18 Bikes is a well-loved bike shop in the tranquil Derbyshire town of Hope, run by a two-man band. Si Bowns is the business brain of the outfit and is very active in local trail advocacy. Si’s brother Matt is the other half of the 18 equation, and has been building custom frames for over a decade. While previously concentrating on full custom bikes (with Pinion gearbox frames being a particular speciality), this year 18 Bikes has introduced the Workshop Series frames, of which the No 9 is the 29in-wheeled version. (There’s also a 27.5in frame called, unsurprisingly, the No 7.) These off-thepeg frames come at a lower price than a full custom build, but still embody Matt’s ideas about what a hardtail should be. If you happened to see Matt’s ‘Project Stupid’ full suspension bike that was exhibited at Bespoked a couple of years ago, which sported a 525mm reach and a 62° head angle, you’ll know that he’s happy to push the geometry envelope until it rips – in the good sense of the word.
So let’s get the No 9’s most noticeable attribute out of the way first – it’s long. The reach on my test bike is 475mm. That’s a full 10cm longer than many cutting-edge trail bikes were just a few years ago. It’s longer than many manufacturers’ XL frames. And this is the shortest version of the No 9 that 18 Bikes produce. If you want, you can size up to a 500mm or even a 525mm. 18 Bikes doesn’t size its frames conventionally, and all the frames feature extremely short seat tubes, so you’re free to choose your preferred length of bike regardless of what size you usually ride.