In early 2018, the first CMG Bicycle was born. Wide tyres on gravel bikes may have been the hot trend since 2021, but in 2018 the only options out there were the high-priced Open UP and 3T Exploro. So, I took it upon myself to build a slacker, wider, radder version from steel using a homemade jig and a blowtorch borrowed from my university’s workshops. It was my intention that this would be a fun project to create a cheap bike to rag around for a year or two, but to my surprise the bike actually rode fantastically, quickly becoming the favourite in my personal stable.
Around a year later, I returned to the torch with a little help from Tomo Bikes for a new challenge; creating a gravel bike that would fit into an airline-regulation case, to avoid oversize luggage fees when flying with a bike. That summer I took it to Budapest, paying zero charges, and also won the London Summer Cyclocross Series on the original CMG, cementing the performance and pedigree of my machines. I decided the time had come; I tooled up and began building frames for friends, friends of friends, and complete strangers.
Now, CMG Bicycles is a small business with tyre tracks being laid down in the UK, Europe and USA and has received recognition from the University of Southampton as part of their Small Business Foundership Grant Scheme (May 2020) as well as Santander Universities (September 2020), allowing for improved tooling and production capability. So if you’re interested in a custom bicycle, drop us a bell on the contact page; maybe your dream machine can be the next #CMGBicycles commission?
