Shand has been building custom steel frames in Scotland since 2003, but in the last few years it has stepped up a gear, adding a bunch of off-the-peg models to the range, and becoming a relatively big name in the long-distance adventure cycling world, thanks to its sponsorship of riders like members of the Adventure Syndicate. When Jenny Graham broke the unsupported round-the-world cycling record last year, it was on a Shand, and the brand is still best known for road and gravel bikes which look smart, but not too Gucci for a winter club run or a bikepacking adventure. The Shug is, therefore, quite a radical departure for Shand, and its genesis was an interesting one. It began life under the banner of another brand, Trillion, that made its debut back in 2017 with a long travel UK-made 29er hardtail.
The geometry and the British connection were enough to attract a fair bit of interest, but the prototype frames were distinctly rough around the edges. So Trillion partnered up with Shand for production, jointly developed and launched the Shug, and then stepped away, leaving Shand with a bike that neatly filled a gap in its range.