Speed Date: Dan and the BTR Pinner

The boys from BTR (Burf and Tam Racing) Fabrications came for a visit the other day, and they had their new full suspension Pinner bike for us to have a quick ride on.

Burf and Tam started designing their first frame back in 2011 and had the first test model built by August 2011, their goal was to make hardtail frames aggressive enough to withstand downhill runs but also not cost a fortune. New for this year is a Kickstarter project for the new Pinner, a move into full suspension.

Its quite hard to get a proper opinion on how a bike feels after 1 hour of riding but you can definitely tell that the Pinner has potential after a short spin. First impressions of the Pinner were good; its a clean looking, well designed piece of kit. The Pinner we rode was actually an early prototype so some of the geometry on the finished product will be a little different; 5mm longer on the ST and reach, .5 degrees slacker and -5mm on the BB.

After a short spin down the canal tow path I was really pleased how comfortable the bike was to just sit down and pedal. With the frame not feeling too long, the overall body position was good and didn’t cause any lower back pain or any discomfort. The Pinner then cruised up the first climb, feeling efficient with good feedback.

Onto the descent. I thought because on the flat and the climbs you were sat quite upright it may be that the bike would feel a bit nose heavy on the descents, but the Pinner straight away felt nice and balanced and with a low top tube it was easy to move around on the bike and get a comfortable position a bit further over the back end when needed.

Dropping in on a tight wooded section the ease with which you could move the back end handled the tight corners perfectly, not too twitchy but at the same time it didn’t get away from you either. Handling wise it went where you wanted and did exactly what you wanted to.

Overall for me the Pinner felt great; a fun play around bike that can handle all ranges of trail, DH and technical riding while moorland slogs would be no problem either. You can customize the geometry your self  tomake it your perfect handling bike if you know what you like and it comes in at a fairly affordable price for a UK hand built frame.

If you like the idea of  owning a Pinner, then here’s how you can help, BTR’s Kickstarter program was launched a few weeks back to make this bike a reality (Kickstarter Story Here). The cost of shocks and the linkages are too much for them to buy in bulk. The Kickstarter program offers you an amazing opportunity to get not only the first production Pinner frames but at a discounted price.

Pinner

• 65deg HA
• -10mm BB
• 430mm Reach Med
• 430mm ST Med

Optional Features

• Integrated seat clamp
• Maxle rear axle
• No chain device mount
• Custom serial number
• Custom geometry
• Nukeproof Warhead headset

Review Info