BTR’s Paul ‘Burf’ Burford on Rat Bikes & Making Affordable UK-Built Frames

Our Bike Editor, David Golay, has a long history with BTR. Back when 26’’ wheels were still the norm, he found them while making a wide search for a builder who made a hardtail with the sort of aggressive geometry he had in mind at the time — and the Ranger was, by far, the most promising option.

Over a decade later, he’s on his third Ranger, having ordered two more with increasingly custom geometry as his preferences have evolved — and they’ve consistently been fantastic. But they’re also quite expensive, with build quality, finishing details, and construction to match.

So it immediately caught our attention when Paul ‘Burf’ Burford, the man behind BTR, launched a new project to build affordable, simple frames, by hand, in the UK: Rat Bikes. And for this week’s episode, we sat down with Burf to hear all about it.

RELATED LINKS:

Skratch Labs

Rat Bikes

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TOPICS & TIMES:

The Rat Bikes concept (3:00)

How to make affordable, UK-built frames? (7:54)

Cutting costs in frame design (15:59)

The Dad Rat (24:13)

Prototyping & next steps (35:25)

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

Blister Cinematic

CRAFTED

GEAR:30

Blister Podcast

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