How far could you ride in 24 hours?
Albion and Sturdy Cycles have come together for another collaboration in an attempt to give an answer to this question, creating a custom TT bike and skinsuit to take on 'the 24', the UK national 24 hour Championship.
An iconic race on the British calendar, The National 24-Hour Time Trial Championship is one of Britain's most demanding and historic cycling events. The race challenges riders to cover the greatest possible distance in a continuous 24-hour period on open roads.
The unique demands on both rider and equipment for a race like the 24 make it the perfect platform for Albion and Sturdy to come together again, with a combination of speed and comfort over a long distance being the key to a good result.
The race bike uses the Sturdy Éimear TT bike platform as a basis and has been handmade to measure and hand-finished at the Sturdy workshop in Frome, Somerset using sophisticated CAD systems, precision CNC machining, and TIG welding. The build has a 1x SRAM Force eTap AXS drivetrain with aero chainring, and an aero cockpit by Wattshop.
The race skinsuit has been developed in house at Albion's London studio and made in Italy in collaboration with Albion factory partner Stamperia Alicese. The suit features advanced aerodynamic fabrics in the arms and shoulders, advanced construction techniques including internally bonded wide leg grippers, Albion's pad for long distance riding by Elastic Interface, and side entry chest pockets for carrying nutrition in an easy to access, aerodynamic position.
"The 24 hour is an almost mythical race, and one that I have been fascinated by since first hearing about it” says Charlie Stewart, co-founder of Albion who will be riding the race for the second time this weekend. “I rode in 2022 and whilst I achieved a good result coming third, I was left with a nagging feeling that if I could try again, there were lots of things with both equipment and strategy that I'd like to do differently. It is one of those events that you almost need to do once to figure out how to do it properly. So, I approached Tom at Sturdy to see if he'd be interested in collaborating on a project to have another go, and with his background in time trialling it was clear that he was also excited about the possibility of testing a bike of his in this unique British race."
“We have a long and valued relationship with Albion, and we tend to approach things the same way, so collaborating again was a natural fit” says Tom Sturdy. "The interesting part of this project was the focus on comfort and sustainability over a full 24 hours rather than pure speed. That's a different kind of challenge, and one particularly well suited to the sort of bikes I tend to build. It's been a great project to be involved with and early road testing suggests we've made some meaningful gains for Charlie. I'm looking forward to the event.”
About Albion:
Albion makes cycling clothing and equipment to help you stay outside for longer.
Instagram: @albion.cycling
About Sturdy:
Sturdy Cycles make award winning made-to-measure and set size titanium bicycles at their workshop in Frome, Somerset.
Instagram: @sturdycycles