August Bicycles is a UK custom bicycle framebuilding business founded and run by myself and my wife, Amy, from our workshop in Bawburgh, Norwich.
As a schoolboy, I became the National Grass Track and Cross Country Mountain Bike champion, before eventually progressing to downhill racing and representing Great Britain at the World Championships in ‘97. I was pretty hard on my bikes; broken rims and bent wheels were a regular occurrence. As an unsponsored rider, paying someone to repair or assemble replacement parts became an expensive pastime, which my Saturday job wages couldn’t sustain. To save money, the logical thing to do was to build my wheels and machine bicycle parts myself. I have never ridden a wheel built by anyone else since and now I'm building frames as well, it's rare to find me on someone else's work.
The only exceptions are our cargo bikes, because although we could build one, why bother when there are great options already out there? We've doubled down on this stance by becoming Larry vs Harry Bullitt and Omnium dealers.
Having studied and worked as an engineer for just shy of two decades I started to offer professional wheel builds as August Wheelworks, which launched us into a competitive marketplace. Now, as August Bicycles, we are a self-reliant custom workshop equipped to provide everything from servicing to new bespoke bikes, and hand-built wheels. Everything we create is grounded in sound engineering and with an eye for tasteful nuance.
I took an old-fashioned route into the industry by transferring my engineering experience and working with an established builder for an extended period from around 2010. Learn by doing, every day: that's how skills are developed to their best and it's a practice I still adhere to. My wheels are currently rolling under world champions, show-winning bicycles, high-speed steel track bikes and customers who have become lifelong friends. My award-winning custom steel frames are known for the subtle yet ultra-personal touches that help them to stand out from catalogue-part bikes. We hope that even in bare metal, you'll know an August and be able to appreciate the integrated design work that goes into making every frame bespoke, in the true sense of the word.
We would love to craft you a one-off steel bicycle that exceeds your expectations and lasts a lifetime. Equally, we'd be delighted to help you keep a beloved frame rolling, which is why we offer comprehensive maintenance and repair services.
Gavin Buxton.