Thinking

Family owned and rider run, our small company has become the go-to bicycle brand for those who want to go Fast & Far. 

We are committed to the design and production of high quality, properly detailed bicycles for adventure and long-distance comfort, confidence and reliability.

We have a passion for working sustainably with metal and the small-batch makers within Europe and the UK.

Our 'Ride Driven Design' motto helps steer us in whatever we do.

MASON bicycles are intended to help people engage wholeheartedly with the outdoors - for many, many years. These are bicycles that are designed and built to last. The idea is that your MASON becomes your dependable travelling companion and carries you on your type of adventure as fast and far as that may be.

These are bicycles for covering ground, moving across very varied landscapes, with a destination in mind. This is where our #MadeForMiles and #FastFar sentiments arise from.

We love following our customers' travels and adventures, seeing them ride our bicycles across diverse geographies around the world, often loading them in creative ways for the bigger (sometimes self-sufficient) trips. Conceiving and providing the right machines for riders to travel and explore with flow and speed, sometimes pushing their limits and finding themselves in places that they had never imagined: this is what drives us.

We love this sort of riding because it gives us a strong connection to the natural world, when we lift our heads and take in our surroundings – riding with purpose, sometimes racing to a destination and pushing the boundaries against the clock. At other times, pausing and detouring to where there’s a view, and some nature to marvel over - or a new route with more whoops and smiles.

This sense of perspective, of stepping back to observe scenery and appreciating the beauty of the natural world, is one of the reasons that our bicycles and components have always been named after photographic terms.

For MASON, riding bikes is the perfect way to be immersed and feel connected to nature. The smells of vegetation, the changing air temperatures, the variation in riding surfaces, the sounds of the wild and the sudden shifts in weather patterns. It all awakens the senses and connects us to the great outdoors.

These ideas influence and inform the way in which we design and build every MASON bicycle and we hope that we can continue to share this ethos with the growing family of MASON owners around the world.

Our aim is to equip like-minded people with progressive bicycles that are #MadeForMiles and to support #FastFar adventures. Our approach to product development has always been inspired and informed by witnessing the sometimes unexpected ways in which riders use their bicycles and by watching and being involved as new riding styles emerge and evolve. Our team of supported riders are heavily involved in this process, from sketching an idea on a rice box from the middle of a desert in Mexico to testing the final production sample on the Highland Trail 550.

For the development of each model, we ride, modify, and then we ride it again, and again. As well as riding each frame ourselves, we collaborate and listen to the thoughts of others who we know can push the limits of prototypes. This not only helps to guide frame geometry, tubing type and shape but also real world riding practicalities like, gear attachment points, clearances and refined ride feel. All these factors combine and contribute to the spirit, ride quality and ultimate functionality of the bicycle that MASON customers will ride for many years. Many choose another MASON as their requirements broaden or new adventures beckon, a growing band have 3, 4 or even 5 MASON’s in their fleet!

We often hear statements like “I don’t know how you do it, but there’s magic in those tubes”. In reality, it’s watching, listening, riding, coupled with many years of bicycle design experience, 100’s of hours of development and working with and learning from, some of the finest frame builders, tube makers and riders in the world. Out of that mixture emerges the magic…

Our designs are progressive, born from function, and never for fashion.

Our bicycles are handcrafted.

Our approach is small batch.

Our partners embody craftsmanship.

MASON bicycles are built with care, attention to detail and with principles that take cues from times before mass-scale factory production was the norm. We’re proud to collaborate with independent, bespoke frame makers who are at the pinnacle of their craft. This is something we care about a lot and we feel honoured to be working with small makers in Italy for most of our models, some who have been dedicated to the art of metal frame production for nearly 75 years. This passion and experience gives them an unrivalled level of knowledge with metal frame fabrication, ensuring that we can hit the MASON CYCLES standard.

We embrace new technology and advances in component design and opt for premium frame material choices including titanium, steel and aluminium. We take a considered approach to fine-tuning of details and technology, such as developing custom MASON tube shapes, and we always develop and tool for our own carbon forks. No aftermarket forks have the detailing and ride refinement to balance our frames.

For us, all these considerations are what our ‘progressive’ approach is about. To always find ways to increase capability, adaptability, durability and the ultimate cycling experience. By doing this, we also hopefully challenge outdated industry conventions along the way.

