I wanted a new bike. I decided it had to be titanium. Of course I was aware of all the bigger names, the American ones were rather pricey, so it had to be a European make.
Doing Internet searches, I found several makes I never realised existed, including Burls. At first I was rather intrigued, an English bloke offering custom built titanium frames at a very reasonable price. As I read more and re-visited the website more, intrigued turned to impressed. I was impressed by the fact that Justin is a frame builder, so, though he does not make the frame, he knows what makes a good frame and the people he has making the frame, if they have been employed by Mr Colnago, must know their stuff. Anyway I had heard the Russians are the masters when it comes to titanium.
I was impressed that Justin did his business by word of mouth and people, like myself happening upon his website and being sufficiently intrigued to have a look. I was impressed that he dealt with possible issues, like double butting, or lack of it, with honesty and forthrightness, that is if it is worth having, it would be there. There was no marketing hype!
So I surmised I would get a well designed, well constructed custom titanium frame for a grand! And I was not wrong!
I made contact via email, expressing my wishes. Justin got back to me asking me a few details like height and weight and, over the next few weeks, he designed the frame, with only a little input from me - I am not the expert!- regarding tubing profiles. We spent a bit of time sorting out what equipment was going to go on the frame to make the bike. Justin supplied a lot of it, all at a very reasonable price.
After several weeks, it was all done and the bike arrived, or rather the wheels did. I got onto Justin and he got onto the delivery company and the frame arrived a couple of hours later. The bike was put together quickly and I got out on it. It is fast, responsive and a fantastic ride. I was more than impressed and continue to be every time I go for a spin. And it looks great, far better than the titanium bikes other Club members have.
I just love the diamond profile top tube and aero down tube. Needless to say, it gets a lot of attention and admiration. At all times I found Justin to be professional, yet very friendly and great to deal with.
I would urge anybody considering titanium to have a chat with Justin, see what he can come up with and prepare to be more than satisfied from first contact up to delivery, then, when the bike arrives, and you ride it, prepare to be amazed!
Dave
