The early 2010s were a boom time for new UK MTB brands. We speak to the founders of three ‘generation alpha’ companies to find out about their road to success
Stanton Bikes, Hunt Wheels and Mason Cycles all trace their origins back to the early 2010s in Britain.
Since then, they have grown into recognisable names and influenced mountain bike design – we think for the better.
But how have they achieved this in a cycling industry dominated by multinational behemoths?
We spoke to the founders of Stanton, Hunt and Mason to find out.
Stanton Bikes
Established 2010 in Matlock, Derbyshire
Stanton came about when avid rider Dan Stanton couldn’t quite find what he was looking for in a bike.
He explains: “I was passionate about riding, ever since I was a boy. All I did in any spare time I had was mess about on bikes.
“It was street trials, dirt jumps and playing around in the woods, and, as I got older, I started going to trail centres.
“I was a hardtail fan, and there were a few bikes that were okay, but nothing that really enabled what I wanted to do on a bike. So, I set about designing one.”
His first creation, the Slackline, impressed our testers. They said it offered “a magical combo of snappy steel acceleration and a hardtail’s lightweight manoeuvrability”. We weren’t the only ones who liked it.
“The first frame I ordered got a spot in the Dirt 100 [the gravity-riding mag’s annual round-up of top products] and I held that for four years,” Dan recalls.
“As far as I’m aware, I developed the first proper long-travel, aggressive hardtail frame.
“It was touted as being able to race a 4X World Cup (it did!) and compete in the Bontrager 24/12 [endurance race].
“It hit that gap in the market and cemented Stanton as a leading hardtail brand, offering something different.”
Steel for hardtails
After a couple of decades of aluminium domination, followed by the arrival of carbon fibre, many younger riders had never ridden a quality steel bike before. But times were changing.
Dan tells us: “I think people have become educated on materials over time.
“Obviously, carbon is the lightest. But the amount of vibration that feeds through the frame, people feel it and it doesn’t take long for them to hear that there are better materials out there.
“Once people ride those, they realise the value of it. If they want the power transfer, they can get that from a well-designed hardtail, and they can also find all the comfort they want.”
Stanton went on to create the Sherpa 29er and the even rowdier Switchback, before branching out into titanium. In 2018, a full-suspension mountain bike arrived: the Switch9er FS.
Tricky times
The brand seemed to be very much on the up. But it’s no secret things turned sour, with the business going into administration in 2022 and Dan buying it back.
“The crazy thing is that I would never have stopped what was happening,” he says.
“It wasn’t my choice to bring the company to a grinding halt. The other director and investor wanted his money back.”
Things worked out for the best, though. “The way it’s fallen has shaken the rug and given me what I wanted,” says Dan.
“I can keep the business smaller, have more time with my family, be more consumer- and product-orientated, and actually get out riding again!”
Back where he started
With the main man back at the helm, Stanton feels like it did in the early days.
“It’s the same business,” he says. “We still fabricate hardtails here in the UK. But rather than having everybody on staff, we’ll bring in the welder when I’ve processed a load of frames for him.”
After creating so many great bikes, is there one that stands out for Dan?
“Probably the titanium/carbon full-suspension frame,” he replies, “which was the most complex product I’ve ever brought to market and I’m very proud of that.
“But also, the Switch9er and Sherpa Ti are really great to ride. I think I really hit the nail on the head with them.”
Hunt Bike Wheels
Established 2015 in West Sussex
The beautiful South (of England) has been something of a hotbed for British bike brands for years. One such outfit is Hunt Wheels, formed by brothers Tom and Peter Marchment.
“We grew up on the Isle of Man and would do van-shuttling on the plantation DH tracks,” recalls Tom.
“We all had janky hardtails, but it was great fun. Then, my mum and dad took us to Morzine in France and I was hooked!”
He went on to study ergonomics at university. But he “couldn’t see myself doing 40 years in a job I wasn’t excited about”.
So Tom entered the bike industry. He worked at a local shop (Eurocycles), then for DMR Bikes and on to i-ride, UK distributors for wheel brands Fulcrum, 3T and Campagnolo.
With all the knowledge he’d picked up – particularly from DMR’s Damian Mason and Matt Ryley – and contacts he’d made, Tom decided it was time to branch out on his own.
Filling a gap in the market
“I had a fair bit of relevant experience, so I discussed the opportunity with Pete, who has a strong grounding in materials science, metallurgy and composites,” he explains.
“We could see that the large wheel companies struggled with a few aspects.
“They weren’t always that close to what riders needed, in terms of product specification for the latest types of riding.
“Spares were often proprietary and hard to get hold of.
