Atherton bikes, what’s the latest news.

Enjoyed that Dream Build video thanks ^^^ 🙏

Of course they’re going to call the bike after themselves. For these folks it’s all about recognition, and outside of MTB, that name is the only thing that would have traction. The sorts of folks that’ll buy these bikes have a greater chance than not of having heard of them – or if not, be impressed by their palmeres when/if they do some research into the people behind the name. I wonder who many folks that buy Merckx bikes now know anything other than the “cyclist” or same with LeMond, or Campagnolo and so and on…

I don’t doubt for a minute that they’ll meet their production targets.

That Dream Build video is great – impressive to see the Ti printing process and frame build.
The work that goes in to finishing the lugs etc is more than I thought it would be.
I reckon a stick on head tube badge would know £500 off the price!!

But people only need to buy one size.

Good luck to them. £6700 for the base bike is 2x outside what I would ever spend on a bike.

Seeing how robot bikes faired I think the Atherton name is vital for sales, that build video was interesting, I did wonder about the upper seattube lug, injecting glue after the tube slides through so it’s not a lapped joint like the others.
There’s got to be a better way to remove those lugs after printing, it’s soooo labour intensive and I wonder how long before those machines will pay for themselves, its definitely a good method for custom geometry but you’d think it would be cheaper than hand laying carbon with costly molds and ovens, £4650 for custom option frame is pushing it.
I’d like to see one fully painted in colours, its not like the carbon has got an attractive weave showing like a Hope or Unno.

When you watch that video and see the work that goes in to building the frame – from printing, finishing, tube cutting, test fit and final assembly you can see where the £4k goes.
It all manufactured, assembled and finished in the UK by someone.
Compare that to £3.5k for a (mass produced – in comparison) carbon frame made overseas and it doesn’t look too bad value.

Yeti SB150 Turq frame is £3.6k and looking about the same for the Santa Cruz CC frames.

Does anyone know if the Ti powder that isn’t used is re-used on the next cycle?
Would be interesting to know what sort of waste and the amount they produce compared to one of the mass produced carbon frames.

As above poster – got to be a better way than using an air chisel to remove the parts from the build plate!

Good luck to them. £6700 for the base bike is 2x outside what I would ever spend on a bike

I get that, I saved for quite a while to spend a similar amount, and it wasn’t a base-level bike. But personally I don’t think money is the gatekeeper for mountain biking- I think it’s fitness, but that’s another thread. There’s been 5 figure bikes for sale for decades now, and they keep on selling – S-Works always sell out and a few years back you couldn’t move for eight grand Bronsons and Nomads. My only question here is when does the e-bike version hit the shelves, as that’ll be the money spinner for them.

Re. the other threads, artisan bikes…

‘When you watch that video and see the work that goes in to building the frame – from printing, finishing, tube cutting, test fit and final assembly you can see where the £4k goes.
It all manufactured, assembled and finished in the UK by someone’

its not like the carbon has got an attractive weave showing like a Hope or Unno.

Personally I think carbon weave looks a bit naff now, but the mention of Hope is relevant as a UK carbon manufacturer of comparable scale (but with significantly more resources).

The HB 130 is £3.6k for the frame.

The new high-pivot Hope frame will probably be nudging £4k.

I’m another rider who would only pay that much for a full bike, but maybe I can see the value in these – if they are actually good.

I suppose another good comparison would be Deviate. Small company, carbon, U.K. based. 3 sizes and made….. somewhere as a quick Google didn’t narrow down exactly where, but not Stirling. A Highlander starts at £3,100 with the cheapest shock option, £3,400 by the time you’ve got a Fox on it.

Comparing value is an interesting game

Deviates are made in the Far East, not sure which country specifically though.

Yup, assuming Taiwan but not was surprised to not quickly find the answer

Does anyone know if the Ti powder that isn’t used is re-used on the next cycle?

