craft and quality of its products than slick appearances. A small office room houses all the usual bits and pieces needed to run a modern business along with a shelf full of metal tubing and CNC parts, frame boxes and a large lever mounted to a desk — likely for coaxing metal into shape. Prototype