Singular Cycles

Singular Cycles brings you bikes for the type of riding you do. A blend of modern concepts with proven design and materials makes for beautiful bikes which ride like a dream. We’ve become disillusioned with ever more fragile bikes and components which offer no real benefit to the everyday rider who wants a bike which rides sweetly, looks lovely, and doesn’t need replacing every year. Singular Cycles - singularly distinctive bicycles.
LATEST NEWS Below you'll find the latest on new model developments, status of current stock, new suppliers and other such business related matters. For the more personal side of Singular; what we've been riding and where, upcoming races, and just general musings have a look at the blog.
28.6.2009 The Hummingbirds have landed! They are in the country, the ship docked on Saturday, they just need to clear customs and we will have them this week. I've added a little bit more info on them in the bikes section though as I'm in the midst of a complete website re-build at the moment it's not extensive. Along with the Hummingbirds is re-stock of the Swifts - now in one consolidated model to cover both singlespeed and geared needs. All our framesets will now take this approach - an eccentric bottom bracket unit for singlespeed or internal geared hub use, but a derailleur hanger and cable guides for geared purposes. There are a couple of 'pure' Swift SS frames left in the XL size - if you'd really like one of those email. The Singular racing team has been going from strength to strength, mostly due to the indomitable power of Steve Webb. Last weekend saw us take the singlespeed category win in the world's largest 24 hour race, Mountain Mayhem. Read the report here. We are doing quite a bit more racing over the remainder of the summer. Below is what is planned at this point. We'll always have a few extra bikes around so feel free to drop by for a test ride or just a chat. July 4-5, Singletrack Weekender, Lee Quarry, Lancashire July 11th, 10 at Kirroughtree, Scotland July 15th, Summit MTB summer series, Lotts Wood, nr. Amersham, Bucks July 25-26, Twentyfour12, Newnham Park, Plymouth, Devon August 5th, Summit MTB summer series, Lotts Wood, nr. Amersham, Bucks August 15th, Brighton Big Dog, Stanmer Park, Brighton, Sussex September 19-20, Singlespeed Italy, Finale Ligure, Italy
17.5.2009 Just a matter of days until the next production run of the new Swifts and Hummingbirds is complete. Those who got their pre-orders in for the UK will be having their frames air-freighted over, everyone else will have to wait until that slow boat from Taiwan arrives. All being well in the seas and with customs that will be in mid-June. I'm delighted to announce that a good chunk of this shipment will be making it's way directly to Marty at The Prairie Peddler in Wisconsin, USA. Drop him a line for any North American sales enquiries. Peregrine and Gryphons are in the production schedule and will likely be here in August/September all being well. Keep an eye on the blog as well as the new twitter to see what we've been up to - lots of racing lately with Steve Webb storming the local scene.		follow singularcycles at http://twitter.com
3.2.2009 As the picture on the right might suggest, warmer times and racing ought to still seem some way off. However the Gorrick spring series has already kicked off and it's round 2 this weekend. That race will see the first outing of the 2009 Singular Cycles racing team. Over the past couple of years we've gradually increased our involvement in racing. 2009 sees that stepped up a notch with a semi-amateur, predominantly singlespeed (derailleur curious) masters racing team. Our emphasis will be on getting out there and enjoying it, while possibly showing a few people that old blokes on one-geared big-wheeled bikes aren't necessarily slow. Steve Webb, Dom Perry, Grant Taylor, Adam Milligan and myself Sam Alison will be taking in some races around the UK and continental Europe. We'll always be happy to give people test rides and sign autographs - the blog will have updates as to what we've got planned. The announcement of the Hummingbird order having gone in has garnered a lot of attention. Certainly helped along by this review from the friendly folks at Singletrack Magazine. Chipps and the guys seemed to like it a lot - they don't do ratings, but they did say some very complimentary things. As I've previously mentioned, my advocacy of larger wheels for larger people was intended to mean the Hummingbird would only be offered in small and medium sizes. As I appreciate people simply have a lot of money tied up in 26" specific parts, I don't want to deny them the possibility of using those parts on a Singular! Therefore the Hummingbird will also be available in large, 24.3" ETT. The drawings for the smaller two sizes can be found here, along with a few other pictures. There's been a recent spate of renewed interest in the Pegasus, perhaps concerns over our immediate economic future are lifting a little. This is timely but still slightly premature. I've been in discussions with a new possible Ti builder which could see a small run of Pegasus in the near future. Keep an eye on this space or drop me an email for more details shortly. Stock levels of current frames are rather low, as shown on the sales page. Replacement Swifts will be here in April, while Peregrine will be June/July.
24.1.2009 We have finally got a great gallery built as part of the site - check it out. A much wider range of pictures will continue to be in the Flickr Gallery The flattering reviews continue to come in. Toward the end of last year Mike Davis at bikemagic.com gave the Swift its most comprehensive review to date, the result being an encouraging 4/5 across the board for performance, value and overall. The guys up at the ever-entertaining Washingmachine Post based in beautiful Islay, Scotland have had a Peregrine for the past couple of months they've been putting through it's paces. In case you might have missed some of the previous reviews of our bikes, they can be found here. As mentioned in the previous update, we're running a little low on some stock. The order is in for replacements which ought to be here in April. This will comprise the much anticipated Hummingbirds the 26" wheeled bike that can also be used with a rigid fork and 29" wheel up front. We are now taking pre-orders on these with a special offer of £100 down now giving you 10% off the normal price. The Swift is to be consolidated into one model. We've had a number of customers who love their Swift, but would like to singlespeed it from time to time, and vice-versa. So from April the Swift will be one model, essentially the current Swift SS with EBB, but also having discreet cable guides for the use of derailleurs. Unfortunately we've not been able to order the Gryphons in the same run as these, the intention is they will be available later in the year.
