Component manufacturer Hope Technology have moved into the bike-making business with the HB.211, a carbon fibre enduro machine fully designed and built in Britain.

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Producing a complete bike has long been a dream for Hope co-founders Simon Sharp and Ian Wetherhill, two former Rolls Royce aerospace engineers. They first started on the idea in 2005, with a rough design for a downhill bike. 11 years later, that dream has become reality with the HB.211.

While Hope has traditionally specialised in aluminium components – making hubs, handlebars, bottom brackets, brakes and more – the HB.211 was initially conceived as a steel-welded bike, although carbon ultimately became the material of choice as technology improved over the years Simon and Ian were dreaming up this concept bike.

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The main reason this bike has been made now is simple: Simon and his son are riding the bikes on the Trans Provence this summer, a week-long rally-style race through the Alps.

The name is inspired by Hope’s home town of Barnoldswick, which sits on the border of Lancashire and North Yorkshire and is home to the site Rolls Royce’s RB211 jet engines were designed in.

The bike is, unfortunately, not available to the public as, according to their website, it was intended to be “a design exercise, rather than a commercial project”. But if initial feedback on the bike is positive, don’t be surprised if you see the HB.211 on the market one day in the near future.