Cio Bikes

Fun day at today. We’ve come a long way since we exhibited there last year. Happy to report that he handmade bike industry is alive and well! This photo was taken in Brisbane, Australia, not Hartford, CT, but hopefully we’ll make it back to exhibit there next year🤞

Light and shade
Candy black on white ash


Beautiful clear finish by

The build..
You can just make out the new brass rear brake mount in image 1. The headset is a inset 8 to match the 1 1/4” fork. Inset 7 with 1.5” crown is also compatible for a flush look. Loved working on this thing! @ Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Check this out - we built up this frame for testing over the break. Needless to say, it’s a sweet ride. responsive, direct, light, precisely built.
So.. black on black.. what do you think?

Road or Track??



@ Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

... or any number of custom paint options. Transparent "Candy" black on black logos for this Size 54 Pass.

The quality of the coating is so important to what we do. Renowned local painter have developed a system of coats to fill the pores of the timber and create a perfect, glassy finish - from the same durable, UV stable and long lasting paints that you will find on any high end frame. The paint seals and encapsulates the timber, hardening the surface and protecting it against water. We offer a natural matte finish as on this new Cio Loop, a full gloss, or...

. It takes an experienced hand to fair the surface of the frame, sanding out the machining marks and blending each tube into its neighbour. We ream and face the aluminium bottom bracket and head tube, install the cable stops and fit the dropouts. Lastly the seat mast is cut to the new owner's geometry.
Next stop paint.

Our custom frame building jig ensures that everything is in alignment as the two halves come together. We clamp the centreline joint at regular intervals to apply even pressure for a consistent glue line. Before the clamps come off, the frame is post-cured in our oven. This allows the glued and resin to cure at an ideal temperature for optimum stiffness.

Cio Pass frames ready for joining. One of these frames (Size 56 - closest to camera) is destined for structural testing. It's very important that we understand the limits of our bikes in each load case, so we have tested a number of frames to failure. We have a test rig that allows us to apply loads up to 1000kg on the frames and measure deflection at a number of locations. More on this later..

The timber / carbon halves are glued together on a perfectly flat surface to make sure everything is exactly symmetrical. We use incredibly strong structural adhesives for the timber to timber bonds. Carbon fiber tapes are then applied to the joints from the inside to complete the continuous internal carbon shell and provide extra reinforcement to highly loaded areas.

The frame parts emerging on the machine. There are 11 pieces that make up the frame, and each is machined from both sides and remains held into the board by thin tabs. This frame is cut from a piece of American White Ash, which is one of the best timbers available in terms of strength-to-weight. You can see the pronounced growth rings that give it its recognisable grain.