BTR - The Pinner

Video: The BTR Pinner

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BTR sent us this video of their new 2017 Pinner, ridden by Joel Anderson who, like BTR, hails from around Exmoor. Watch for the exact moment you switch from “I could probably ride that” to “Oh”. It is Ye Olde Traditional Edit with thrashy guitars, and a couple of funny crashes, but it’s an updated bike for 2017:


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The BTR in BTR Fabrications stands for Burf and Tam Racing. Until relatively recently, they’d stuck to making exceptionally slack custom hardtail frames, one of which we recently had in to test as part of our issue 112 Zombie Apocalpyse Bike Test, and it was an absolute bruiser.

BTR - The Pinner
We find it unexpectedly pretty for something with such an industrial aesthetic.

They’re perhaps less well known for the BTR Pinner, a 130mm steel full suss they (at the time of writing) sell as a frame only. There were rumours of something full suss some years back, which at first we thought were a BTR fabrication, but turned out to be an actual BTR Fabrication (fnar).

BTR - The Pinner
With a rider’s leg hiding the right bits, it almost looks like a giant trials bike!

The original Pinner got off to a rocky start with a crowdfunding attempt that fell short of its target, but Burf and Tam got production up and running and have been making Pinners since 2014.

One of the advantages of them being two men welding in a shed is that they can pretty much continuously experiment with geometry. Because of that, they’ve updated the Pinner for 2017, and yes, we’re still seeing things get slacker, this having a 63.5 – 64 degree head angle. You can read all about that and see some more pictures on their website.

It’s designed specifically for coil shocks, and offered with two options. As well as updated geometry, the Pinner frame also features their beautiful ducted internal routing, integrated seat clamp, and CNC machined dropouts. Really, take a look, it’s a decidedly above average frame.

BTR - The Pinner
’tis the season for bluebells. Get out there and ride in some while you can!

David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly. Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.

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