Tom Howard’s BTR Gasser that was acquired despite/because of a particularly boozy event the night before.

Bike brand and model

BTR Gasser

Pic: Joolze DymondWhy this bike?

As I was approaching my 40th birthday, I was thinking about getting an e-bike (I’ve had a Gen1 Specialized Levo before, so had an idea of what to expect), but a trip to a couple of shops and a rental of one for a day just left me cold, in the same way shopping for white goods might, the bikes were impressive but at the same time, meh.

On the demo eeb I tried, climbs were a zoom to the top and then having to negotiate a lump back down, so I figured if the climbs are going to be dull, just use an uplift, and have a nicer ride on the way down, so I started looking into DH monsters, like the Tora EVH, Starling Sturn and even a vintage Brooklyn Machine Works Racelink, to properly fulfill Teenaged Tom’s wildest dreams!

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Fast forward to Bespoked 2024 and, following a particularly boozy event the night before, I was nursing a hell of hangover whilst trying to concentrate on what I was looking at/forming coherent sentences etc. Until I saw BTR Burf’s red Gasser and promptly fell in love with it. The raked out front end, the straight skinny tubes and huge USD fork and then all the little details when I got closer, just blew me away. I had a chat with Burf and he explained that he was only going to make 10, and that his was #3. Well, that was a red rag to a bull! I figured if I had fallen quite so head over heels with it, others would too so after a few discussions with friends, and the forum, on the merits of a bike I had zero love for, but was more practical, vs an impractical object of desire, a couple of months later I dropped Burf an email, hoping he’d not sold the remaining seven slots.

He hadn’t. So plans were drawn up and an order was placed.

Fast forward some more, to Bespoked 2025, and my frame was there and it’s amazing. I like that whilst it has modern kit attached, it still looks classic, like a resto mod sports car (Singer Porsche, Eagle E-Type etc), it doesn’t have the absolute latest trends and whizzbangery – coughgearboxandbeltcough – it’s not chasing thousandths of seconds in races, just a beautifully made thing that I can happily throw down an alp when I fancy.

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Pic: Joolze DymondFrame

BTR Gasser #4, in Celestial Blue. 190mm travel, 62.5deg head angle, 510mm reach, 676mm stack, 440mm cs.

Fork

EXT Vaia, 200mm Travel. Moto AF.

Shock

EXT Arma V4

Suspension set-up

Entirely how Mojo Rising set them up, based on my 90kg weight. Impending bike park trips may result in changes, but only minor ones.

Wheels

Hope Pro 5 hub with 54POE freehub, Sapim D-Light spokes, WeAreOne Triad 32h rims, mullet

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Tyres

Maxxis (I haven’t the spare brain capacity to learn another manufacturers combos of compounds/tread patterns/sidewalls…) Assegai DD 3C Maxxgrip 29x 2.5 Front, Dissector DD 3C Maxxgrip 27.5×2.4 Rear

Tyre inserts

As usual, I have inserted the finest West Yorkshire air, and a bit of sealant to keep it inserted.

Chainset

165mm Cane Creek EEWings, Custom Dward Designs 34T Ti Chainset, Fraezen guide/bash, Hope BB, Outlier Pendulum pedals

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Rear mech

SRAM GX AXS DH. Made by swapping the cage from an X01 DH mech, and winding on the upper limit screws to avoid over shifting. Works OK, but there is change afoot.

Shifters

2x AXS pods, left hand button to go faster, right hand button to make it easier, as per all my other bikes. Also means I can add a dropper later if the mood takes.

Cassette

GX DH 7 speed 11-25, XX1 11 speed chain.

Pic: Joolze DymondBrakes

Intend Trinity DH, with 223/203mm 2.05mm Trickstuff HD rotors. Got up silly early in the morning to get one of the limited drops. after madlly refreshing the page for like 10 mins before I accepted defeat, moped about for a bit until someone pointed out I’d miscalculated the time difference. Back in the game! Brakes were secured! can confirm they were worth the early start.

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Bars & stem

Enve M9 Bars 31.8 clamp, 810mm wide, 30mm rise. Rulezman HD-V1 bar clamp, 18mm ‘long’. Moto AF

Grips

ODI Vans V2.1

Seatpost

Hope Carbon

Saddle

Burgtec ‘The Cloud’ w/Ti rails

Accessories

Hope Headset and Dward Designs Ti Topcap, Invisiframe

Size and weight

Sized as above, for my 6’1″ self. Weight is a svelte 40lbs 5oz, or 18.3kg which, given its a 13 odd pound frame, I’m pretty happy with. Lighter than all but the lightest of e-bikes…

Pic: Joolze DymondAdditional comments

Planning to move to a SRAM AXS Transmission based mech set up, using an aftermarket cage (as soon as it becomes available, currently delayed) and a road 12 speed mech. Also, when I was planning this out in my head, the Vaias hadn’t been officially released, and all the prototype crowns were clear anodized, so silver in appearance, which I thought would carry over to production. Apparently not, but I’m told they are coming, so as soon as they are available, they’ll be fitted, along with new graphics, to match the rest of the bike. Other than that, I’m well happy with how it’s turned out!

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Thanks to: Burf, obvz. Joolze Dymond, for the pics. Al Shaw, for spannering. Paul at JMJ Designs/The Custom Bicycle Company, for custom wrapping the frame and supplying a fair few bits. Everyone else that’s helped!

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