I think that there is a process to the recycling of the powder so not necessarily in the next cycle, but the powder is cirtainly reusable. The removable support sprigs are also recyclable iirc.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>Even though I own a  bike with an RRP of 7/8k, a 4k frame is going to always be out of my budget – well not without a lotto win or similar. I generally shop around for deals and rarely buy at RRP.  My current bike is a custom ti hardtail which I’ve think I’ve  ‘spent’ less than 3k on over many years of buying and selling parts and frames. </span><span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>I cirtainly wouldn’t buy a fully built bike at over 6k in one go.</span>

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>An Atherton frame (currently) wouldn’t be something I’d buy anyway as it’s definitely not for the sort of riding I do.</span>

Another comparator are Arbr bikes, I bumped into a guy riding one at Porridgepots a few weeks ago. Handmade UK carbon, retail is £4250 with a shock.

But personally I don’t think money is the gatekeeper for mountain biking- I think it’s fitness, but that’s another thread.

Hmm, that’s an interesting one. I think money totally is a gatekeeper, although I can certainly see where you’re coming from in re: fitness. Will keep an eye peeled for another thread 😀

While it sounds like an Atherton frame is at least in the same ballpark as other UK built boutique carbon frames, at the end of the day the draw for this brand in particular is either the build technique(s) and the sizing flexibility which comes with that, or the association with the Athertons themselves. And you’d have to imagine with their race results and tie-in with Hardline and Dyfi Bike Park that’s got to be a selling point for some people at least.

It’s not something I can ever see myself buying but good luck to them 🙂

razorrazoo
Full Member

Another comparator are Arbr bikes, I bumped into a guy riding one at Porridgepots a few weeks ago. Handmade UK carbon, retail is £4250 with a shock

From 1 extreme to the other – Arbr RB2 available in 1 (one) size

I’m still waiting for the release of the 130mm and the hardtail. Given that robot hikes had released the r130, and were flashing the r-zero around. My presumption would be that Atherton bikes purchased all the IP from robot so should just be able to settle on some sizes and they’re good to go… But I fully expect the e-bike to take priority.
There was also mention on the pb comments that there might be a ‘cheaper’ Atherton branded bike incoming. Aluminium and far east manufactured at a more affordable price point.

There was also mention on the pb comments that there might be a ‘cheaper’ Atherton branded bike incoming. Aluminium and far east manufactured at a more affordable price point.

Well that’s interesting, and what some of us said they should have been doing in the first place.

An aluminum DW bike with great geometry and reasonable pricing could be very appealing.

They’ll struggle to get parts for an ebike, tiny numbers of motors will have them a long way down the priority list

Unless you want/need custom geometry this just looks like a really expensive way to build a carbon frame.

Its basically reviving a 30 year old idea.

How is it supposed to be better than a conventional carbon frame?

They’ll struggle to get parts for an ebike, tiny numbers of motors will have them a long way down the priority list

Unless they ordered years ago.

How is it supposed to be better than a conventional carbon frame?

See your first sentence.

Powder is recycled. It’s sieved, mixed with virgin powder and reverted into the machines.

You don’t get 100% revert but it’s not far off.

As for supports being recycled, not without significant energy input. Needs melting and alloying, then atomising. Could ball-mill (gaffaw) but that leads to poor morphology, so only good for other processes where flow is less important.

“How is it supposed to be better than a conventional carbon frame?”

I think the other argument (than ease of changing geometry) was that this approach is stronger and tougher than full carbon by using titanium for all the complex shapes and keeping the carbon for simple tubes.

Look at that Arbr RB2 !! Cor!
Luckily I am too short and it is also £££££s.

We can’t really compare it to carbon frames, it’s the titanium lugs that are the detail and the main cost here, they just buy in batches of straight carbon tubes, cut to size and glue them in, they aren’t making carbon, they could just as easily use something else for the tubes.
But I hope they get that glue at a good price, most of it gets wiped off with a rag 😀

We can’t really compare it to carbon frames, it’s the titanium lugs that are the detail and the main cost here

Fair comment.

There’s definitely a “something a bit different” premium attached to them, and that’s totally fine if that’s what people want.

It’s good that they’re planning some cheaper products as well though, as I still don’t anticipate much demand for these.

Think they’ve had a fair few orders – build completion dates now showing as end of April.

tomhoward
Full Member
Unless they ordered years ago.

Yup, was thinking that when i wrote my comment. From Ethic/Bird discussions there are issues ordering ahead iirc though?

There was also mention on the pb comments that there might be a ‘cheaper’ Atherton branded bike incoming. Aluminium and far east manufactured at a more affordable price point.

