“Strong, light, cheap – pick any two” (Keith Bontrager)
Dead Rats Cycles (DRC) is rooted in creating unique bikes, it’s how the workshop’s journey into the cycle industry began. Some of our builds are commissioned by customers while others are created solely to sell. Alex specialises in restored, sometimes modified, vintage frames with modern refinements such as Drew’s stunning Raleigh Classic and can source your build piece by piece, or undertake a project based around a frame or parts supplied by you. DRC can also advise you on the pros, cons and compatibility of various accessories, components and set-ups, as invariably they’ve been tried and tested on previous builds.
Book a free consultation to discuss your requirements, style, specification and budget
Some bikes are built purely for thrills, others for maximum practicality, yet all DRC’s creations reference vintage styles in a thoroughly contemporary way. Passionate about British, European, Japanese and American lightweights, randonneurs, roadsters, klunkers and old skool MTBs, DRC also look outwards – to fashion, art & design, classic LP sleeves, Pantone colourways, hot rod cars and well-thumbed copies of Back Street Heroes – for inspiration in regard to the shop’s two-wheeled form of alchemy.
DRC values timeless design, build quality and simple aesthetic harmony. Great pride is taken preparing builds, balancing form with function to create individual machines that look incredible and ride beautifully. Each build is given total attention and – unlike 99% of new bikes – built in DRC’s specialist workshop to our exacting ProTune standard, with every component thoroughly optimised and the finished bike fine-tuned as close to perfection as its components allow.