Fifty One

FiftyOne Bikes was founded in 2016 by former international rider Aidan Duff, in response to the disappearance from top-end race bikes of the custom options that he had always enjoyed during his career.

“All of the frames I’ve had since I was a junior have been hand-built to my dimensions, and I could build the characteristics that I wanted into them. When I started to compare the experience and the finished product that I had back then to what is available now, and particularly the prices people are willing to pay for a stock Chinese-made frame, I thought, ‘There’s something wrong here that people are spending over €10k on a bike without having any input on how it should look or handle or fit.’”

Aidan set out to combine bespoke building by hand with advanced carbon fibre to deliver the best of both worlds, and to finish it off with spectacularly individual paint. The gallery of completed builds now stands as testament to the concept, with their only commonality being their individuality. No two geometries or paint schemes are alike.

On entering the gravel sector in 2021, these values were applied to a factory-made bike in ways unprecedented to the bike industry. Front and rear adjustable geometry was introduced to enable the rider to find their ideal feeling and category-leading compatibility was built in for wheel, tyre, drivetrain and portage options. In short, it’s how a custom brand does factory building. At FiftyOne, the customer is an individual, not a collective.