The UK has a rich history when it comes to cycling brands, with the country often cited as the first to industrialise bicycle production.
While plenty of British brands have hit the mainstream over the years, companies such as Brooks, Brompton and Hope, there are more bijoux brands creating smaller-scale, niche components that are worthy of your attention.
This list is by no means comprehensive, but in it we highlight and salute some of the smaller British brands producing quality products away from the limelight. Let us know which ones we've missed in the comments below.
Royce
This small British brand has garnered a great reputation for making some of the finest and most decadent components over the past 46 years.
Famous for its hubs, Royce produces a variety of components, including bottom brackets, chainrings, crank arms and tools.
Royce offers various special-order items, including its Racing Polished Titanium series of hubs, featuring titanium hub flanges with the central hub finished in carbon fibre or titanium.
While niche, these components are specced on the most lustrous builds, with wait times often exceeding a year.
The brand has also turned its knowledge of hub efficiency to HPVs (human-powered vehicles), which have claimed many world records over the years.
Ratio Technology
Ratio was founded in 2018, and has swiftly become well-known for its drivetrain components.
The company offers mods to drivetrains, initially focusing on compatibility and increasing the number of speeds of standard drivetrains.
Its upgrade kits include ratchets, long derailleur cages and cable fins.
Recently, the brand has released its own rear derailleur, which is said to be modular and compatible with a range of 1x drivetrains.
It’s also one of the first to feature a secondary brace around the UDH mount, similar to SRAM’s Transmissions.
Superstar Components
Superstar Components specialises in CNC-machined parts, ranging from pedals and brake pads to chainrings and stems.
The brand is a direct seller, and says it aims to “cut out the middleman and sell high-quality parts direct to customers at sensible prices”.
The vast majority of the brand’s line-up is made in the UK.
It offers a wide range of anodisation colours, and even machines titanium jockey wheels.
The brand says it is bringing 3D titanium printing in-house next year, so expect to see even more ti-spec components down the line.
Bentley Components
This Yorkshire-based brand has a growing name for its beautiful top caps, which can be customised to feature anything you like.
It also offers a variety of bikepacking accessories, such as the Mini Deck and Maxi Deck bag mounts that are CNC-machined from aluminium.
Bentley Components has been around since 2014, and has worked with various brands to manufacture parts, including Fairlight, with whom it designed and made the Strael 3.0’s rear dropout.
BETD
BETD is another company specialising in machining, with the brand offering a wide variety of components, including suspension linkages for mountain bikes.
The brand has an array of 400+ CNC-machined rear derailleur hangers, all made from 6082 T6 aluminium at its factory in Stoke-on-Trent.
BETD says manufacturing in the UK ensures its customers receive the highest-quality components with exceptional craftsmanship.
It is the manufacturer of the Middleburn and Goldtec lines, which cater to slightly more niche areas of cycling, such as tandems and singlespeeds.
Bear Frame Supplies
As the name suggests, this company specialises in making frame supplies such as bottom bracket shells, head tubes, dropouts, axles and more.
Its products are aimed at those who build, rather than buy their frames, and our very own Jack Luke has dropouts made by the brand on his brown bike.
The company is based in Derbyshire, and says it has a combined 30 years of experience in CNC machining and a genuine love of cycling with knowledge gained from frame building.
