Irma already had an American touring bike but it was a bit too small and she never really liked the cantilever brakes. As she loves the look of classic Italian road frames, with their thin tubes and chrome seat and chain stays, she decided that she wanted one of those. However, as we live in Finland and it rains a lot here I managed to convince her that a pure road bike with no clearance for mudguards might not be the best choice. She finally agreed that a bike built around an audax frame would be the best bet; something fast and responsive but practical enough to be used in bad weather. She also decided on titanium, as the material is “bomb proof”, and we were looking at the many Chinese Ti frames offered by internet companies when I noticed that Burls was offering titanium frames. I contacted him to discuss the matter further.

Justin Burls is one of the friendliest people I have ever had the pleasure of doing business with. Also, very important when buying a custom bike, he is a frame builder, not Ti but steel, but he certainly knows what works and what doesn’t.

I knew roughly what size Irma’s frame should be but it was nice to run through all the options, possibilities and problems with Justin. Towards the end of the process we started to discuss fork options. She didn’t want carbon fibre and we were going to order a Burls steel fork when Justin said that he can get titanium forks, so we ordered them instead. Also I mentioned that a partially painted Ti frame would be smart, and he said that that would be no problem. The result was well worth the wait. The bike is stunning, and Irma fell in love with it as soon as she saw it. She’s now done over 400 km on it, the longest trip being 120 km, and the only thing that is stopping here doing more is the bad weather and the shortening days. She says the bike is light and fast and extremely comfortable and that it is the best bike she has ever ridden, and she has had quite a few bikes before. All in all, the bike is superb and we can’t fault it. Justin is easy to work with and his customer service is excellent. Justin, thanks for everything.

Irma & Bob