Airdrop Bikes

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Airdrop Bikes Airdrop Bikes is an independent mountain bike brand based in Sheffield. Our bikes are simple, effective and above all, fun to ride.

We're rider owned, small, and we do things our own way. We develop our own frames in house, refining and testing them on the trails of the Peak. They’re hand-made by carefully selected factories. Then they’re built to order here in Sheffield using tried & tested components, and shipped direct to your door. It's a bit different but it works. Our first bike is the Airdrop Edit.

Dirt Magazine called...Taking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...Steve Jones called. He want...
07/10/2026

Dirt Magazine called...

Taking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...

Steve Jones called. He wanted to know what Airdrop Bikes was all about, so he was sending local legend and sometime Dirt Mag contributor Nick Hamilton round to do an interview. And while we were at it, could we get some photos of Dave Camus riding at Bolehills in an old-school BMX style? Enter Rich Baybutt wither a snazzy pair of vans and some retro merch...

That interview is still on the website if you're interested. I just re-read it. I had just about the right level of confidence to launch a brand, and also just enough naivety to not talk myself out of it.

While we're at it, major gratitude is due to Steve, who in the latter days of Dirt Magazine seemed determined to use his platform to help out newcomers such as Airdrop, Arbr bikes and Starling Cycles. Of those three, two of us are still going strong. And so is Steve.

The new (old) website goes liveTaking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...I used to be a web ...
06/10/2026

The new (old) website goes live

Taking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...

I used to be a web designer back in the early days of e-commerce, before I moved into graphic design. But that was way back, when I could hand-code a whole HTML4 website in a text editor. By 2015 things had moved on a bit. Still, I felt that a lot of bike brands didn't have a good online presence and that was part of my chance to compete.

If you saw this website today, it would probably look terrible. But at the time it was a big effort. One unexpected problem though was that because it looked quite slick, people didn't really get that it was a one-man brand operating out of a converted garage. We still get that sometimes today, but customers are always pleasantly surprised that we're a small team.

Wharncliffe DemoTaking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...This was only the second demo ride...
05/10/2026

Wharncliffe Demo

Taking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...

This was only the second demo ride I ever did (the first one didn't get a photo). Neil was a local dude who'd heard of Airdrop somehow and wanted to know if the bikes were any good. At that time customers would either come to my house and we'd ride from there, or meet somewhere. In this case it was Wharncliffe (Greno car park) and as you can tell, it was December.

Airdrop in MBUK MagazineTaking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...This was a huge deal for m...
04/10/2026

Airdrop in MBUK Magazine

Taking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...

This was a huge deal for me at the time. The Edit v1 featured in MBUK magazine which came out on 6th December. It was effectively go-live day for the brand, and I turned on the website the same day. For a kid who'd grown up reading MBUK as a teenager, it was the first of many surreal moments.

I've got to thank Rob Weaver and Jonny Ashelford in particular for this. Right up until the day I turned up at 'The Shed' in Bristol, Airdrop was a private thing. I had no idea if it would work or what people would think. I was nervous. What if everyone thought it was s**t? What if they thought I was a clown? But the MBUK boys were super welcoming and supportive, and they gave me a full page feature. It also meant there was no turning back.

Airdrop in MBUK MagazineTaking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...This was a huge deal for m...
04/10/2026

Airdrop in MBUK Magazine

Taking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...

This was a huge deal for me at the time. The Edit v1 featured in MBUK magazine which came out on 6th December. It was effectively go-live day for the brand, and I turned on the website the same day. For a kid who'd grown up reading MBUK as a teenager, it was the first of many surreal moments.

I've got to thank Rob Weaver and Jonny Ashelford in particular for this. Right up until the day I turned at 'The Shed' in Bristol, Airdrop was a private thing. I had no idea if it would work or what people would think. I was unbelievably nervous. What if everyone thought it was s**t? What if everyone thought I was a clown? But the MBUK boys were super welcoming and supportive, and they gave me a full page feature. It also meant there was no turning back.

