Hexley is Ottoline Kerslake and Tomasz Pardoe, in a two-room studio on Ferrow Street in Cobden. We design titanium and steel frames from your fit and six numbers, then build them by hand, one at a time.
Frameset prices. Complete builds are quoted on the drawing.
Ottoline spent nine years drawing suspension linkages for other people’s mountain bikes before she wanted to draw a whole bike, for one rider at a time. She does every fit, every drawing, and answers every email herself.
Tomasz learned to weld titanium on aircraft ducting, where a grey weld is a failed weld. He has welded every Hexley since No. 1 in 2014. The frame on the jig this week is No. 231.
Every Hexley starts as a drawing like this, built from your fit. Pick a build, then pick a line in the table to see where it sits on the frame. All three left the studio this year.
No. 219, titanium, size 56
| Measure | Road | Gravel | Touring |
|---|---|---|---|
| 565 | 588 | 618 | |
| 389 | 381 | 372 | |
| 73.0° | 71.5° | 71.0° | |
| 73.5° | 73.5° | 73.0° | |
| 408 | 428 | 460 | |
| 72 | 74 | 78 |
Lengths in millimetres.
Height from the bottom bracket to the top of the head tube. More stack brings the bars up toward you. The touring frame carries 53 mm more than the road frame, which is most of why it is still comfortable on day six.
Prices are for the frameset. A complete build with wheels and groupset is quoted on the drawing, and usually adds $3,000 to $6,500 depending on the parts you choose.
Seamless 3Al/2.5V tubing, butted where the drawing asks for it, welded inside a purged chamber and bead blasted to a soft, even grey. It does not rust and it does not need paint. In twenty years it will look the way it does on the day you collect it.
Air-hardening steel, TIG welded in the same jig and painted in one of eleven solid colours by a painter forty minutes up the valley. About 500 grams heavier than titanium and a little livelier underfoot. It is our choice for touring, and for anyone who wants a colour.
No. 219Titanium road, size 56
Ridden up the Sawtell Grade the week it was finished. 73° head angle, 408 mm stays, 32 mm tyres.
No. 223Steel road, size 54, in chalk
A second Hexley for a rider who wanted the first one in steel. Same drawing, 4 mm more stack.
No. 226Titanium gravel, size 57
Built for the forest roads above Tallowmere. 71.5° head angle, room for 50 mm tyres and three bottles.
No. 228Steel touring, size 58
Low-rider mounts, 460 mm stays and a spare spoke holder on the chainstay. It is somewhere in Central Asia now.
We build one frame at a time, so the wait is the list, not the welding. Frames booked this month are collected in spring.
Week 1
Two hours in the studio, or a video call and a tape measure if you live far away. We measure you, your current bike, and what you like and dislike about it. The $1,000 deposit holds your place on the list.
Weeks 2 to 4
Ottoline draws the frame and sends it with the six numbers and a paragraph on why each one is what it is. We change it until you are happy to sign it. Most drawings go through two versions.
Months 2 to 4
Your tubes are ordered in your name and wait on the rack. We send a photo when they arrive, and another when your frame reaches the front of the list.
Month 5
Tomasz cuts, mitres and welds your frame over about eight working days, and checks it on the alignment table after every pass. You can visit while it is in the jig.
Month 6
Bead blast or paint, the full build if you ordered one, then a last fit in the studio before you ride it home. The balance is due on collection.
The studio is 900 square feet above a tile warehouse at 41 Ferrow Street. North light means no glare on a weld. Visits are by appointment, Tuesday to Saturday. Come and lift a titanium frame; most people laugh.
Sample reviews, written for illustration.
“I sent Ottoline eleven questions about my old bike and she answered twelve. It is the first road bike I have owned where I have not wanted to change a single part.”
“Loaded with 30 kilos it steers the way it does empty. That was the whole brief, and they hit it.”
“Six months felt long in February. By the first ride in June I would have waited a year.”
Tell us a little about you and how you ride. Ottoline replies within three working days with a fit date. Nothing is charged until the fit.
Rather talk? Call (555) 014-6262, Tuesday to Saturday, 9 to 5.