You’ve probably heard of Frameworks. The boutique brand makes bespoke bikes out of exotic materials, and boasts riders like Hardline winner Asa Vermette on its race team.

What you might not know is that a UK brand called Five Land Bikes welded up some of its early prototypes. Bikes like Neko Mulally’s Fort William World Cup frame he raced in 2023, which incidentally feature a steel front triangle designed by Cotic’s Cy Turner.

Method Framework founders Callum and Matt, at the Fort William World Cup, holding their latest creation – Neko Mulalley’s bike

In fact, Frameworks isn’t the only brand to benefit from its high end welding, Cotic, Mason, Swarf and more all use the self-effacing Scottish firm. That means it’s responsible for all Cotic’s full suspension bikes, and the divisive Cotic Rocket e-bike with its external battery.

But now Five Land Bikes is coming out of the shadows to launch its own range under the name Method Framework. “We don’t want to lean too heavily on the giants like Cotic and Frameworks though,” says Matt Stitt from Method Framework. “We’re just a couple of guys who want to make bikes.”

The new Zapr is a lustrous display of skill, with beautiful detailing

Five Land Bikes and the birth of Method Framework

Five Land Bikes has made steel and titanium bikes for years now, cutting tubes, welding, machining and painting frames since 2017. And for over eight years Matt and co-owner Callum have been happy to work in the background. From this week you’ll also be able to buy an own label mountain from the Five Land founders, called the Zapr.

Made from titanium tubing, it uses a 3D printed yoke and benefits from proportional geometry and size specific chain stays. And like some of the best hardtail mountain bikes around, it uses a 120mm fork up front.

Method Framework Zapr

There are plans to expand the lineup further over the years too, with a slightly less quirky full suspension bike in the design stage, and a gravel bike called the Tripi that’s new to market.

“It’s been something we want to do for a while, make our own bikes alongside bikes for others and we’ve been working on this for years,” Matt explains. “But no one was asking for titanium, we can comfortably build with it so we decided to prove it.”

Short chainstays and an oversized rear tyre make the Zapr quirky, but potentially fun to ride

The Zapr is very definitely a statement piece then, designed to show just how good Method Framework is at working with this traditionally difficult frame material. The geometry and build makes it very definitely a niche hardtail, it’s been designed as a full 29er but riders who want to mullet the bike can do, Method says. It’ll also take a 2.6in wide wheel at the front, and a massive 2.8in at the back.

It’s not really about the bike though, as Matt says, this is a showcase to point out just how good the brand is when it comes to welding.

Method Framework

“Building with Ti is really difficult because it’s really sensitive to impurities, Matt says. “We’ve heard some brands sourcing titanium frames from Asia with a 30% failure rate.”

The way round this is to weld the frames together inside an argon gas bubble, which effectively forces contaminants – chiefly oxygen in the air – away from the join.

Method Framework

“It’s also prone to cracking,” Matt says. “Ti will find that sharp edge between the tubes and crack it, so it’s the wee details we’re extra careful about to ensure flawless frames.”

Method Framework Zapr details

The new Zapr is described by Method Framework as a short travel trail bike for XC laps and singletrack. It uses a UDH/T type drivetrain, gets 3D printed dropouts and boasts external cable routing. There are also Options to add top tube bag mounts, rack mounts and removal of cable guides for wireless set ups.

Method Framework

Titanium isn’t a material you’d want to cover up with paint, as such it uses a satin bead blasted finish with a choice of six anodised graphic colour options.

The frame weighs a claimed 1,752g ex. Hardware in size medium, lighter than that of a Specialized S-Works Epic. As you’d expect, pricing isn’t the bike’s strong point – the titanium frame only is £4400. The lead time is 6-8 weeks.

Method Framework

Expensive mountain bike sales were up in 2025, but overall the cycle industry hit a 25 year low in the UK last year. Is this a sensible time to be launching a new bike brand then, I ask Matt?

I have no idea if the market is there for ti hardtails!” he says. “We’re doing this because we’re working on it anyway, and we thought we may as well offer it to other people. We set up this as a lifestyle choice.”