For us, ‘The Barn’ is more than just a HQ. It represents part of why MASON CYCLES is not just ‘another bike company’. Situated in the heart of the South Downs National Park, our beloved base has become the Home of MASON, reflects a lot of our character and is quite literally immersed in the type of terrain we intend our bikes to be ridden on.

We have a small and very tight team, dedicated to producing the absolute highest quality and most functional bicycles. We pride ourselves in the highest levels of customer service. We all ride and are proud to work as part of a rider owned and run company.

The MASON team works hard on completing the products at that Barn before they arrive in the hands of our valued customers. This allows us to apply finishing touches, such as fitting our signature head badge, facing/chasing, final QC and all bicycle builds.

The 350 year old flint-walled Barn is on Applesham Farm, run by Christopher, Hugh and Sara Passmore - a long-standing family operation that has been awarded for services to nature, conservation and agriculture.

The Barn has become synonymous with MASON, including associations with the steep, chalk escarpments surrounding the farm buildings, that are nutrient poor but species rich with wild-flowers, butterflies, birds and insects.

The Barn also acts as an invaluable base for us to meet MASON bicycles owners, and for people to experience our legendary riverbank gravel/country lane, demo-ride routes straight from the farm lane.

Whilst we love our location, we always ensure our business and our bicycles are in service for riders all over the world, and for the variety of terrain on their doorsteps. Regardless of geography, whether you can get to the Barn or not, our team do everything possible to look after you, from your first email, phone call or contact.

We work closely with all customers during the decision making, fitting and buying process - and advise right through delivery, set up and that first ride.
Part of the MASON promise is that we will stay in communication during the entire ownership of your MASON bicycle or product.

There are many easier ways to run a bicycle business, but MASON has never been about ‘easy’, or cutting corners or accepting second best. This is part of our promise to anyone who rides our bikes, and where The Barn, the bicycles and our overall approach comes into its own.

We feel uneasy using the word ‘sustainability’ it seems to have lost some meaning in recent times. That said, we are acutely aware of our impact on the planet and our relationship with nature.

For us, our SUSTAIN outlook comes down to the idea of identifying ways to close the gap between people, bicycles and nature.

At the core, as well as cycling being not only good for both body and mind, we’re extremely proud to be part of an industry that also represents an environmentally low-impact form of transport.

Our choice of frame materials - notably aluminium, steel and titanium - are always premium and durable, so they last as well as they perform, and can be renewed, re-finished and repaired if needed. No corner-cutting and no materials with short lifespans destined for a fast-track to landfill.

From the start our passion has been fuelled by working with small makers and material suppliers within Europe, mostly Italy and the UK. This is not only because we want to work with the best possible suppliers and visit them to work as closely as possible, but also because the process of shipping products from the other side of the world does not feel acceptable. Where it is not viable to make our products within Europe, for example our forks, we will be looking at more environmentally friendly ways of transporting these.

We love the nature and craft of metal frames and will never make a carbon fibre MASON frame. Of course the performance of modern frames is truly astounding, there is no arguing that, and we realise that the metal tubing manufacturing process is far from perfect environmentally, but we believe in the sustainable and long lasting nature of the product. We also believe that a properly designed metal frame, using high quality tubes and fabrication, can equal or outperform a carbon framed bicycle in many ways. 

We love welds! The design and production process for the carbon frame leaves us a little cold, and we worry about the environmental impact and ability to recycle and re-purpose.

We do use carbon forks. This is because, in most instances, they outperform a metal fabricated fork in just about every way and have many advantages for the type of bicycles that we make. We have engineered in replaceable wear surfaces, such as the ‘F-Stop Dropouts’ in an attempt to ensure the forks have the longest possible lifespan. 

As we grow, we will continue to look at alternative ways to make forks and will use a metal fork if it makes sense from a performance point of view [such as a load carrying fork for a MTB], we will also look more closely at the carbon fibre production process and product lifespan to see if we can discover improvements.

Where we design and use plastic based components, we try to work with suppliers who use sustainable practices and recycled and reusable materials. For our 3D printed components we use 3DPrintUK, not only because they produce super high quality components and are UK based, but because they aim to be the first fully certified, carbon-neutral 3D printing bureau by the end of 2023 and the first 3D printing bureau to offset 100% of their plastic output.

Our Clothing: We recognise that the fashion and clothing industry is wasteful and hugely damaging to the environment. With this firmly in mind, we have completely revised our Mason Cycles clothing range. The garments are carefully considered and chosen to compliment each other in terms of colour, weight and function. The quality reflects our bicycle range and we have focused on the sustainability and social responsibility of the garments and companies that supply them. They are designed to look good and perform well and we want you to use them hard and keep them for a long time.

