Stray Cycles

Picasso apparently said that the hardest thing about painting is knowing when to stop.

Creating a bike can be much the same. First, you sketch out the idea in your head (over many years and thousands of kms pedaling, pushing and, at times, carrying!) and start creating. Then, at some point, you step back from the canvas and cast a critical eye over your work.

Do we need a few millimeters more or less? Is the cable routing perfect? Are the bottle positions right for capacity, access and maximizing bag space? Decals, colours, finish, headbadge… and on it goes.

After a year and a half of development, we’re finally putting the finishing touches on our Series Edition - obsessing over the details that might seem small, but add up to the whole.

We’re looking forward to that moment when the squinting stops, a smile breaks out, and the brush finally goes down.

Stay tuned! 🎨

Something new in the works!

Our recently launched Studio Edition is our no-compromise vision of the perfect off-road adventure bike: the finest Reynolds and Columbus steel tubing, Paragon components, premium sparkly finishes, handmade the old-fashioned way by skilled hands, one frame at a time.

That level of craft comes at a price and we wanted to bring the Stray ethos - intentional design, small-batch, made in Europe - to more riders.

Introducing the Series Edition.

We’re calling this model the Passage - same geometry, same ride feel. Built using additional tooling and more industrial processes to produce more efficiently, without cutting corners on what matters.

Still made in small batches of 25 with skill and care in the heart of the French Pyrenees, and at a genuinely more accessible price point.

Still no compromises on ride or ethos, just a different path to get there.

This is a pre-production pilot frameset, about to get built up and put through its paces, with a few remaining details - cable guides, braze-ons, decals and finish - still to be locked in before production later this fall.

Three new colours and a new S/M size on the way too.

Follow along for updates. 🤙

For our Studio Edition framesets, we picked colours with a little pop - ones that zig when others zag - like this Cosmic Lilac from Prismatic Powders.

The ethos behind our bikes is straightforward: a return to the simple and timeless. Combining the classic materials and aesthetic of that pre-carbon, pre-suspension “golden era” of mountain biking with a modern take on handling and geometry.

Not NORBA-race inspired, like those beautiful ’90s steel bikes. Not the “shred, huck and get rowdy” slacker-longer-lower geometry of the last 10–15 years either.

Geometry and tubes for picking considered lines up and down whatever surfaces you encounter as you find your way off the beaten path - be it a quick after-work spin or back-to-back 12-hour days.

A bike meant to work with the trail, not dominate it.

Framesets in stock now. If you’re in Switzerland, stop by to talk bikes or head up into the Jura for a test ride. 🤙

Big thanks to the organizers, speakers, friends old and new, and everyone who brought such great vibes to PEDALEO European Bikepacking Festival.

Beautiful location, inspiring and thought-provoking talks, and plenty of energizing exchanges - including, of course, some good old nerdery around rigid steel bike design.

The perfect venue for our fresh-out-of-paint Studio Edition framesets to sparkle in the sun and make their IRL debut, and for the Swiss Edition to get out and romp around with some new testers.

A great weekend all around. 🙏☀️

This lovely Swiss Edition frameset was built to be ridden, not photographed. Still, we managed to get it scrubbed up and into its Sunday best for PEDALEO European Bikepacking Festival this weekend.

Handbuilt around a selection of components chosen to age gracefully: one of our own titanium seatposts, a timeless Brooks B17 saddle, one gear with just enough gold, a titanium riser bar from srål and a custom bolt-on frame bag by the legendary Wit Slingers Bagworks; sadly taking a pause from making bags, making this one all the more special.
Some more detailed shots of the full build - including a closer look at the perfectly paired GROWTAC brakes - will follow tomorrow from Pedaleo.

If you’re nearby, come by to see our first Studio Edition framesets in Cosmic Lilac and Nuclear Sunset Orange. Limited to just 10 frames, they’re now in stock and waiting for their first adventures.

Which detail would make it onto your dream build?

Long climbs to sun-drenched alpine meadows, trundling descents along forgotten military roads to quaint villages and boulangeries with delicious pain au chocolat. Spectacular views that made the unrelenting climbs worthwhile.

The Alps Divide delivered everything it promised until a twisted knee from a stumble on a hike-a-bike and a fierce bout of dysentery from bad water cut my ride short. Not every adventure goes as planned and that’s part of the allure, for better or worse.

But the bike was a dream throughout - from grinding up steep technical climbs, picking careful lines through rock gardens, to softening the chatter of endless washboard roads. Exactly what it was designed for.

Adventure had, friendships forged, mission accomplished. 🤙