The Wildest Custom Bikes From Bespoked Dresden 2026

Forma

Forma (formerly known as Framework Bicycles) is a one-man company based outside Toronto that creates stunning custom bikes. Jonathan, the person behind Forma, makes everything in-house, including the filament winding, CNC machining, and bonding. Due to the nature of a bike show, we only got to talk for a few minutes, but I quickly got the impression that Jonathan places precision, ride feel, and customization above everything.

To achieve this level of perfection, Jonathan uses a parametric CAD model to design each individual bike. He doesn’t offer stock sizes or even models; each frame is made to suit the rider’s needs.

Jonathan wants his bikes to be fast and smooth. To showcase what his tubes are capable of, he let me stand on a spare seat tube that he brought to the show. The flex was very noticeable, and I’m sure this helps to create a compliant bike. At the same time, he also focuses on power transfer, which becomes clear when you look at the shape of the chainstays. Overall, I was really impressed and found it difficult to believe that he only started to make frames in 2021. It seems like other riders are similarly impressed, as he’s getting more and more orders, and the waiting time for a frame is currently around six months.

For more information visit the Forma website.

Vapour Cycles

The new Phantom from Vapour Cycles is an evolution of the Phantom Val brought to Dresden back in 2024. He still wanted to achieve a stiff headset, bottom bracket, and rear wheel section, and a soft top section for rider comfort. For this version, he completely removed the seatstays. While the 2024 Phantom used a regular fork, he made his own this year. He also admits that the 2024 bike was not perfect, so he “wanted to make it sexy this year.” This year, it’s a complete package, from engineering to the looks.

Val still works in IT and builds the bikes in his living room, using filament winding machines and other machines that he built himself. He says that he built the whole bike within two weeks, using the agile and fast process that he developed—he knew exactly how to do it; the only thing that bothered him was the fact that time was running out. This year, he also used AI. Val explains: “Since I developed the machine and software for making tubes, and it’s my day job, I developed an AI harness into the software to let me develop the tubes to specific criteria with AI. I’m going to expand this into the lug parts of the next bike.”

For more information visit the Vapour Cycles website.

Aper Bikes

The new Dryad is the first drop-bar bike from Aper Bikes, a Greek company that is best known for its unique KOMPace full-suspension bike. The Aper team uses four billets to machine this frame; the only conventional tube is the seat tube. The fork is a one-piece fork, machined from one billet (including the steerer). Compared to its KOMPace full-suspension frame, the brand was able to reduce the machining time and costs by a huge margin, which allows it to sell the frame for 1245 Euro (pre-order price for a black or silver frame; other colors will be available at a surcharge).

Machining the frames gives it the freedom to make the wall thicker on larger sizes, which makes a lot of sense. A medium-sized frame will weigh around 1700g, and the fork is around 750g. The fork will also be available as a standalone product, and it has the same axle-to-crown length as gravel suspension forks. The frame will be tested at EFBE lab next month. Aper Bikes is planning to sell the frame and the fork as standalone products, but it will also offer three builds with SRAM parts and three builds with Shimano parts.

For more information visit the Aper bikes website.

Santa Clara

Carlos Santa Clara is a musician and frame builder who works in Portugal, but he grew up in Zimbabwe. He came to Bespoked Dresden thanks to the SRAM Scholarship and brought this beautiful bike, the Matobo, with him. His frames are usually named after places or plants from Zimbabwe. All his frames are fillet-brazed steel frames, and he mostly makes road and gravel frames. Carlos prefers Reynolds 725 steel tubing as it’s very durable, and he also likes the resonance.

This specific Matobo frame is called “Prelude,” as it’s a prototype for a small series of frames that he’s planning to build. They will be called Opus I, Opus II, Opus III, etc., and he will write a short motif for each frame, so the customer will not only get a frame, but also something to listen to.

For more information visit the Santa Clara bikes website.

Unpaved

This is one of the first 32” gravel bikes ever made, if not the first. Michiel from Unpaved made it in early 2026 for the Schwalbe booth at Velofollies within a very short three-week period.

This summer, Michiel rode the 32” “Vedder” all the way from Mont Ventoux in France to the Dutch-German border, during the biggest heat wave that was ever recorded in Europe. He had to stop the tour not too far away from home, as the heat had become unbearable. He says that if he was only allowed to have one bike for the rest of his life, this would be the one—he’d probably just add a dropper post.

Michiel says that this is a very capable bike. In fact, he mentioned that he uses this bike to chase other riders on full-suspension bikes down the “Trauma Trail” near his workshop. The Vedder 32” has 475mm chainstays, a 70° head angle, and it’s designed for 60mm stems.

For more information visit the Unpaved Cycles website.

Leovelo

The creations from Leo at Leovelo are always stunning. This one is a little bit different, as Leo was only overseeing the work on his frame. It was built by Valentin, who is currently traveling—in style and traditional clothes—as a wandering journeyman in order to complete his training as a certified two-wheeler mechatronics technician. The “Wanderjahre” (wandering years) are an old tradition for some craftsmen in Europe, which is still alive today. What better way to continue the travels than on a bike that he made himself?

The frame was inspired by an old Bianchi frame, and the bags were custom-made by Paprika bags. The bags are attached to the rack and frame with small magnets from Fidlock, making it really easy to remove them and attach them. Needless to say, this is a 32” bike.

For more information visit the Leovelo Frameworks website.

Y-Mount / Carbon Works

Thomas from Y-Mount and Simon from Carbon Works are a super enthusiastic duo with a lot of passion for performance and ultra-cycling. Simon made a nice display to show us all the products that he makes, including his famous OG bottle cage—which recently has been copied by several companies. The titanium bar plugs look great, too, and will save some precious grams.

To stabilize its ultralight saddle bags, Y-Mount now uses carbon plates. The upper plate also stabilizes up to two bottles, while the lower plate can hold a Supernova light or similar. It also introduced a new quick-release system, which is rock solid and light at the same time.

For more information visit the Y-Mount website.