We have made sure all garments are high quality, providing a product that we expect to last for many years and become your go-to clothing. We have tried to use Earth Positive, recycled and naturally derived fabrics where possible and have chosen muted colours for most garments to reduce dye content. There is more detail on our clothing range and suppliers HERE.

One reason we care about the aesthetics of our bicycles is because we want our customers to love the bicycle they ride. This not only helps on those tough points of a journey, but also by forming a strong bond with a MASON bicycle we hope that owners are encouraged to truly cherish and keep them running for as long as possible.

Our bicycles are engineered to be adaptable, to change with riding styles and updates and progression with technology and components.

We don’t do ‘model years’. We introduce new models when we have identified a real progression, riding requirement and a bicycle that can help you achieve your goals.

Our ideal type of riding is to balance going fast with taking as much time as possible to look around and consider the landscapes we ride through, noticing the condition of the land, and also how it might be damaged or suffering from human interference.

When we found our HQ - the Barn in Sussex - part of the appeal was to utilise an existing old farm building. This allowed us to minimise our carbon footprint by not building a new premises to cater for our business operation needs, as well as giving us a beautiful location to work from surrounded by countryside.

The harsh reality is that we’re far from perfect. The products we make and how we go about business demands resources that of course leave an environmental footprint.

There is much more we can do and it is something that we truly care about.

It’s our promise to ourselves and our customers that we will continue to give our impact on the environment attention and work on improving the way we run the business.

Riding sits at the core of what we do and we work closely with all those who get out there on our bicycles, including our team of supported riders. These fine people are our friends first and foremost, they also happen to be phenomenal riders and we are very happy to be supporting them and marvelling at their awe-inspiring achievements.

JOSH IBBETT

See Josh on Instagram HERE. Athlete page HERE.

Racing endurance events has given me a love for travelling through and exploring new places. I want to see as much of the world as I can and racing is a pretty quick way to do it!

While Josh will tell you that racing isn’t everything and he is just as happy touring as he is racing, his competitive track record cannot be ignored. Landmark results such as winning the TransContinental Race in 2015 (on one of the first MASON Definition’s ever made) are what have contributed to Josh’s status as one of the most formidable endurance cycling athletes out there.

Josh has been there since the start of our small brand and has been key in helping to develop and inspire new models. His inspiration is inseparable from our success.

Some Key Achievements:

  • Transcontinental Race 2015 - 1st. MASON Definition
  • Italy Divide 2017 - 1st. MASON Bokeh
  • Bikingman Oman 2018 - 2nd. MASON Definition
  • Bikingman Oman 2019 - 3rd. MASON Definition
  • Tour Divide 2019 - 6th (after getting caught in the boggy hell). MASON InSearchOf
  • GBDuro 2020 - 1st. MASON InSearchOf
  • HT550 2021 - 4th. (after charging system hell) MASON RAW prototype
  • Race Around Rwanda 2022 - 4th. MASON Bokeh
  • Atlas Mountain Race 2022 - 6th. MASON InSearchOf
  • Silk Road Race 2023 - 7th. MASON RAW 

Images courtesey of: GranGuanche.com | Sergio Villalba

NAOMI FREIREICH

See Naomi on Instagram HERE.

Biking for me is therapy. Being self-sufficient on a bike and riding into the quiet of the wilds of Scotland and beyond is what gives me strength.

With a background in 24-hour mountain bike racing, Naomi draws on these skills to continually find new ways to ride longer, faster and harder. Her enthusiasm and selfless dedication to encouraging others to experience the joy and benefits of adventure riding are part of what make’s Naomi so special. Alongside her incredible cycling feats, Naomi also aims to destigmatise mental illness through openly communicating how she uses two wheels to manage her depression.

Some Key Achievements:

  • South Downs Way - Fastest Known Time. MASON Bokeh

ANGUS YOUNG

See Angus on Instagram HERE. Athlete page HERE.

Touring is fun, but you can't beat that satisfaction you get by going through the process of preparing for racing your heart out and then reflecting on what you’ve done.


Sheer pace and commitment have become Angus Young trademarks, which have resulted in impressive accolades such as winning the Pan Celtic 2021 as well as setting a blistering 32hrs15mins FKT on the 3 Peaks challenge, involving a combination of cycling and running segments. With a dogged determination matched only by a compassionate nature and a truly diverse skillset, that includes holding an elite level winter triathlete status, there’s no limit to what Angus is capable of.  

