XXVI.THREE / AEIGHT RACER BLOG / FEBRUARY
- Aeightracer
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Ä X E S & A S T R A S . . .
The rains that plagued January didn’t let up in February, but that gave us a chance to catch up in the workshop! We kicked off the month by finishing off making the trophies for the Sussex Cyclocross League, which we sponsor. Each of the podium riders across twenty-four categories won either a handmade chocolate medal, a bar of Sussex chocolate, or a Sussex brewed beer (depending upon their age group)! The winners also won the coveted Sussex flint trophy, made with flint from Ditchling Beacon. That’s 18 handmade chocolate medals, 18 bars of chocolate, 36 beers, and 24 trophies - this kept me busy for several evenings! Well done to all our riders, podium winners, organisers, and promoters for the great racing across three races in the Sussex region. Extra shoutout to our overall runner-up, Ella Chatfield, and our overall champion, Alex Harvey!
Back in the workshop I was busy finishing brazing a new ÄXE frame for a customer. I’ve changed the rear end of the ÄXE to accommodate SRAM’s Full Mount system - this means it’s now UDH compatible, so it fits all the different options on the market. The advantage of the new dropouts are that they could even be used with single-speed inserts, so the build options are endless. Shimano’s new Di2 mechs and SRAM’s existing AXS mechs don’t have cables, so there’s no need to drill any holes in the frame which is a big plus from a structural point of view. The majority of the new ÄXE’s will be designed around a 120mm fork and a 68/69 degree head-angle depending upon the size and use.
The following week we took delivery of Hadley’s Basso Astra - we get the hand-made Italian Basso’s as a build kit so we can change the bits we want, and build them exactly as we like, and we custom build wheels for the majority of them. Hadley picked our DELUX PRO wheels, which have a 50mm deep section, and are based around a Hope Hubset. His Astra was custom built using a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset, a Pro aero handlebar, a Basso bar and stem, Prologo saddle and tape, and a set of team issue Schwalbe Pro One tyres - all custom fitted and built, ready for his first race in France at the end of the month.
In Sussex, the sun put in a brief appearance and Jesse switched from his R tyres on his spare wheels to his Schwalbe G-One RS Pro, in the hope of finding some drier gravel on the track!
We also worked on his Fifty-One Sika ahead of his CAMS trip to Italy for the Strade Bianchi Gran Fondo. It’s been a while since we’ve seen it, so we did a SUPREME Service on it, which covers what most shops call their Annual Service (we go slightly deeper in our ULTIMÄTE Service). The Sika got some fresh tape, a lever bleed, a full strip and degrease, fresh wax on the chain, new high performance grease in the bearings and a new set of 32mm Schwalbe Pro One Tyres to handle everything that the white roads could through at it!
I've done quite a bit of suspension servicing in the last month - something which I'm going to cover in it's own blog, and something which I'll be adding to the website soon.
And then Pip, the dog, and I headed off on our first adventure of the year. We ignored the drizzle and headed up to Thetford for the first of the Glorious Gravel Sportives of the year - not the most serious event the we’ve ever undertaken, but a perfect excuse to get those Spring miles in the bank, remind ourselves of those gravel skills, and enjoy some unfamiliar trails. Pip was riding her ÆIGHT ØNE PRØ bespoke steel gravel bike, with a set of PRIMØ wheels, and Schwalbe G-One RX Pro tyres. I was on my MP4/ÆIGHT custom gravel bike, with a set of ØNE DËLUX wheels, and Schwalbe Thunder Burt Addix 2.25” tyres. The route took us through some of the best trails in Thetford, before heading out for about 20km of tail-windy lanes! this got us out to some beautiful sandy Suffolk bridleways, perfect for making you feel like MvdP (albeit, I’m sure I looked nothing like that)! The route was just shy of 100km and exactly what I needed at this time of year. The bonus of doing it with feed stops, complete with cups of tea made it all the more enjoyable! I promise I haven’t gone soft, we’ve got some much more adventurous trips planned, but the luxury of taking your brain out and doing a sportive at this time of year is definitely a great way to get yourself to somewhere new, without having to think about anything!
Photos and text by Glen Whittington
2026.RIDERS - GLENWHITTINGTON
#aeightracer – Bike Rider / Framebuilder / Mechanic - Glen started racing in 1998, initially specialising in XCO, XCM, and Solo 24-Hour Mountain Bike. He became a mechanic in 2002, working in shops and also for professional race teams. During this time he spent more time racing ‘Cross and Road, and then also TT. In 2013 he built his first bespoke frame and then spent several years at Roberts learning the art. Since then he’s designed, tested and now sells his own frames/bikes to the public as part of his ÆIGHT brand - you can find his business Instagram account here.
GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO RACE WITH US?
We’re always looking for riders to be part of our ÆIGHT CØLLECTIVE. The #aeightbikeco is about doing things a little differently - Rather than a jersey being the common theme, we kit our riders out with bespoke steel bikes and handbuilt wheels made in our Sussex workshops, the ÆIGHT WHEELWØRKS and the ÆIGHT MANUFACTØRY. We then support each other at events and races regionally, nationally and internationally - whether that’s for mountain bike, ‘cross, gravel, crit, road or TT - it’s what we call, the #aeightbikeco
The best part is that we’re not asking you to leave your team or club - that includes racing in your club/team kit. We’ve got certain brands that we work with, mostly so we can standardise shared equipment, but your own sponsors and clubs are almost always welcome. We have some strict qualifying criteria but don’t be put off by this – if you’re interested in being part of the #aeightbikeco then please get in touch by emailing your racing CV to eightbikeco@gmail.com
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