Exploring yet another side of framebuilding with this fourth release for Bespoked Dresden 2026. These bikes are, of course, tailor-made, but they are also built to perform. Road, all-road, or ultra-distance, whatever you have in mind, these people and bikes can make it happen.
Forma Bicycles Road Bike
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
Custom Forma Road
Groupset Campagnolo Super X Record
Crank
Campagnolo Super X Record
Seatpost and Saddle
Custom Forma post, and Bjorn Saddle
Stem and Handlebar
Custom Forma stem, Custom FSA drops
Wheels
Roval Alpinist
Even at an event like Bespoked, you can feel that some builders have an approach that feels even more tailor-made than the rest. Rather than deciding that one tubeset is “road” and another is “gravel,” every commission at Forma starts with a long conversation about the rider, the terrain, the intended load, and how much comfort or power transfer they want.
The carbon tubes themselves are the key here, with how shape creates a basic range of stiffness and flex, while the carbon layup lets Forma tune where that range lands. A flatter gravel down tube flexes more up and down to smooth out bumps while staying stiff side to side so your pedaling power isn’t lost. For a larger or more powerful rider, or even someone carrying bikepacking loads, the same basic platform can be made significantly firmer.
But there is more! Forma machines its own bottom bracket and headset interfaces directly into the frame, with the bearings pressed into those accurately machined aluminum lugs rather than installed inside separate cups. The result is a precisely aligned system with no separate bottom bracket to preload. A lot of very impressive next-level engineering going into those Forma bikes.
Finnbar Trout
Frameset
Finnbar Trout
Groupset Sram Force Axs
Crank
Sram Force with 48t Garbaruk chainring
Seatpost and Saddle
Tune post with Prologo saddle
Stem and Handlebar
FSA, Enve AR
Wheels
Beast components rims, with Classified rear hub
This is James’s first fully TIG-welded frame, developed as a more pragmatic answer to an increasingly long waiting list. You still get fully custom geometry, but the tubing selection is fixed, making it something like a scalable custom bike: personal where it matters, but quicker to produce than a fully fillet-brazed commission.
TIG welding also avoids the lengthy filing work required for a fillet-brazed frame, allowing James to test whether this more streamlined format can keep his work accessible without losing what makes a custom bike feel special. Customers will still be able to choose their own fork and routing approach, from fully integrated to semi-integrated, depending on the kind of build they want.
The paint is probably my favorite thing here, with this 1980s Mercier professional team bike-like scheme. They had one season when their colors were applied in a rough, graffiti-style pattern, and James worked with painter Robert to reinterpret that look, including a hand-painted bubble-style logo. You can run your hand over it and feel nothing but paint: no sticker edge, no shortcut, just a beautifully executed finish.
Vanwoid Attaquer “Outlaw”
Frameset
Vanwoid Attaquer
Groupset
Sram Force AXS
Crank
Cane Creek eeWings with 46T Garbaruk Chainring
Seatpost and Saddle
Vanwoid post, Berk saddle
Stem and Handlebar
Deda combo cockpit
Wheels
Custom set with Newmen rear hub and SON front hub
This Vanwoid Attaquer started with a very good question: what if Porsche and Braun had sat down in the 1970s to build a 24-hour Le Mans car, taken the wrong exit, and made a bike instead? From there the project formed around what could have been 911 outlaw: low-key, made with purpose, and slightly sun-faded.
The whole bike has been treated to look used and weathered, with a finish that feels like it has spent decades in the sun rather than one weekend at a show. And you’ll find incredible custom details, like his throughout the bike, from the Alcantara-covered Berk saddle to the stripped cockpit, custom-finished Son light, and a specially made handlebar bag carrying a logo inspired by classic Porsche lettering.
There is some very clever work hidden in the controls, too. The TRP single-speed brake levers have been reworked with 3D-printed caps containing SRAM wireless blips, keeping the front end incredibly clean. The lighting follows the same philosophy: a SON dynamo hub powers the custom front light and rear light, with the wiring routed internally through the fork, frame, and stem. Simply no external or loose cables interrupting those lines.
Sour Bicycles x Tailfin
Frameset Sour Purple Haze
Groupset
Sram Rival AXS
Crank
Sram Rival
Seatpost and Saddle
Easton post, Ergon Allroad Core
Stem and Handlebar
Easton cockpit
Wheels
DUKE set
This Sour Bike build is showing off Tailfin’s new color lineup, applied across eight of the brand’s most popular bags. The main color here is Candy Mountain: a soft, almost muted lilac-grey base with stronger pocket colors, bright almost-neon logos, and matching zip pullers.
The other new color is Kentucky Bluegrass, named by a Tailfin R&D rider after a long journey through the US, referring to Kentucky’s grass as his favorite place to camp. Which was apparently good enough to remember well after the rest of the trip. Candy Mountain takes its name from the famous song by Harry McClintock, which feels about right for a bag color that looks like it belongs on a very nice bike (like this Sour Purple Haze) but somewhere far far away.
💾 : Leica SL
📍: Dresden