Some Key Achievements:

  • GBDURO 2019 - 2nd place in my first ultra race. MASON Bokeh.
  • Panceltic 2021 - 1st. MASON Definition
  • GBDURO 2021 - DNF but my best physical performance - MASON Bokeh.
  • 3 Peaks Challenge 2021 - Fastest Known Time of 32hrs 10mins. [Note: This is about 5 hours faster than the previous known time! Dom.] - MASON Definition
  • Dales Divide 2022 - 1st. MASON RAW and new Fastest Known Time of 35 hrs 43 mins
  • European Divide Trail - Fastest Known Time. Mason InSearchOf - 7600Km | 32 Days | 6Hrs | 28mins.
  • Highland Trail 550 - 1st. MASON RAW and new Fastest Known Time - 550 Miles | 3 days | 7 hours | 25 minutes

PHILIPPA BATTYE

See Philippa on Instagram HERE | Rider Round-Up 2022

Riding bikes for me is about freedom and exploration. As my comfort zone expands and limiting beliefs decrease, the more extra-ordinary experiences I'm able to have.

Philippa is a unique melting pot of ambition, humility, optimism, creativity, and pure grittiness. Behind her infectious ear-to-ear smile is a toughness that makes her a true force of nature in races. When asked what attracted her to the inaugural GBDuro in 2019, Philippa’s deadpan response perfectly captures her unflappable and straight talking approach: “I'm going to see the length of Great Britain and a lot of what's in between in a relatively short space of time!”

Some Key Achievements:

All achieved riding her MASON Bokeh.

  • Italy Divide 2019 - 2nd Female 17th overall
  • All points North 2019 - 1st Female 11th overall
  • Gbduro 2019 - 1st Female 6th overall
  • Further 2019 - 3rd Female 6th overall
  • Great British Escapade 2020 - 1st Female 5th overall
  • Gbduro 2021 - 2nd Female 5th overall
  • Further East 2021 - 1st Female 4th overall
  • Further Pyrenees 2022 - 2nd Female 
  • Dorset Divide in 2022 - 1st Female 4th overall
  • Craggy Island Triathlon - 2nd Female | First race on the RAW finishing in 2nd place despite riding a steel hardtail!
  • Highland Trail 5550 - 2nd Female 10th overall | MASON RAW

Some memorable rides:

  • 2018 - London to the Outer Hebrides - First proper tour on my new Mason Bokeh. Pedalling out of the city I'd lived in for 9 years felt like a symbolic end to a chapter, and turned out to be the start of very exciting things.
  • Silk Road Mountain Race - Mason Bokeh - A naïve and blissfully ignorant foray into my first off road race.
  • GbDuro x 2 - Mason Bokeh -  Lands End to John O Groats - A race and route worth doing at least twice!
  • Lap the Gap 2022 
  • Further Pyrenees 2022 - A really spectacular route and experience

LUCA MONTOYA

See Luca on Instagram HERE.

I'm currently on my way to Spain to participate in my first bike-packing event. After that I'm going to ride to Turkey and catch a plane to Indonesia to participate in the Bentang Java, which is another great event. This year it's mainly for the experience, if I enjoy riding against myself on time I will definitely do more events and races in the future. If I don't try something new, I'll never know if I like it or not. 

For some time, we’ve been following Luca’s entertaining and inspiring content as he travels the world on two wheels. And it turns out Luca has long been a fan of Mason, seeing our bikes on the start lines of various ultra-races. So when he got in touch to tell us about his ambition to step up a gear, we knew this could be a brilliant opportunity for us both. Mason creates bikes for adventures, and Luca creates stories of adventures. We had to meet.

We’re so glad we did. Luca Montoya loves so much of what we love. Not just bikes, but skating, music and so many of the influences that sit behind the way we design and produce our bikes.

Read more.

 

CLAIRE FRECKNALL

See Claire on Instagram HERE.

A friend once said to me ‘say yes to every adventure’ and that’s pretty much how I rolled from then on.


Claire is the ultimate voyager and rarely turns down an opportunity to new experiences on the bike. While effortlessly racking up numerous QOMs both on and off-road around her Sussex stomping ground, Claire is most at home exploring off the beaten track.  An avid world traveller and never shy of a farfetched destination she’s not afraid to push herself out of her comfort zone but for her the riding is more about discovering new cultures and places than it is about racing.

