Dawley Bikes
All of Dawley’s handmade, steel frames are serious works of art- not only to look at, but to ride. Some would say Thom, the owner, is a wizard (and geometry nerd) when it comes to designing his frames, and now riding a Dawley Eponym myself, I’d have to agree.
Getting to know Thom has been an absolute pleasure- his passion for his frames, mountain biking, and the head banging, heavy metal savagery that riding one of his bikes brings out in riders is insane- the confidence his bikes give you as a rider to go full chat, (all the time) is a thing of beauty. Not to mention, Thom is one of the nicest chaps you will ever meet.
If that wasn’t good enough, Dawley offers three main models in their lineup:
The Rallye- designed around the smaller 27.5” wheel, delivering a responsive ride, suiting dynamic riders looking for a bike that becomes an extension of themselves;
The Eponym- a hardtail that's as designed to ride as good as a full suspension bike. With a focus on producing the same ride characteristic - manouvreability, float, confidence and capability; and
The Activist- soon to be released, which is a 172mm travel, mid single pivot enduro bike that devours bike park and tames natural terrain. This frame incorporates the same blend of stomping stability and precision agility of their hardtail frames. Just louder. Think of turning a guitar amp up to “11”.
The new full-sus model in the Dawley line-up, The Activist.
Not quite ready for production, but getting there. Let’s just say testing has put a massive smile on the Dawley team riders.
Dawley Bikes, is UK based, right out of Kimberley, and although Thom is a one man band, designing and making the frames himself, it doesn’t let that slow him down. He’s a busy man, but is taking orders all the time, with excellent customer service, keeping new owners updated along the way. Fun fact, even with his UK location, he is selling quite a lot of his frames over seas in the US!
When photographing for Dawley, I wanted to capture not only their frames’ beauty, but also that they are as fast and stable of a bike as they look. They are the hot rods of the steel mountain bikes, and they are absolutely fantastic.
Interested in seeing more, or if you want to contact Dawley/ make an order- the website can be found by clicking here.
Alternatively, they can be found on instagram, by searching for @dawley_bikes.
Loads more to come from me shooting with this brand in the future, with further documentary of us riding- and ripping these beauties on the trails. Dawley even have a small race team, who are doing very very well in the UK enduro series.
Till next time.
