The Liberation Cycle

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

It starts with 9.5 tonnes of combined metal, plastics, and lubricants that will not perish in a landfill or contaminate our environment.

But it ends with 700 unique opportunities that only a bicycle can foster.

A refurbished bike means:
🔹 Getting someone to a job that might have been just out of reach.
🔹 Getting a child to school so they can find their elemental spark.
🔹 Helping families connect with and settle into a new community.

This is the dual power of The Liberation Cycle: environmental rescue meets human empowerment.

To keep this momentum going and hit our future goals, we are looking to connect with corporate sponsors who share our vision for a greener, fairer society. If your company is looking to make a tangible, measurable difference in the community this year, we would love to chat.

👉 How does your organisation give back? Let’s connect in the comments, or drop us a message to see how we can collaborate!

Whilst in the middle of servicing this custom build, a friend messaged to see if I was free for a little shred.Perfect timing. I could test out my work and invest in my mental wellbeing—which is exactly what we are all about here at The Liberation Cycle. 🚲

💚A few takeaways from a much-needed spontaneous ride:
1️⃣ The Gear: I ❤️ Manitou air forks and 26-inch wheels. Classic for a reason.
2️⃣ The Medicine: Nothing beats our verdant, green nature for processing the thoughts that need processing. Nature truly is therapy.
3️⃣ The Community: Mates have quality subconscious-timing skills. When you need a lift, they just seem to know.

Bikes, nature, and connection. That is the liberation cycle in a nutshell.👇 What’s your go-to therapy when you need to clear your head? A ride? A walk in the woods?

Let us know below!

The Transformation: From Barn Find to Bournville Cool 🚲✨
We were so grateful to have received this kind donation recently.

It came to us straight from a farmer’s barn. When they first wheeled it out into the daylight, only one word came to mind: funky.

Dawes always made quality bikes—truly built to last a lifetime. But back in the day, the name never quite had the "cool factor" of a Specialized or a Kona. Because of that lack of cachet, I didn't actually know anyone who owned one.

But with age comes maturity, right? And the confidence to call something out for what it is. This Dawes is a quality, humble, deeply funky bike. But as the before-and-after shows, its original creator sort of capped that potential.

That’s where we stepped in. Here is how we unlocked its true character:

1. Accentuated the Assets 🍊💜
The original decals had beautiful flashes of orange and purple that looked incredible against the pistachio green. We leaned all the way into that, popping on some orange Oury grips and purple Jagwire outers to make the colors sing.

2. Made it Nimble 💨
In trying to make this bike both a "roadie" and a "single-tracker," the original 90s components made it pretty ineffective at both. We made some smart tweaks while keeping the retro-fun alive:

Swapped the basic (and heavy!) Shimano RX100 chainset for a sleek Sugino chainset with lower ratios to increase cadence.

Fitted a longer ITM forged quill stem to get the rider’s weight over the middle for better off-road stability and on-road speed.

Added gently swept-back bars for pure comfort, paired with classic Deore thumbies to replace those notoriously naff early-90s STIs.

3. A Full Wheel Rebuild 🛠️
The Back Street model came with stunning bronze Alesa rims. I absolutely loved them. The original wheels were grindy and all over the shop, but the rims themselves? A1. To keep those gorgeous rims and hubs together for another lifetime, we stripped them down completely and did a full, loving rebuild.

What do you think of the glow-up? Drop a comment below if you remember the early 90s Dawes era! 👇

This is how saving a 1993, steel and the vast majority of its XT groupset made us feel today.

Our carbon-saving customs and restorations mean so much. Not only is it a special outlet for us to apply our craft but it's an outlet for our grief - creating beauty born from trauma.

We’re thrilled to be heading to the Volunteers' Fair hosted by Support Cambridgeshire! We’ll be there celebrating the incredible voluntary work happening across the county.

Where: Downing Place United Reformed Church, Cambridge

When: Saturday, April 25th | 11 AM – 2 PM

🎁 How to Win:

The Quick Entry: Like this post for a chance to win a Free Basic Service on us! 🛠️

The Challenge: Come find Antonio or Tim (the two terribly handsome gents at our stand) and play our "Odd One Out" game.

The Rules:

1) Comment below with a word from the part you think is the "Odd One Out."

2) Tell us why you picked it!

3) Claim a treat just for using the grey matter! 🍫

The Prize: If you get it right, you’ll snag some exclusive The Liberation Cycle merch!

We’ll also have our Carbon Saving Custom bikes on display so you can see exactly how we’re pedaling toward a greener future. 🌍

Come say hi! 👋

Meet Edd - like all of the kind folk who generously offer us their time and passion, a legend of a volunteer!

Edd is also an advocate of quality bikes, made of steel and titanium, will last and provide its owner with a lifetime of opportunity and enjoyment; connection and healing.

That's why we convinced him to work on this aluminium Cannondale frame to create something beautiful! A beautiful custom build that will help its new owner process grief and trauma - who purchase in turn will help us get more bikes out to beneficiaries - connecting them to their new location (home) accessing services and opportunities that may have been beyond their reach without their two-wheeled gifts.

A huge thanks to our donors. Every bike that you kindly send our way is reconditioned with passion and craft.

They then go straight to beneficiaries to help them access opportunities or we transform them (like this retro Trek) into something beautiful.

Our Carbon-Saving Customs save carbon from our community's footprint and showcase what we are all about - that bikes can serve us for a lifetime and do more than just get us to places.

This bike came into the workshop needing a lot of love. Thanks to the patience and skills of our volunteers it’s now ready for a new life on the road.

Every bike we regenerate is one less going to waste and one more person able to ride.

Build day! On the face of it, looks like it's going to be a . This is more. Each part has been saved from landfill, meticulously serviced and . This is going to be a , retro mtb

Mega happy to have found these Six forks - harks back to my youth!

What smile made you smile recently?