Bicycle manufacturers are popping up all the time, so it can often take something a little different to catch the eye. Spin are different, alright.
Spin Cycle Works was founded by Drew Gill last year and deal solely in titanium frames. We’ve taken a look at the company’s Spitfire MK III.
The Spin MK III Supermarine, to give it its full name, is a race-orientated machine and half of a two-bike range, with the MK II featuring a more sportive-friendly geometry.
The mountain bikers and BMXers who work here at Factory Media were quickly drawn to the MK III. Hand-brushed titanium often has that effect, but more so because of the bike bling – anodised parts, like the stem spacers and headset top cap – that flirts with the frame. That’s what we mean by different.
The MK III is sold as a frameset bundle – with Spin’s own headset, stem, seat post, carbon fork and carbon ‘bars – for £2,350. Or the top-of-the-range bike pictured here – kitted out with Rotor 3D+ cranks, Q-Rings, Sram Red groupset, Spin’s 50SC carbon clincher wheels, Fizik Arione Kium saddle, Fizik MicroTex bar tape and Schwalbe Ultreme tyres – costs £5,072.50. That’s a lot of money, so let’s take a closer look.
The frame is manufactured using ‘aerospace grade’ 3Al-2.5v titanium, while the head tube, which takes a 1 1/8″ external headset with steel bearings, is CNC machined, the top tube double butted and the down tube ovalised, maximising contact with headtube before turning on its side by the the time it reached the bottom bracket.
A high-quality finish – the head badge is engraved, rather than stuck on, and the Spin logo also features on the brake bridge – go some way to justify why the Spin costs so much. Other neat touches include a chain pip on the seat stays to hang your chain on when you take the rear wheel out. Like many titanium manufacturers, Spin offer a lifetime warranty on their frames.
Moving away from the frame, the Spin 50SC wheelset weighs 1450g, with 50mm carbon clincher rims, Spin’s Fast hubs and DT Swiss Aero Speed spokes. Sram Red is what it is; a pro-level groupset used by the pros, but it’s worth drawing attention to the cassette. Spin have swapped out the Red option and replaced it with their Quicklight cassette, manufactured from a single 7075-T6 aluminium billet. Claimed weight is an astonishing 99g – which is a third less than Sram Red. See, we said they were different.
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