As Kumo Cycles’ Keith Marshall was building this ‘Raddoneur’, Land Rover was building the last Defender and Keith, being a self-confessed ‘tragic Defender owner’ himself, painted it in the same Kesswick Green.

Keith was supposed to take it to this years’ Bespoked Bristol show, but fate had different plans. He’s a natural DIYer, tinkerer and handyman, so God knows what he was doing up on a roof, but he fell off it and fractured his spine.

Bespoked was supposed to be the first international show that Kumo Cycles was to represent Australia at, but after six painful weeks, he was able to pick up the torch and finished the Raddoneur as a therapeutic remedy to build his back strength up.

Kumo Cycles is based in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. It’s Australia’s largest inland city but only the eighth-largest overall. Once you escape the city limits, however, there’s boundless trails to be explored, for which Keith’s Raddoneur is designed for.

A traditional randonneur was a bike for multi-mile day trips, with provision for a small bag to hold maps and snacks. This is Keith’s modern interpretation of it, with a frame that’s based around a 650b x 2.1 tubeless wheelbase.

This was destined to be a show bike, and fractured spine notwithstanding, Keith managed to complete all of the goals he set out to achieve with this build. There’s plenty of details to be admired — a fine demonstration of his skill and style.

The frame is built with bi-laminate construction from Columbus steel: check out those ‘lugs’ — carved fillet brazed sleeves that fit over the tubes to give the impression of lugs. Keith matched the stem to the frame, emblazoning it with a Kumo badge.

The front rack was made by Keith, with more brazed joins than the frame itself. It could probably carry a carton of beer if required, and could definitely push a wallaby out of the way, should one be encountered on the trail — a not unlikely risk in Australia.

That stem cap was milled manually, and those King cages have been cerakoted — a finish normally applied to firearms. Melbourne’s Busyman Bicycles provided the colour-matched perforated bar tape and the chain stay wrap.

Topped with a Brooks Cambium saddle, White Industries cranks, SON lighting, Campagnolo Athena shifting and Paul Klampers hauling everything up, Keith’s made himself a bullet-proof bike for riding a hard — but beautiful — landscape.

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