22.12.2008 While the pundits and media purport doom and gloom for the months ahead, the future is stilll looking bright for Singular. In fact we're starting to run quite low on stock in some sizes. As such, availability has been updated on the sales page. Given the declining fortunes of the British pound, we've also had to bump up our prices a little. Just enough so that we can at least afford to order some more. More new dealers coming on with BenBen Cykler in Copenhagen, Denmark joining the fold. Ben, Kris and Jakob have a few frames in and a demo built up they'll be happy to let you try. Lots of new photos going up on the Flickr lately, some really lovely and interesting builds. 13.11.08 Production Peregrines have been very well received, customers are very pleased and the good people at Cycling Plus thought it worthy of 8/10 in their December '08 issue. Designs for the Hummingbirds and Gryphons are pretty much finalised and the general geometry drawings can be found here. Feedback on the prototypes has been very positive and only a few minor tweaks were needed for the production frames. We are expecting delivery of these in April 2008 and they will be priced similarly to the Swift SS. The testing and reception of the Ti Pegasus frames has really been fantastic. We're definitely looking to go into production with these, I hope in the early part of 2009. We have some wonderful new dealers on board in the Czech Republic, Netherlands, and Staffordshire, England. So if you happen to be near one of those be sure to drop by and check out our bikes in the flesh. I've been doing some rearranging of our Flickr photo gallery which has pictures of all framesets current and future, as well as customers' Singulars from around the world, and some great shots of Singulars being ridden and raced. 4.8.2008 A lot going on lately at Singular HQ, new frames everywhere and more besides. Our first proper print ad ran in The Ride Journal which released its first issue recently. A cycling periodical like none you've seen before it's well worth picking up a copy once they complete their second print run. Beautiful production, fantastic photos, and genuinely interesting articles, not just twaddle about vertical compliance and horizontal stiffness. Peregrine frames will be here any day, just as soon as they clear customs. Pre-order specials have now closed, and we have quite a few to go out just as soon as they arrive. The Pegasus Ti sample frames will be here tomorrow, after a few unexpected delays. Getting quite excited about these, I have a nice selection of parts gathered to put together a very lightweight build. Pictures as soon as they're done. The first prototypes of the Hummingbird have also arrived - this is a 26" frame with a difference. It's designed to be used with either a 26" front wheel and a 4 to 5" fork, or a 29" front wheel with a dedicated rigid fork. I intended to do a 23.3" and 22.5" ETT, but already there's been call for smaller. Some pictures are up in the Singular Cycles Flickr Gallery. 12.6.2008 We're extremely happy to announce our network of dealers is growing, Head for the Hills in Dorking, Surrey, UK is the latest to join the fold. A lovely little shop with the fantastic riding of the North Downs within a few minutes, it's a great place to get a demo ride on a Singular if you are close to London. Drop in and see Dan, Roger and the team there and they're sure to help you out with all the bits you might need to build a complete bike as well. Our shipment of Swift SS frames has arrived and we now have good stock across all sizes again. As this has now filled the storage again, we've finished the offer we had running on the geared Swift framesets. Peregrine news - frames are still being painted, which is taking a little longer than anticipated due to the complexity of masking around the head tube etc. Our offer of discounts on pre-orders with a deposit is still open, see the bikes page for details. The Pegasus frames are still yet to arrive but we're hoping upon hope they'll be here before Mountain Mayhem to help Team Singular to victory in the singlespeed teams category! 30.5.2008 Swift SS frames as of right now are all out of stock though the ship is on the way and more will be in week commencing 9.6. The offer on geared Swift frames of £280 with free shipping in the UK will close on 8.6 so take advantage while you can. After this date they will revert to the normal price. Our Pegasus prototypes in titanium are due in next week - pictures will go up in the news section as soon as they get here. Production Peregrine frames are all built and now being painted - thank you to everyone who's got their pre-order in. These look like selling out quite quickly so if you are interested in one get your deposit down. They are due on these shores in July. We've been to a couple of great events lately and have a few more coming up soon - check the news section for details and pictures. 27.3.2008 Our online shopping experience is being improved to include a proper shopping cart to which you will be able to add extras as necessary. This is work in progress but should be complete in the next few days. We have some exciting new frame developments underway at the moment as well. We are working on some prototype Titanium Swifts (will have to come up with a better name) and are also developing some 26" wheeled frames in small sizes. Stay tuned for more details shortly. 27.1.2008 The build kit details are now up on the parts page here. We will have some pictures of frames built up with this kit shortly. It's taken a while to get this together, but I think we have a really lovely mix of parts for both kits, no skimping, high quality stuff all 'round. Of course we will also continue to be able to provide high-end upgrades to those who desire a little more luxury, and if you have any specific requests, as always just get in touch. 14.1.2008 We have some long awaited news on the development of the Peregrine framesets. The final specifications have been reached and we are expecting to have production framesets in early summer - not ideal timing for a cross frameset I know, but that's sometimes how it goes. Look for full details on the News page. As soon as we have a definite delivery date for the Peregrines we will be taking pre-orders. to get on the mailing list just email.