What if? – The MASON x Barco Exposure Primitiva concept

When DT Swiss invited MASON Cycles to create something a little different for this year’s Craft Bike Days, Dom Mason immediately began sketching ideas — then called his friends at Cicli Barco in Italy to bring them to life.

The result? A concept bike that captured attention and was crowned “Highlight of the Show” — the event’s top honour.

Collaboration of craft and innovation

MASON Cycles and Cicli Barco set out to build something unique and progressive: the MASON x Barco Exposure Primitiva.

This is a concept bike designed to explore new technologies and ask: What happens when UK design meets Italian steel craft and Swiss innovation?

Three vital ingredients:

• MASON Exposure – our renowned gravel adventure platform

• Italian manufacture by steel specialists Cicli Barco, using Dedacciai tubes

• DT Swiss F 132 ONE fork – a gravel-specific 40 mm suspension fork with integrated routing

The Primitiva celebrates MASON’s partnership with Barco while experimenting with new suspension, geometry, integrated routing, and alternative finishes.

New twists on a beloved platform

The Exposure is already one of MASON's best-loved models: an Italian-built steel bike designed for long off-road adventures, yet lively and responsive on fast-rolling terrain. The experimental Primitiva builds on this foundation, exploring new ideas:

• Geometry tuned for the DT Swiss F 132 suspension fork, carefully retaining the Exposure’s essential comfort and liveliness

• Integrated routing – a first on a MASON steel frame, blending Barco and DT Swiss expertise

• Barco’s Zero head tube, machined to a precise length for low stack height, large weld area, and space for integrated routing

• Dramatic Barco ‘Primitiva’ finish, combined with MASON’s brass fade, highlighting Barco’s craftsmanship in a stunning and unusual look

• Subtle co-branding and fine detailing, celebrating the MASON x Barco collaboration

Show-stopping concept

Revealed at November’s DT Swiss Craft Bike Days, the Primitiva drew attention from some of the world’s most skilled welders, frame-builders, designers, and engineers.

In fact, they were so impressed, they voted the Primitiva 'Highlight of the Show' by a clear majority!

Dom Mason on the Exposure Primitiva

The MASON brand is about combining detail-focused design with traditional framebuilding skills. A progressive attitude is vital to this. New trends and technologies arrive fast in our industry. My job is to listen to our riders’ needs and decide which innovations genuinely help them on their adventures. To determine new directions, it’s good to ask: What if?

Working with Barco on the Exposure Primitiva allowed us to test ideas and to learn. The DT Swiss gravel fork is exciting in its own right, but some of Barco’s touches really brought this project to life. That Zero head tube, for example, is machined to a precise length after welding, leaving no extension above or beneath. It gives us a large weld area and great strength, but takes real craft to achieve. I love it.

Winning ‘Highlight of the Show’ was a lovely bonus. It’s always heartening when our bicycles are recognised, but this felt extra-special coming from my peers in the industry. We all strive to create bikes that stand out, but we’re also a community of creators who love great design — so being honoured like this is fantastic.

And Gianluca Barco of Cicli Barco:

This project wasn’t planned from the start, but once we decided to join forces, everything fell into place with a natural sense of purpose. For me, this is what real collaboration looks like — not just two brands side by side, but a shared process where each identity strengthens the other. The combination of Mason’s design vision and our craft-driven approach shaped a bike that reflects both worlds, representing a true partnership. Seeing how it resonated at Craft Bike Days was a moment of real pride and gratitude.

This bike has been about asking questions: Would a 40 mm suspension fork suit the Exposure? Could we retain its ride feel? Would integrated routing on steel meet riders’ needs? The feedback from fellow designers and MASON riders has been fantastic.

What’s next for the Exposure Primitiva?

The Primitiva is strictly an experimental project — a chance to create something very special with Barco and to use it for ride testing and development. Don’t expect this concept to appear on our website soon.

But I would love to know what riders think. Does it spark interest in gravel suspension, integrated routing on steel, or eye-catching finishes beyond our standard multi-stage paint process?

The Primitiva is a glimpse of the future — a concept born from collaboration, curiosity, and craft.