It takes two
What happens when two framebuilders get together and call themselves a company? That would be Isen
att and I became friends just before Bespoked [the handmade bike show in Bristol], I think in 2015. I needed a spray paint booth as mine was out of action, so I went round to his workshop begging to use it. He was like, “Yeah, go for it.” We got on and have been friends ever since.’
It’s Monday morning, the coffee’s on and Caren Hartley is explaining how she came to be in an industrial unit in Mitcham, London, working with fellow framebuilder Matt Mcdonough.
The idea that two people build bikes here is not surprising – there are the requisite decades-old lathes, gas bottles and racks of frames – but what might seem odd is the fact that here are two established framebuilders working together as well as doing their own thing.
‘We’d both thought of streamlining our offerings,’ says Hartley, ‘but we realised that was a huge project, and would take away from our work as bespoke builders. But Matt said, “I’ve got this great idea, we’re going to be millionaires! Let’s start making bikes together.” We’re some way off being millionaires, but the rest happened, and in 2017 we started Isen.’
Intended usage
Although Hartley and Mcdonough still build bikes under the names that made their reputations – Hartley and Talbot Frameworks – the duo reckon that around 80-90% of what they make now comes under the header Isen.
‘It’s an old English word meaning “iron” says Mcdonough. ‘We both mainly build in steel, so it kind of fits – although we offer titanium now, too. But where we were making one-off bikes on our own, now we make three models in stock sizes – the All Season adventure bike, the GOAT hardtail mountainbike, and this one, the R3.’
That has allowed Isen to create bikes that borrow a bespoke feel from their makers’ repertoires but at a significantly lower cost and with shorter lead times thanks to economies of scale and the way processes can be simplified.
‘R3 is “Race Ready Road”,’ says Mcdonough. ‘It’s a mix of Columbus tubes, HSS Spirit tubing for the down tube, Max for the chainstays because it’s so insanely stiff and Keirin for the seatstays as it’s so thin and light. If you want a bike to sit on all day this probably isn’t it. But if you want something to smash around that’s stiff in all directions, you’ve got it here.’
This R3 belongs to a friend of Matt’s, Christine Robson, who races crits for
the VC Londres team at events such as the UK’S Tour Series. To that end it’s customised with fast, flat racing in mind: a close-ratio cassette, Di2 sprint shifters on the drops and a 1x setup.
‘Christine specced the XTR rear mech [from Shimano’s mountain bike range] for the clutch, to help keep the chain on for the 1x,’ says Mcdonough. ‘She did have some Enve wheels in there but swapped to Lightweights, which helped make the bike around 6.6kg with pedals.’
Impressive stuff for a steel bike, albeit one with rim brakes and a carbon integrated seat tube, says Mcdonough.
‘The carbon ISP shaves a few grams. It comes from Tim Crossman Cycles in Ukraine and it’s filament wound [spun on a mandrel like a bobbin, not laid in ply sheets]. It sounds weird going to Ukraine for it, but there’s a whole generation of these amazing experts in the old Soviet Bloc, because once upon a time the core of intercontinental ballistic missiles was filament-wound tubes.
‘The hardware for disc brakes adds a few hundred grams overall, and the new rim calliper Dura-ace brakes are amazing. For a bike like this you don’t need discs. The All Season, sure, but you can get tyre clearance of up to 28mm with these brakes. You’re really only limited by the clearance on the fork.’
Braking up
The brakes here might be contentious, as the rear is fitted under the chainstays, behind the bottom bracket, a concept that came and went on mass-produced bikes quite quickly. However, Isen is adamant it works.
‘The problems come if the chainstays aren’t stiff enough. Things move and you get wibbly braking,’ says Hartley. ‘We wouldn’t put a brake there for a bike designed to have a really supple rear end, but the R3 has such stiff chainstays the brake works incredibly well, and it helps clean up aesthetics.’
And aesthetics, as any customer will attest, are as important as performance.
‘The function is where we start, but once the function is agreed we put in the Isen touches,’ says Hartley. ‘Where the lugs are for the ISP, for example, you have to cut that tube. That cut could just be a functional straight line, or it could be something interesting, so the lugs are all asymmetric. It’s little details like this you might not notice at first. Everything is functional, but if it can be beautiful too, why not do that as well?’
However, there are two things here that are entirely for their own sakes. The little star brazed above the down tube cable port, a request of this R3’s owner, and then the paint.
‘This is the Chromovelato finish,’ says Hartley. ‘It’s a chrome effect done under our regular paint. Essentially you paint the bike twice, once to chrome, then once to colour. If you make a mistake it’s pretty much take it all off and start again – even the tiniest imperfection upsets the chrome. It’s painstaking, but I love the finish.’
Once the function is agreed we put in the Isen touches. Everything is functional, but if it can be beautiful too, why not do that as well?’