The Edit v1 heads home to ClentTaking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...I have a feeling th...
03/10/2026

The Edit v1 heads home to Clent

Taking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...

I have a feeling this was on Christmas Day, 2015. Although I've lived in Sheffield since 2002, I grew up in a place called Clent. This is the local riding spot, Clent Hills. Legend has it the Four Stones are witches or Kings once turned to stone, but they're actually a folly placed there by a wealthy toff in the eighteenth century.

Anyhow, Clent was and is a sick place to ride. You can see the Malverns on the skyline. Just recently I wrote blog about it because a local rider bought a bike, which was a 'full circle' moment for me.

Edit v1 photoshoot on Cadair IdrisTaking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...By November 2016...
02/10/2026

Edit v1 photoshoot on Cadair Idris

Taking a 12-year trip down memory lane by posting one picture a day...

By November 2016 I'd just spent the last of my life savings to get the frames into production. I was all-in, but still nobody knew about Airdrop Bikes. It was time to go public. So Sam Taylor and Mikey Pearman took a bike off to Wales and came back with a huge haul of incredible riding photos. Airdrop was meant to be a Mountain bike brand and that's what we got.

All this great content enabled me to build the website and start to crank up the social media in advance of a press launch, which was due to happen in December.

The ghetto studio setupAirdrop was incorporated in September 2014, so we've been in business for 12(ish) years. We're ta...
01/10/2026

The ghetto studio setup

Airdrop was incorporated in September 2014, so we've been in business for 12(ish) years. We're taking a trip down memory lane by posting up one picture a day...

This was my 35th birthday. I decided to spend it in a darkened room, focussing very closely on bicycle components. So not that different to the other days really. It's a little insight into the ghetto setup that nevertheless can yield good results... if you spend enough time in Photoshop. And Photoshop is my superpower. Or was - I'm a bit rusty nowadays.

The photo I was taking of the original Edit brake mount dropout is still up on the website. And we still have those as spare parts, supporting Edit v1 and v2 customers.

I haven't aged quite as well as that image, however. 46 and counting.

A Dream JobAirdrop was incorporated in September 2014, so we've been in business for 12(ish) years. We're taking a trip ...
30/09/2026

A Dream Job

Airdrop was incorporated in September 2014, so we've been in business for 12(ish) years. We're taking a trip down memory lane by posting up one picture a day...

Word must have got out that I was planning to launch a new brand, because some students got in touch to see if they could get involved. They were Sam Taylor, Dan Hearn and Gee Milner. All members of Sheffield's two University MTB clubs at that time.

This was the first of many experiences of people connecting with the idea of Airdrop, and just wanting to help. I can say now that without that positivity and support, Airdrop might not have even got off the ground, never mind made it to 12 years. And it has often come from unexpected places.

Sam and Dan were tasked with taking the prototypes out for some stills photography, and they smashed it right out of the park (more of those photos in the next few days). Sam even wrote a blog post about it - which is still on the website - entitled "A Dream Job".

I owe those three a huge debt of friendship and gratitude for their belief in Airdrop back then and ever since. All three of them have gone on to have successful creative careers in the industry.





Save up to 47% on a new Airdrop Filter MX with Cycle to Work.A lot of people are eligible for this, but it’s not always ...
30/09/2026

Save up to 47% on a new Airdrop Filter MX with Cycle to Work.

A lot of people are eligible for this, but it’s not always well publicised. As it’s something we get asked about a lot, we thought it might be worth putting up an example of just how much money you can actually save.

Cycle to Work is a salary sacrifice scheme which means you pay for the bike in monthly instalments, before your income tax and NI calculations.

In effect, you pay zero tax on the part of your income that’s going towards the bike. So you can make a big saving, pay less tax and get a new bike at the same time.

And yes, you can buy a full suspension mountain bike using Cycle to Work. Any other questions? Put them in the comments and we’ll be happy to help…

Address

Sheffield
S23EN

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4pm
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 9am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 4pm

Telephone

+441142012339

Website

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