Bike Check: Dawley Bikes T16

Thom Dawley brought this understated short travel full suspension bike to Bespoked, Manchester. We stopped for a chat to find out what goes into making something as apparently simple and beautiful as this.

What is this bike, Thom?

This is the T16 full suspension bike frame. 115mm travel at the back made for a 120mm to 140mm fork. It sort of spans everything from downcountry up to trail duties I guess.

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Is this a new model for you, or is this one that you’ve had in the works a while?

Yes, it’s it is quite a new one. I designed the first one around Christmas time, just for myself initially, and the whole thing came together so well that I fine-tuned it and now they’re available to buy.

Are you making them all yourself ?

Yeah, they’re all made by me in my workshop in Nottingham. All steel, mainly Reynolds tubing in the front triangle.

Which bits are you most pleased with?

The packaging of the shock, I think. Realising that I could squeeze the shock into what is essentially a hardtail kind of design. Yeah, that’s what I’m most pleased with.

And which bit really had you scratching your head?

That’s a tricky one. Maybe the chainstay yoke, realising just how much pedalling forces affect things. So that’s an area that’s got to be really strong, but I think we’ve pulled it off.

How is it constructed?

It’s just a turned piece of thick wall tubing and I use laser cut and post machined plates for the linkages.

And is that a tool hidden in there?

There it is. Yes. OneUp EDC light, Yeah.

Nice, that just clears the crank!

Yeah, yeah. But clearance is clearance!

What else should we know about this bike?

This one is actually quite light for a steel frame. I think people would be surprised at the weight of it. It’s 27.5 lbs. I’m pretty chuffed with that.

Very good. And if somebody wants to buy one, how long will it take between ordering it and riding it?

Well, I’m actually moving towards batch producing the rear triangles, and then building the front triangles to order. So it’ll be about up to an 8 week lead time once we’ve kick that off.

How about wheel size? Is it 29 and no mullets?

I actually have taken an order for a mullet one, which we can do quite easily since I make everything myself from scratch. We can accommodate custom stuff like that. But yeah, primarily it’s 29.

And is the world good?!

The world is great, yeah!

Good. Glad to hear it. Thank you very much.

Image Credit: Alexej Federov/Bespoked

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Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.