When I’m not riding my Temple on the road, I love heading out into the hills on my mountain bike to explore some wilder terrain. I use my time in the saddle to contemplate bike design and come up with ideas, taking inspiration from the settings surrounding me. Last year, I started thinking about designing and making a more adventure-focused Temple, one that could handle everything from the commute, to bombing down rough bridleways. With that in mind, I hit the drawing board to come up with the next model in the Temple Cycles fleet. This steel-framed, wide-tyred bike would have all the speed of a road bike and all the toughness of a gravel bike.
Eighteen months later, and the bike is almost ready to launch. It’s called the Adventure Disc, and it’s a go-anywhere, fast and tough touring bike. Something you can easily load up with all your luggage, and head out into the wild on. It draws on design features from touring bikes, road bikes and gravel bikes. I want the rider to feel empowered to use the bike for multi-day explorations, but also feel confident riding it for daily commutes and weekend rides.
Here’s a summary of the Adventure Disc key features:
- Made from Reynolds 725 steel with lugged front fork
- 700c wheelset, but will also accommodate 650b wheel sizes
- Up to 50mm tyre clearance on a 700c wheel
- Shimano 105 gearing
- TRP Spyre disc brakes
- Mounts for front and rear racks, and three bottle cages
We’ve all been riding and testing the prototypes for some months now, and we’ve used it for as many scenarios as possible, on a variety of terrain and topographies. However, I felt the need to push the Adventure Disc even further.
Along with my colleague Alex and good friend Sam, we headed into the depths of the Brecon Beacons to see what the bike would do when pushed to its limits. When we arrived, the weather was decidedly unkind and delivered a chilling fog across the hills - perfect for some serious testing of the Adventure Disc. Alex and Sam were there to film the adventure by camera and drone, and they booked themselves a cosy B&B for the three day trip. I on the other hand, chose to leap into things by camping wild, taking all my luggage with me in my pannier bags. I designed the Adventure Disc to be perfect for these sort of unsupported trips, so it seemed only right to get into the spirit of things.
The weather persisted, and so did the bike. Over the course of three days, we found many ways to push the bikes to its limits. Whether speeding down unmatched hillsides, pushing on through thick undergrowth or tackling muddy tracks, the Adventure Disc just kept on going. The addition of disc brakes was a huge help, especially when the rain closed in, and kept me in full control at all times.
The combination of the Welsh terrain and my mountain biker’s urge to hit the rough stuff could not defeat the Adventure Disc. It had passed the ultimate test, and we’re very excited to get it into the hands of riders all over the world.
When it comes to bike design, we believe that Temple shows the benefit of thoughtful balance. It takes time, patience and some proper real-world testing to make a bike that’s truly fit for purpose. All our bikes meet these criteria, but the Adventure Disc has turned out particularly well. So whether it be a rainy commute, a long tour or a weekend off-road blast, the Adventure Disc will take it all in its stride.
We’re aiming to start production and have the Adventure Disc available at the start of 2018. If you would like to be kept in the loop with the launch, and be one of the first to get your hands on one, please feel free to send us an email to info@templecycles.com. We’re happy to answer any technical questions you might have about it. The video which Sam and Alex made will be coming out soon so keep your eyes peeled! I will also be writing more about it, in a ‘behind the design’ blog post, where I go into detail about all of its features.