“And specs like high-end spokes, well-tested tubeless compatibility and wider rims for better tyre support weren’t making it down into the everyday alloy wheelsets our friends and us were rolling on.”
There was also a gaping middle-ground pricing gap to fill.
“Large companies were often hiking up the price of their aftermarket wheels to compensate for the lower profits made on OE kit (‘original equipment’, supplied to brands for use on complete bikes).
“We saw an opportunity to focus on these areas and to build a company of riders focused on creating the best wheels, where more of the money the consumer spends goes into the product – hubs, spokes, rims and the hand-building process – rather than into larger margins,” says Tom.
Much of the groundwork for Hunt Wheels, including the establishment of building standards, took place in the UK. Then it was replicated in Taiwan.
Tom says: “We have five people in our technical team here who regularly wheel-build, taking care of servicing and rim replacements for our customers’ wheels.
“For our main wheel-building, we partner with two hand-builders in Taiwan who are experts in batch wheel-building consistency.
“Consistently creating an evenly-tensioned, hand-built wheelset with the refined finish that hand-building can deliver isn’t easy.”
The Hunt for perfection
Product development and evolution is an ongoing hunt for perfection (hence the brand name). But a core value underlines Hunt Wheels, according to Tom.
“One of the key areas for us has always been serviceability and durability, so our wheels can last a long time and the rider can economically repair them and keep riding the same wheels for many years,” he says.
“So, there aren’t too many proprietary spokes and nipples or bearings, all of which should be easily replaceable.”
Tom and Peter have gone on to launch other brands, including Privateer Bikes, under the umbrella of TheRiderFirm.cc.
Mason Cycles
Established 2014 in Sussex
Many might assume Mason Cycles is a drop-bar bike brand. Indeed, that’s the arena it’s best known in, with eight all-road, gravel and adventure bikes in its range.
And yet, at the core of Mason is a far more rugged heart. Dom Mason, who founded the brand with his wife Julie, is the brother of Damian Mason, of DMR fame, and the pair rode off-road from an early age.
“We grew up building our own ‘tracker bikes’ – mostly 10-speed racers with cyclocross tyres and massive cowhorn bars,” Dom recalls.
“Damian and I would ride in the woods, on jumps, and regularly destroy bikes. After that, we became obsessed with BMX.
“My first MTB was a second-hand Ridgeback. It was huge, so I set about cutting it up, dropping the top tube, rebrazing the seatstays and turning it into the long/low shape of the Konas that were then coming in.”
Mason’s flat-bar roots
After years spent working with DMR and parent company Upgrade Bikes, Dom started Mason.
He explains: “I designed all the Kinesis UK frames and bikes for almost 15 years, and in that time, I learned a huge amount.
“These experiences taught me what I didn’t want to do, too. I knew I wanted to work with very small and established makers in Italy, not to ship things across the world in containers, and to work with metal.
“I’d become passionate about pushing the use of metal tubing and joining techniques, rather than moving to carbon fibre.
“I did design some successful carbon frames, but as an engineer it kind of left me cold.”
Onshoring the RAW
Mason’s first MTB, the steel RAW, ended up being produced not in Europe, but in Scotland.
Dom explains: “We started it in Italy, and I have some lovely Italian-built sample frames here.
“But then the pandemic hit and it became impossible for me to get out to the Italian workshops and see the process through, in the way we’d become accustomed to.
“I knew the guys from Five Land Bikes in Scotland, and we’d spoken a few years back about the possibility of working together.
“Having seen the lovely work they were doing, I knew their welds were mind-blowingly good. So I got back in touch and we started working together on what would become the RAW.”
By mixing and matching tubing, sticking to precision-led ideals and aiming for refined build quality, Mason has hit the mark with the RAW. It won MBUK‘s hardtail shootout when our sister publication tested it last year.
Ultra-endurance success
It’s proven to be a successful long-distance bike, too. Mason riders have piloted it to victory in off-road endurance classics around the world.
“The RAW was really well received,” says Dom.
“We worked very hard on the design, tubing and components, and picked the best possible frame-maker.
“But up to that point, we were perceived as a ‘drop-bar bike brand’, even though we have mountain biking and off-road riding firmly at our roots.”
Dom has more ‘riser-bar bikes’ in mind, too.
“Building on the success of this one, I’m interested in working with the makers of our Italian-built aluminium frames to develop an alloy hardtail, lighter and racier, possibly for a 100/120mm-travel fork.
“Full-suspension also interests me, and I’ve often discussed collaborating with a friend, using their proven suspension design and a Mason front end… Maybe one day!”