Our interest was piqued last week when we spotted an Instagram post from Albannach.cc. It is a brand that we’ve been aware of for a few years, largely thanks to founder, Jim Cameron’s enthusiasm for all things racing and riding; whether it be organising ‘cross races, building a race team, or developing titanium frames for himself and a small number of “those in the know”.
Jim would be the first to admit that if you wanted to order one of his frames in the past, it wasn’t exactly an easy process, and he probably wanted it to be that way – he just didn’t feel ready. Now, with six years of development time, Albannach has launched its “Frameworks” programme, bringing Jim’s designs to the masses.
Initially, Albannach is specialising in three frames, of which at least two will excite #dirtydropbargoodness fans. In Jim’s own words, the frames are:
- the CROIS /krɔʃ/ is our strong and sleekit cyclocross racing frame, designed around our fast and technical Scottish races ready to attack your provincial parcours.
- the RATHAD/Ra.ad/ is our elegant and modern road racing frame; lightweight, aggressive and responsive.
- the TORRAGAR /tɔRagər/ is our staunch and versatile radge randonneur frame, developed specifically for ultra-endurance racing and rough ‘road’ touring.
All the frames are constructed with Grade 9 (3Al-2.5V) double-butted titanium tubing, which according to Albannach, makes it “really light and hard as nails”.
Those years of prototyping to tweak geometry and frame features mean that Jim reckon’s he’s honed in on the perfect race frames, but if you may want to tweak them yourself to create your perfect bike, then that’s an option. The design of each model is flexible, to suit your requirements for geometry, bottom bracket and head tube standards, seat post diameter, tubing shape, wheel sizing, dropout type, brake mounting, cable routing, accessory fixing, frame finish and everything in between.
If you are keen, prices are £1500, with a lead time of around 8 weeks. All frames carry a five year warranty.