Video: BTR Fabrications and the downhill hardtail
Meet Tam and Burf from BTR Fabrictions and their hardtail DH bike the Belter.
You may remember Paul “Burf” Burford and Tom “Tam” Hamilton from the feature we did with them in Dirt Magazine issue #124.
These two chaps have just set up shop in their garden shed and have begun producing a specific downhill hardtail called the Belter.
Check out this video in which Burf and Tam tell you more about themselves and the bike.
Quite fancy having a go on a belter
needs taking up to scotland for a chairlift work out
Hardtails Rule!!! (can I get a T-shirt saying that?)…
Looks like a fun machine. But, what’s the story with Tam’s ‘Disco Leg’??
“Hello Girls”
I have a 2003 Cove Stiffee updaded with Saint/XTR, wide flat bars, and Fox 36 Kashima. No kidding. It is so much fun to ride! I want to see more of this.
More of this sort o’thing! Sounds like my lad’s next bike is in the BTR pipeline…
great video loved it wow!
birf, 26? the future is looking bleak
Good video and they come across as two nice chaps. They just need to bring the quality of the frame up to justify the £600 price tag. Either that or the one I saw was pre-production!?
Oh my giddy golly gosh.
I grew up with Tam-boiler suit- round Fort Bill. Graduated High School. Well, its been like 7 years and boy done good.
Well done.
Don’t know what chris m is on about – I’ve seen one and quality is amazing! And consider their costs as a small set up, six hundies is not much money compared to the amount of time put into each one, let alone the cost of the materials. People should be paying much more in my opinion.
@sucka. Amazing is not the word I would use for their “quality”. I want to sing their praises, but having seen the welds, the headtube design, the strengthening plates and the bb design, I believe it could be better. Got to start somewhere though, so they can only get better.
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Granted it’s a different genre, but you can get a Stanton Slackline for £200 less with 853 tubing and compatibility with a 160mm fork. Stanton have a really nice clean design and BTR need to improve. I’d gladly pay more if it looked better! Harsh, but true, IMO.
Thanks for the positive comments guys!
Chris M, Im not sure if you’re aware, but the Stanton is made in Taiwan. Also putting 160mm forks on a hardtail isnt necessarily a good thing. Which frame of ours have you seen? The raw one that we rolled around on for ages was the first frame we ever made, and its still going strong despite abuse and nasty hand sprayed lacquer!
Cheers!
Hi Tam. I was aware of the Stanton being made in Taiwan, but I was actually referring to the design and clean lines to be honest. I should have made that more clear. I was just using it as an example. Besides, the Stanton isn’t perfect though, as it needs a XX44 headtube (or tapered) and a dropper post compatible Seattube. A bolt-through back end wouldn’t hurt either (on the Stanton).
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The frame I saw was the Orange one.
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Just a thought, but what about brazing your frames and adding more to the cost? Would be strong and look a whole lot nicer, IMO. Going along the lines of Curtis, but without the custom choices, so to speak.
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Please don’t take this to heart as I do honestly meant this with the nicest of intentions. It’s put out there for the public to see and make an option on, which I did.
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Genuinely, all the best to you and Burf. I really hope a British company like yours thrives!
Hi Chris,
Brazing actually isnt as strong as TIG welding. It does perform better in fatigue (thats why Curtis frames will last forever), but we’re confident weve got plenty life in our frames as well as the outright strength. Stanton sure did miss a trick with the head and seat tubes. Definitely a nice looking frame though, yeah. Stove enamel looks cool too.
The orange frame is our second frame, and its quality is also not up to what you would see on our frames now. It had paint instead of powder coat too, so the finish didnt stay nice for very long!
Cheers for the support mate, much appreciated! If youre interested please fire me an email at btrfabrications@gmail.com and I can explain why we’ve plonked big gussets at the head tube and bb on the Belter.