Carrier-Imogen
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Lizzy1
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SimonWeller1
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Grinduro1
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Orkney

The Carrier

For me, a bike can point to a way to live, it can be a prescription for the life lived with it.

If you build bikes with skinny tyres, no racks, no lights or mudguards, the rider is steered onto daylit roads, close to cafes or shops.

If you can’t carry anything, you can’t pick up roadside veg or carry a stove for a brew.

I wanted a bike that can liberate, that can roll anywhere, that isn’t precious.

The Carrier is that bike.

£3000

Includes frame, fork, stem, front porteur rack with removable lowriders.

Order your own

Designed for town or tour, for audax or adventure

Each Carrier is custom sized to the rider, with my preference for an upright position with drops or upright bars - so tall headtubes, reach numbers appropriate for bar choice and a fairly low BB for stability. I use a size specific mix of Reynolds 853 and Columbus Zona tubing.

Truth to Materials

A key part of my frame building is the idea of Truth to materialsLike all my work, the Carrier uses fillet brazing as my joining method, as opposed to lugs or TIG welding. Traditionally, fillets were ‘finished’ which involves hours of filing and sanding to create smooth joints. I forgo that, leaving the joints unfiled. This is the essential nature of the fillet braze, where you can see exactly where I have controlled the heat, the brass. The result is not only a more honest bike, but a stronger and more affordable one.

650B wheels, big tyres

Air is the biggest bargain in cycling. The pneumatic tyre changed everything, death to the boneshaker. The Carrier is designed around 650B x 48 tyres with mudguards, and will fit a 2.4” mountain tyre if you’re really getting out there. Many “gravel bikes” won’t take anything that big, but with a tyre this size, your ride will be more comfortable, more grippy, and, if you care about this sort of thing, faster. On the roads, 48c tyres will glide over potholes, and you’re free to divert down promising little byways….

Through axles, disk brakes

With 100x12mm and 142x12mm through axles, the Carrier is strong, safe and simple.

IS disk tabs are tough, easy to work on and adaptable. Drop bar Carriers come with flat mounts.

1x specific

Clandestine is all about simplicity, and the Carrier is a 1x specific bike, which nowadays offers all the gearing range you could need. This ain’t the Tour de France.

Twin plate, high rake

The Carrier comes with my custom twin plate crown fork. With brazed in rack and mudguard mounts, this crown design goes way back in cycling’s history. Check out the work of Jo Routens to see the legacy. The fork has 64mm of rake, giving the Carrier responsive handling even with a heavy front load.

Effortless mudguard mounting

Designed from the off with Gilles Berthoud’s incredible stainless mudguards in mind, the Carrier clears big 60mm mudguards even with really big tyres. Say goodbye to wet feet and spray up your back, and to rattles and rubbing with the rigid secure mounts.

The best racks you can buy

Nothing else will change what you can do with your bike like a set of strong wobble free racks, with a big platform up front. The Carrier front rack is built specifically for the fork, making it stiff and strong. The removable low riders bolt on for bonus touring capacity, and the optional rear Carradice bag support allows for neat, distributed load carrying the way the Carrier was designed, 70% up front, the rest out back.

Getting dark? Don’t worry about it

This may sound… hyperbolic… but: seamlessly integrated dynamo lighting will change your cycling life. Never worry about forgetting to charge batteries, about removing lights when you lock up, about being caught out by sunset. Fully integrated, neat internal routing. There is a mount on the seat tube for a Supernova rear light, Safe, all day, all night, all year.

Stems are not accessories

Each Carrier comes with a matching fillet brazed stem, complete with brazed on mount for a brass bell made in the UK by Lion Bellworks. Custom sized for you, and seamlessly integrating the aesthetic of the bike.

Special touches

Every Carrier comes with my copper head badge, serial number, rack ends, and seat post reinforcement. The seatstay top eyes and twin plate fork crown hark back to the glory days of cycling’s history. As you ride the Carrier over the years, the copper will patinate, the powder coat will scuff, but these touches will always mark it out as a special bike. This is a bike for the long haul.

Carradice bag support

The Carrier has the option of being ordered with a mini rear rack to support a Carradice Super C saddlebag. The Carrier is designed around front loading, which helps keep the handling fun and the bike stable. But when you're touring, a saddlebag offers more space without cumbersome rear panniers. The mini rack supports a saddlebag perfectly, and has a light mount so you can move the dynamo light from the frame position to the rack, so it's always visible, no matter what you're carrying.

Specifications

  • Custom sized to each rider
  • 650B x 48mm w. mudguards
  • 650B x 2.4” w.o. mudguards
  • 100x12mm, 142x12mm through axles
  • 73mm BB
  • EC34 headtube
  • 27.2mm seatpost
  • 1x gearing specific
  • 160mm ISO or flat mount
  • 2 x h2o mounts, 1 x triple boss mount on downtube

£3000

Includes frame, fork, stem, front porteur rack with removable lowriders, axles.

Order your own