Pi Manson

Sneak peak! 💯Grav Grav ready for @brothercycles #brotherinthewild2026 tomorrow! HUGE thanks to @hopetech for sponsoring me with a pair of hooked hubs for this VERY special @berdspokes + @velocityusa deep custom wheelset to turn my @clandestine.cc dream machine into a mile munching lightweight gravel BEAST! Expect a full video report post event and updates as the weekend goes! #gravelbike #berd #berdspokes #hopetech

A few years ago I traded a bike for this handmade bender, made by the incredibly talented @studio_flood when we were both still in Bristol. I use it on every bike I build, every rack. It’s basically my favourite tool in my workshop. This is bending some chainstay bridges…

I’m at Bespoked. I’ve lost my voice… ❤️

I made a little batch of these stainless bike computer mounts the other week. Cute, yet infeasibly time consuming. And yes, I filed those feckin little silver fillets, sue me.

Torch fresh.

Having been immersed in cycling from childhood, KINETIC exhibitor Pi Manson (@clandestine.cc ) builds custom steel bicycles from his workshop in Bovey Tracey. Pi’s approach is heavily influenced by classic British frame builders, in particular Bristol’s Robin Mather, who gave Pi his first start in frame building, and Dave Yates, who trained Mather. His work references this lineage most clearly with the fillet brazing (a technique to join steel bicycle tubes that relies on a filler metal), performed with an oxy-acetylene gas torch (which combines pure oxygen and acetylene gas to create one of the hottest controllable flames used in metalworking, up to over 3,000°C) and brass, in the traditional British style of single pass brazing. Pi leaves his fillet brazes raw and unfiled, a testament to the precise, clean brazing he achieves. There are very few frame builders left in the UK and the craft is on the Heritage Craft Association’s endangered list. ‘Clandestine’ ties another knot in the thread linking cycling’s heritage to its present. Pi’s approach to frame building is to focus on “beautiful utilitarianism”. His belief in the transformative power of the bicycle means he strives for pragmatic, durable bikes, always with elegant lines and an eye on maintaining traditional forms. He specialises in crafting on and off-road touring bicycles and is particularly well known for his luggage racks and cargo bikes. For KINETIC, Pi presents a handmade touring bicycle, fillet brazed from Reynolds steel with a custom chromoly rack set, and a real-life version of an engineer’s exploded technical drawing, showing how the various tubes are mitred to fit together and various traditional methods of joining a bicycle. Pi’s bicycles are made to measure, and sold internationally in the US, Japan, Australia, and all over Europe. His work has won numerous awards at the UK’s handmade bicycle show, Bespoked, in 2018, 2019, and 2022. He was awarded the Bespoked Peer’s choice award in 2024. KINETIC continues until 18 April. Open Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm. Free entry. 📍MAKE Southwest, Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK #MSWKinetic #CustomBikes #HandmadeBicycle

Cooking up for @bespoked.cc

Carrier rack production in progress. I'm happy that the design of my racks, and also of the fixtures to make them, have got better and better over the years. I bought a fixture table a fair while ago now and it has changed my whole approach to making jigs. Everything can be mounted either horizontally on the table or vertically like this rack setup. Everything is modular and can be combined with other elements. It's really been a game changer for me and my process.

A whole load of amazingly shiny parts from @velo_orange have turned up at Clandestine Corporate HQ for my Bespoked show bikes: rims, mudguards, bars, bells, headsets and shifter mounts. It's such a relief to be able to get high quality but affordable parts in classic silver (and brass...) from VO. And more than just that - parts designed for the kind of cyclists I build bikes for, the ones who focus on comfort and durability and practicality. Thanks Velo Orange!

@clandestine.cc returns to BESPOKED London. Pi’s builds have been a regular highlight over the years - thoughtful, a bit unconventional, and always drawing a crowd on the floor. Back again this April. See you in London mate! #stokedforbespoked #bikessuck 📸 @adamgassonphoto 📍 @bespoked.cc Manchester’25

Lots of details of this midtail. A big old brazed on rear rack with plenty of mounting points, my sliding Pinion mount with belt tensioner, spring loaded steering lock to go with the kickstand, dynamo wiring sneaking into and out of racks. I was very pleased with this one.

Some details from Chris’ midtail. Lots of brass, lots of rack, lots of @cyclesmanivelle basket.