(This post provided by grit.cx contributor Karen Brooks)
At a little booth put together by Scottish Development International, this sweet steel bike was hanging out at the entrance:
It’s a handmade steel “allroad touring” bike by Shand Cycles, called the Stoater. Like other purpose-built adventure bikes, its geometry is longer and lower for all-day comfort, and it sports full rack and fender mounts, including on the front fork. But this steed looks beautifully clean and classic, fillet-brazed from lightweight Reynolds 853 tubing. They also deal with salted roads in the winter in Scotland so the frame is protected by a hard lacquer coating.
The elegant rear dropout is the PolyDrop from Paragon Machine Works; it can accommodate just about any rear wheel configuration including singlespeed or Rohloff, while keeping the rear brake caliper out of the way of racks and such. It also has a split point for a Gates belt drive.
Steven Shand started the company in 2003, and runs the business with his partner Russell Stoat. All welding and paint is done in-house—makes for a beautiful bike indeed, but also means some waiting, although far less than some custom builders. The handmade-ness also means one can choose custom features, and besides the five stock sizes, custom geometry is possible.