Some Memorable Rides:

  • My first ride out of my Sussex once the lockdown was over
  • A good friend had moved down to Devon just before the pandemic hit so once we were free to travel around the country I rode along to visit her. Seeing the countryside change as the miles ticked by was so refreshing after being restricted to local rides for so long.
  • SSX Mystery tour
  • A brutally tough day in the saddle, The longest day ride I've ever done and with the most elevation climbed. Just to make things even harder it was one of the hottest days of the year, yet somehow still contained unridable muddy sections through the forests.
  • Second City Divide
  • Mid November may not be the prime season for riding from Glasgow to Manchester but we got pretty lucky, one full day of rain to start us off but clothes were dried at the bothy and from then on it was mostly clear and dry. A route id love to go back and do again during longer daylight hours, Im sure we missed some stunning scenery.
  • Grinduro
  • Gravel racing with an emphasis on fun. Some challenging technical sections mixed in with lung burning fireroad climbs. The timed sections are spread out throughout the day so there's plenty of time to meet people and chat in between the racing.
  • PubDuro North York Moors
  • A racing collective event across the North York Moors, Probably the best gravel route ive ever ridden, great company and huge portion of Fish and Chips on the beach at the end. Whats not to like?

LISA PFEIFFER

See Lisa on Instagram HERE. Athlete page HERE.

My first bikepacking trip across the alps on a heavy loaded bike was a good example of how I like to approach cycling: Going for the full package of adventure and figuring out the how while I'm on the way.

"For me, cycling has always been to a great amount about meeting awesome people and sharing my passion for this beautiful sport. Getting to know Dom and Alex in Düsseldorf at Cyclingworld Europe confirmed the impression I already got when we talked via email in advance – I truly felt at home with the good vibes, their down to earth mentality and the general approach on cycling. Being driven by the urge to find ones very own way, creating new paths rather than just following trends has always been a core value in everything I do. Sharing these very same values with Mason means a lot to me and I couldn't have asked for a better team to be on."

Some Key achievements:

  • Race Around Rwanda 2023 - 2nd finisher, Women's Self-Supported Category. 1,000 km and 17,000 m of elevation gain, with around 40% of the race on gravel roads.

Some Memorable Races:

  • Three Peaks Bike Race 2020
  • Two Volcano Sprint 2021
  • Mittelgebirgeclassique 2022
  • Two months of touring in the French Alps 2022
  • Trans-Continental Race 2023 | MASON Definition

MICHELE MIANI

See Michele on Instagram HERE

I do not consider myself a cyclist, I use the bike to escape! The more I am in the middle of nowhere, the happier I am. I like to be outside, in the middle of nature, to experience it, to smell it. I like to travel and enter the lives of the people I know around the world! I prefer riding off-road, it is more wild, just like me! I love that feeling of fear and then always being able to get away with it!

Some Memorable Races:

  • 2015 Tour Divide - 9th.
  • 2017 Trans Am Bike Race - 4th.
  • 2019 Northcape 4000 - 1st.
  • 2020 Hope 1000 - 10th.
  • 2020 Iberica Traversa (gravel) - 2nd
  • 2021 Swiss Bike Adventure  (road) - 2nd

Riding his MASON RAW 

  • 2022 Race Around Rwanda
  • 2022 Silk Road Mountain Race - 1st pair home!
  • 2022 Atlas Mountain Race - 5 Days/3 hours.
  • 2023 Hellenic Mountain Race - 7th 

WERONIKA SZALAS

See Weronika on Instagram HERE.

Mountainous quiet roads are my favourite. I love to explore new places and I feel drawn to wide, remote landscapes. I like to cycle far and a lot but I don't find myself very competitive. I get more reward from camping in nature than racing. From time to time I like to push my limits though.

We met Weronika in the summer of 2022, at the Zero Neuf Gather Festival in France. Through our shared appreciation of riding, photography and the outdoors, we made a connection and I have followed her riding adventures ever since.

Take a look @weronika.szalas on Instagram and you'll be instantly drawn in by her beautiful photography, inspiring voyages and connection to the landscape and the people that she encounters along the way. Wero felt like such a natural fit for MASON, so I thought that as soon as we were able, it would be great to support her on her continued riding adventures.

So, now is the time! Considering her plans to tackle some more rugged and isolated terrain, including riding to and taking part in the forthcoming Accursed Race, it was essential for her bike to be versatile, practical, and capable of covering hugely varied terrain, whilst carrying everything she would need for bikepacking and endurance racing!

Read more.