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For a lot of cyclists, proudly owning a titanium bike is the last word dream. There’s the fabled journey high quality that makes them splendid huge journey bikes, the sturdiness of the fabric and it is versatility which makes it splendid for bikes that may cowl a variety of driving bases with out compromise, and the truth that it simply seems to be nice – scratches and scuffs may be buffed out so a Ti frames retain their new bike attractiveness for a lifetime.
What’s to not like? Effectively, the issue is, many Ti bikes include value tags that make them not more than a fantasy.
Nonetheless, one man is on a mission to vary that.
Carlos Ramirez is the founder and proprietor of Gloria Cycling, a devoted titanium bike model that gives frames from £929 and full builds from £2,399.
Carlos got here to the UK to check for an MBA however his first actual style of enterprise happened in the course of the top of the Covid pandemic. Throughout lockdown, Carlos started promoting different producers’ bikes and providing workshop companies from dwelling. Then, in 2021, he determined to take this enterprise a step additional and opened a motorcycle store in Fulham.
“What I began to grasp was that different manufacturers spent a variety of money and time on advertising. The extra that I researched, the extra I got here to know why merchandise had been being bought at such excessive costs within the UK,” Carlos says.
Carlos believed there was a gap available in the market for nice worth titanium bikes. Beginning with very small batches – 20 frames at a time – he started promoting his personal independently-sourced, Gloria-branded frames. The preliminary runs had been vastly profitable and, now relocated to biking hub, The Archive, in Crawley, he’s eager to push Gloria even additional into the consciousness of discerning UK cyclists.
“The concept behind Gloria is to carry a high-quality product at a extra reasonably priced value,” Carlos says.
“I can do this by having a really lean construction. By not spending enormous quantities of cash on advertising and simply specializing in the product – and by preserving a reasonably slim providing by way of the vary of frames that we provide – we will handle issues on a small scale, deal with the sources that we have now, and go financial savings onto the patron.
“We don’t provide reductions each three months like some manufacturers. We do have promotions however we purpose to supply a good value on a regular basis. I wish to be sure that our clients are paying the correct sum of money for the product they obtain, not paying a premium now and in 5 months discovering the identical bike with 30% off simply because the colors have modified or administration must drive extra gross sales.”
The bikes
So what’s the Gloria vary of titanium bikes? We’ll undergo the person choices in a second however, first, it’s necessary to level out some key particulars. All Gloria bikes are comprised of 3Al-2.5V (grade 9) titanium butted pipes and are available suitable with each mechanical and digital groupsets. Additionally they characteristic normal body parts reminiscent of BSA backside brackets and 44mm cup headsets. And, maintaining with present developments, all Gloria bikes come geared up with a Common Derailleur Hanger (UDH) as normal.
The All-Road – frame from £949, full builds from £2399
“I selected to give attention to titanium bikes as a result of they provide a extra forgiving journey, they’re very strong, and you’ll doubtlessly do extra issues with the identical body – which is a path that the market is heading in an increasing number of,” Carlos says.
“With the All-Street, you’ll be able to have a quick journey while you’re out along with your biking membership, however you can too change wheels to do a gravel journey. It matches the previous thought of a motorcycle that may do virtually every part – membership driving, street driving, gravel driving – with out actually having any compromises.
Now we additionally see this creating into bikepacking and cycle touring, the place a steel body simply makes excellent sense.
“A steel body ought to have the ability to offer you a life-long bike and the beauty of titanium – in the event you get it uncooked and don’t paint it – is that it seems to be lovely. All it is advisable to do is match some new bar tape and it virtually feels such as you’ve bought a brand new bike. Or, in 5 years’ time, you’ll be able to improve the groupset and also you’ve bought a brand new bike.
“We see individuals altering bikes very often, in some instances due to crashes the place you simply don’t know if the carbon is compromised. In these sorts of conditions, in the event you use your bike a terrific deal, then a steel bike makes a variety of sense. So with the All-Street we’re attempting to carry a bit of little bit of sustainability to the game and we’re attempting to encourage a larger attachment between riders and their bikes.”
The FKTI – frame from £929
The second addition to the Gloria secure is the FKTI – or ‘Quickest Recognized Titanium Bike’ – a motorcycle that gives one thing a bit of completely different to the All-Street.
“I imagine the concept of gravel bikes within the UK is a little bit of a advertising trick. If we head off street within the UK, it tends to be on single trails or muddy paths – not the romantic form of Strade Bianche occasions that gravel bikes are supposedly designed for. It’s harder, it’s muddier, it’s slippery,” Carlos says.
“As quickly as you begin to do gravel, I feel individuals typically discover they wish to do much more off-road. Ultimately, gravel bikes attain a most – you want extra clearance on the tyres or extra mounts, or larger suspension and a extra upright place to cope with even harder terrain.
“So, to that finish, the FKTI is mainly a do-it-all XC bike. Though it’s doubtlessly aggressive sufficient to be an all-mountain bike, we wished it to have a very good feeling on the street, so that it’s going to additionally swimsuit individuals happening biking adventures and bikepacking. You may go in every single place on this bike. You may match this bike with a flat bar or a drop bar, a inflexible fork or a suspension fork. You may play with it however finally it’s a body that’s designed to deal with gravel driving, UK-style.
“For me, this bike presents an environment friendly approach to go from gravel to additional off-road, to full off-road adventures. You may discover no matter routes you need with out fear.”
The All-World – frame from £1750
The newest addition to the Gloria vary is the All-World, which is one thing of a rarity within the Ti bike world in that it’s a titanium bike that may be damaged down to suit right into a small suitcase.
“The All-World is a breakaway body that’s made to order. Which means there’s some lead time in relation to manufacturing, however it’s the right possibility for anybody who’s at all times touring however needs to have all the luxurious of titanium,” Carlos says.
“In the end, our objective at Gloria is to encourage journey, break routines, and encourage exploration. The All-World is the best machine for doing simply that.”
Construct choices
Whereas Carlos is glad to promote Gloria’s merchandise as frame-only choices, he’s additionally capable of present full-build choices the place a buyer’s creativeness is the one restraint.
“Titanium bike clients are very particular and these aren’t the primary bikes that they’ve purchased. I can see that we at the moment are getting a variety of maturing Covid cyclists: individuals who took up the game throughout lockdown; who’ve progressed from the bike they already owned onto their first devoted street bike; then onto a fancier street bike; and now they’re transferring in the direction of customized bikes or customized builds,” Carlos says.
“In terms of what builds we provide, the fast reply is: we will match something you wish to our frames. If a buyer is available in with a selected request, we will construct it. However we do have well-liked construct choices, with elements that we have already got within the store, reminiscent of mechanical Shimano 105 and Shimano wheels. These are very nicely priced and straightforward for us to place collectively.
“Even then, a variety of our bikes depart with not less than some kind of customisation, reminiscent of selection of brakes, inline or setback seatposts, selection of cassette or crank size. So I’m very glad for the construct course of to start with a one-to-one dialog with the client. We purpose to be direct-to-consumer, however with a soul.”
To search out out extra, go to https://gloriacycling.com
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