They’ve taken the effort to prefix the frame names with AM (they’re called the AM.150 and AM.200). Presumably AM = additive manufactured (3D printed).

I would imagine that this is to allow them to add another prefix for conventionally manufactured bikes. Perhaps AL for aluminium or similar. Which obviously aligns with the comment on Pinkbike.

I really like these bikes, but I’m a bit biased because I have made additive manufactured (3D printed) titanium cranks…
https://www.instagram.com/p/CF1tkkvHPLX/

I am a bit put off by the 18 bearings in each frame though, sounds like a maintenance nightmare.

We can’t really compare it to carbon frames, it’s the titanium lugs that are the detail and the main cost here, they just buy in batches of straight carbon tubes, cut to size and glue them in, they aren’t making carbon, they could just as easily use something else for the tubes.

Why not? They are two different ways of making a frame. If one is more expensive it needs to offer an advantage to be able to command a higher price.

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dirkpitt74
Full Member

Think they’ve had a fair few orders – build completion dates now showing as end of April

Wouldn’t be a surprise if 3 months was the lead time if you were ordering the very first frame, or any frame thereafter

Wrong type of bike for me and at the very wrong end of cost for me – but I really like the idea of them. Bit disappointed to hear if they are going to be making ‘cheaper’ bikes in the Far East – that kind of removes the appeal and distinctiveness from them for me.

Saying all that, way too expensive for me so not something I’m every going to be buying.

Found that video very relaxing. Bit of a shame to cover all the interesting Ti bits in black paint, keen to see the raw finish. Some really nice touches with the frame design. Still not sure it looks a £4K frame though, maybe partly because its basically the same bike everyone saw six years ago and hasn’t really changed since.

The original Robot Bikes had raw finish titanium lugs into the carbon tubes; it looked like drainpipes held together with duct tape. The all black looks much better.

They could oil slick anodise the lugs…

Yeah, I’m not sure how you’d make them look different. The construction very much defines the look. Can machine or refinish the lugs but the straight carbon tubes are what tthy are.

I really like what they are doing and hope they do well. Always nice to see top end manufacturing in the UK.

It’s a very tough sell though IMO.

I put in the numbers on the site and it seems I’d be limited to a 125 dropper. Erm, no thank you sir. I’ve got kinda used to my 175 and have no wish to downsize. My 125 reverb is great on my gravel bike, but not on an enduro bike.
That seems a major oversight to me.

Then there’s the price. It’s a lot. I’d probably stretch to it if it offered something truly unique in ride quality, but the money is possibly better spent elsewhere.

Weight.
Folk obsess over frame weight.
I don’t really, hence currently enjoying my slightly chunky Starling Murmur in all its steely glory. Frame weight is about 8lbs I believe.
Frame weight of the AM150 is 3.65KG according to the Athertons on the PB question session earlier today.
About the same then…
Suspect that’ll be a big turnoff for some.

Looks.
Important at this price. I reckon the bike looks fine really, but plenty others look much nicer.
My own Starling for one, but also the current crop of Transition bikes and Mondrakers.

The DW6 pedalled really nicely when I had a demo of the Robot bike many moons ago, but **** looking after all those bearings 🙂
Single pivot and a good shock for me please.

I enjoyed that build video. Also helped get my head around the DW6 set up. Way more bike than I need and way too expensive for me, but a lovely looking thing

Looks awesome, love to see co and projects like this in the UK. Far too many smart people and engineers working for advertising / data collection startups. IMO they should be encouraged, on the end of government grants like a politicians drinking pal selling ppe last year and helped to scale.

Value is relative but I’d put money on them just breaking even / making a loss on each sale right now. They will need the mass production frames in the Far East to pay for the R&D for additive manufacturing in the UK. Again, totally fine with this. Fine line to balance with brand, I hope they are able to pull it off.

At the top of my list right now for next bike to last me to retirement from gnar.

Good luck to them. £6700 for the base bike is 2x outside what I would ever spend on a bike.

Yea, same here. A Spesh S-Works ebike tops out at £13700 though so we are clearly not these manufacturers target market.

Great input from the Atherton team on PinkBike:
https://m.pinkbike.com/news/ask-us-anything-atherton-bikes-on-launching-direct-to-consumer-sales.html