One of the bikes exhibited by Talbot Frameworks at this year’s Bespoked Bristol show has an odd title — if you don’t know your Norwegian geography. Dalsnibba is a mountain about six hours drive northwest of the capital of Oslo that inclines 1,476m (4,843 ft) above the sea. It inspired the Talbot Frameworks Dalsnibba — and was built to ride up it.
The Geiranger – From Fjord to Summit event is held every June and consists of a half marathon and minithon, cycle race and a march from the bottom to the top of the Dalsnibba. The Talbot Frameworks crew are regular attendees, and this year they’ll be bringing the carbon and steel Dalsnibba, specifically designed to make the climb as easy as easy as it can be.
Let’s not fool ourselves, no matter how light or stiff your bike is, a 1,500 meter climb over 21 kilometres is still a killer. The Talbot Dalsnibba is as ‘standard’ a model offered by the workshop as you can get, which specialises in every manner of tailored bicycle. This example, however, is most definitely not standard, replacing the usual Reynolds 853 and Columbus MAX tubes with custom laid carbon tubes.
Previous models of the Dalsnibba have incorporated a carbon internal seat post setup, but on this version, carbon tubes replaced the down, seat and top tubes, and the wishbone seat stays. These were all bonded with hand cut steel lugs, before being painted by a prodigious frame painter who works by the mysterious moniker of Doktor Bob…
Matt McDonough is the man holding the torch at Talbot Frameworks, which is located in London’s Crystal Palace. The workshop has a history of producing handmade bicycles: the Talbot family had been making bikes there since the 1940s before handing the name to Matt in 2013. After a traditional past, Matt is embracing the innovation and creativity that today’s interest in custom bikes offers.
Today, Talbot Frameworks offers a variety of services from completely bespoke frame building, to a range of models like the Dalsnibba, the disc-braked Trollstigen road bike, and the very fun looking Path Racer. In 2014, they won the Bespoked Bristol award for Most Innovative Product/Design. Matt used conductive paint to run the signalling for the Di2 group along the outside of a frame.
See more on the Talbot Frameworks Website | Facebook | Instagram
