2-Speed City Bike

Studio Instrmnt with bike builders Freddie Grubb has released at London Design Festival their second project with a leather top tube protector and a number of advanced technical components.

Minimalist design studio Instrmnt has released their second project – the 2-speed city bike – in the form of a collaboration with master bike builders Freddie Grubb.

The goal was to create a beautiful, technically advanced bicycle that treated form and function with equal importance. By nature, city bikes are likely to spend a portion of their day chained to a lamp post or being carried: up a flight of stairs, onto a train, or into an apartment.

Studio Instrmnt+ Freddie Grubb, 2-Speed City Bike

Identifying a simple solution to the issues associated with these activities, Instrmnt designed and specified a leather top tube protector to act as a singular chip guard, carry grip and shoulder pad. Focused on the bike in motion, Freddie Grubb specified a number of advanced technical components to aid with city riding, including an internal Automatix 2-speed gear and an SRAM back-pedal coaster brake.

Ted Bennett, founder of Oxford-based leather specialists Longside, was appointed to create the bespoke top tube protector in addition to a pair of hand-stitched handlebar grips. Colour matching Freddie Grubb’s iconic honey saddle, the tan leather elements sit alongside polished steel componentry and a semi-gloss Hayward Grey frame.

Each bike is assembled in Freddie Grubb’s South London workshop before the leather is stitched on to the frame by Longside.