Cycling has seen a resurgence in recent years. That may be down to the success of UK riders in international competitions, but we think it's down to the increasing availability of great-looking, easy-to-ride bikes. Temple Cycles are spreading the love for two wheels through great design and they've certainly contributed to the growing interest in two-wheel travel. So, whether you're a city dweller or a mountain bike enthusiast, Temple Cycles will have just the bike you're looking for. If they don't, they'll even let you customise so you can find your ideal bicycle.
Who are Temple Cycles?
Temple Cycles is an independent bicycle company based in Bristol. Matt, the founder, was born in Somerset and has always been a cyclist. During his time studying mechanical engineering at Bristol university, he began to restore classic road bikes. This hobby developed into a small business, which in turn evolved into Matt actually designing his own custom frames – the birth of Temple Cycles. Temple Cycles aims to bring more people into the bicycle industry and work with local enterprises, but they have one main goal: they want their bikes to last until they’re considered vintage.
The Temple Cycles Bike Collection
In the pursuit of perfection, Temple Cycles ensure that all of its bikes will last a lifetime. Inspired by the sprinkling of vintage bikes which you still see on the road today, Temple Cycles want their bikes to follow suit, and become vintage in time too. They do this by making different bikes for different needs; split in three different categories. Everyday, Adventure & Urban Single-Speed.
Everyday Bicycles
Temple's everyday bikes are focused on getting you from A to B no matter what your daily routine is. Through a commitment to quality, Temple Cycles produce simple, lightweight and practical bikes. So, whether you’re heading down a country road or speeding through the cycle lane, Temple Cycles’ everyday bikes have got you covered. Here's how:
- The Classic Lightweight Bike's handmade steel frame is fitted with elegant lugs that makes for a comfortable, durable and lightweight ride.
- The Everyday bike's frame is also rust-proofed and finished with a protective powder coat, whilst also having plenty of clearance to comfortably fit full-length mudguards.
- All Temple Cycles Everyday Bikes are fitted with high-quality climbing gears; wide range Shimano gears are built to get you up even the steepest city streets whilst also being hassle-free to maintain.
- In total, the Classic Lightweight Bike is made as lightweight as possible - around 10kg-11kg - plus each bike is built to order in the workshop in Bristol and constructed from Reynolds 520 steel tubing.
Adventure Bicycles
As the name suggests fairly straightly, Temple Cycles' Adventure range is more ready to get rough. By dropping the handlebars, these bikes are prepared for some harder riding with the head down. They’re well suited to various terrains and topographies; perfect if you often hit the city streets through the week then off-road through the weekend. Taking two years to design and test, the Adventure Disc bike is the pick of the bunch and here's why...
- Temple use the reliably strong and lightweight Reynolds steel for all of its bikes but for the Adventure Disk they've upgraded to the Reynolds 725. A higher grade of heat-treated steel that makes for an even stronger ride. Which means you can head off the beaten track in comfort and confidence.
- The Adventure Disk Bicycle also benefits from being entirely hand-built; including the perfectly tensioned hand-built wheels which have been created with the help of Hunt's expert gravel hoops.
- Temple Cycles have chosen the reliable, lightweight and high-performance 11 speed Shimano gear system. In particular, the Adventure Disc comes with a 50-34 crankset and a 11-32 cassette for a wide range of gears that can tackle even the steepest climbs.
Urban Single-speed Bicycles
These are the most minimalist of Temple’s offerings. Designed for zipping around cities, the single speed construction is low maintenance and high-speed. If you're looking for your first proper bike or one to see you through the working week, then you'll be wanting to be riding with the Temple Cycles single-speed.
- Built with only one gear, the single-speed bike allows you to focus on simply enjoying the ride on a low maintenance, clean-looking bike.
- The Everyday bike's frame is also rust-proofed and finished with a protective powder coat, whilst also having plenty of clearance to comfortably fit full-length mudguards.
- Plus, the single-speed comes with puncture-resistant Schwalbe tyres, which is always a plus.
Overall verdict
Temple Cycles knows exactly what to do. A team of dedicated cyclists is essential to the business, the team all understand how central a bike can be to your life, and therefore how important it is to get the right one. Reliable and stylish design highlight Temple Cycles as the bicycle specialist to watch. What’s more, their pricing is more than fair. The direct to customer model means that Temple Cycles cut out expenditure on transport, distribution and retail. They offer full customisation too, if there's any of the finer details of the bike that you wouldn't mind personalising.
Shop and explore all Temple Cycles bikes at OPUMO.
