What's it like to buy a Spoon Custom bike?

It’s difficult to articulate how what we do is different. We’ve been working on it a lot recently ahead of our forthcoming raise with Crowd Cube.

Crowd Cube is ideal for us. Not just because Matt (who owns this candy red Izoard RR) is already a customer. He’s their COO.

The community they have built over at Crowd Cube loves cycling (Atherton Bikes and Le Col both raised money on their platform) and the way CC run their campaigns means people can get involved from as little as £10.

And there’s some great success stories, including BrewDog, Monzo and Shoreditch coffee company, Grind.

Lots of the businesses on there are pre-revenue, meaning they’ve yet to establish demand for their product. We of course already have a brand, a growing community and a really good product. We’re showing strong year on year growth in line with our forecasts and we broke even for the first time last year. For new investors that means we are less risky as much of the heavy lifting is done. At this stage the business needs extra capital to grow the team, realise our plans, and let more people know we exist.

As part of the work you have to do to get ready to raise capital via their platform, you have to think about how you’re going to talk about what you do. That work is pretty hard.

I was therefore pleasantly surprised when Matt brought his own Spoon Custom bike back in for a pre-season check up and a coffee. Whilst he was here we asked him to chat with us about his experience of the process.

Check out his responses for yourself below.

For full disclosure we are obviously working with Crowd Cube just now, but Matt bought his bike with his own dosh, long before we signed on the dotted line, so his lovely words are entirely his own unprompted, and unedited…

The build up

I had a great bike already. Fast, light, top of the range Trek with ETAP fitted. I had ridden many thousands of happy miles on it. I didn't need a new bike, this was not a decision born out of necessity. I think thats probably part of the reason I ended up talking to Andy. I was not in a hurry to do anything but i knew I wanted something different, something with some soul, and when it comes to bikes, Andy's got soul up to his eyeballs.

The process

This was not instant gratification. Its not like putting something in your basket online or picking a bike off of a rack in a shop. It’s consultative and involved. The look, the feel, the fit - you talk through all of it over time. You get little endorphin hits as the process evolves and you get deeper into it. A picture here, a whatsapp update there, a fit to be attended. The paint was the hardest and the best part in equal measure. You start with a blank canvas and get VERY emotionally involved. You worry as much about getting it right as you do about getting it wrong. Being asked what particular sound you wanted the DT Swiss Hubs to make as Ben the wheel builder can 'tune' them for you was pretty cool.

The why

I wanted something unique, something long lasting, something fast and something that looked awesome. This bike gave me all of that. I love how Italy and cycling go together, always have. I love the fact my frame was hand crafted in Northern Italy by someone who has dedicated their life to frame building - I am reminded of it every time I swing my leg over the bike. The paint was part American muscle car and part Colnago Master and it's all me, nobody else. I wanted a relationship with the brand - I can do that with Andy and the team, just drop in for coffee and talk about bikes. With that relationship comes the knowledge that they are always there and will go the extra mile on something. At one point during the pandemic and the European wide lockdown Andy was going to cross multiple borders in his car in the dead of night to get my frame and return it home so he could get on with the build. I suspect Wiggle would struggle to replicate that level of care.

The finished product

Where to start. My wife tells me she is unsure if the bike is more loved than my children. It is everything I thought I wanted and more. It's fast because its smooth and direct andI feel more confident on it . It's comfy and planted because it's built for me - all of it. It's equally at home over rutted country lanes as it is on glass smooth rolling tarmac. Pulling up at a coffee stop is a different experience, people want to come and talk to you about the bike. It's what I imagine parking up on a busy high street in some sort of exotic sports car feels like and this is certainly a lot more cost effective than that. Nobody ever stopped and talked to me about my Trek Domane.

I can't wait to ride in Europe with it. High mountains, sweeping descents, long days, new roads.

These bikes and the experience of owning one will keep you in love with cycling, they are good for your soul and that's a good investment in my book.

Matt Cooper

Thanks to Matt. For putting his faith in us, coming on this journey and trusting us with his dream bike project (and of course for his kind words).