Bike test: Pashley Roadfinder X

Pashley is best known for classic roadsters, Post Office bikes, London hire bikes, tricycles and other utility machines. The 99−year-old UK company has a history of innovation, however, and that’s clear in its new ‘contemporary’ range.

I visited the factory in Stratford-upon-Avon to see the creation process and pick up a new Roadfinder X for review.

It’s a proper pipe-to-complete-bike process under one roof in the Shakespearean suburbs. Depending on the final bike, most tubes either come in as four-metre lengths or pre-butted sections direct from Reynolds just a few miles up the road.

The tubes are then mitred, drilled and prepped by hand as orders are placed. They’re then meticulously welded, brazed and silver soldered – again depending on model or part of the bike – by hand.

It’s not all trad methods, however, as Pashley is introducing 3D-printed stainless steel pieces such as the ‘trouser’ seatstay lug, UDH dropouts and super-neat cable ports. The Rangefinder also uses a T47 bottom bracket shell with a custom 3D-printed sleeve to protect internal cables and hoses from the crank axle.

Frame and components

As each frame is made to order, you can pick which ports and fixtures you need so that the finished frame is as cargo ready or as clean as you want. Frames are then shot blasted in house before being e-coated locally.

Electrophoretic painting is a 15-micron thick corrosion coating inside and out. It’s dipped with a current running through to pull it onto the frame, then oven baked to harden the coating. It’s then returned to Pashley for painting and assembly.

While Pashley offers three standard colours (rich burgundy, oak green, azure blue) and three standard builds (Shimano GRX £2,795, Campagnolo Ekar £4,595 and SRAM Rival AXS £4,295), those are up for negotiation, too.

The build I picked was also their first using the UDH dropout to mount the new SRAM Rival AXS XPLR 13-speed groupset directly to the frame. I also substituted the stock Parcours Alta carbon wheels and Panaracer Gravel King 45 tyres for Zipp’s super-broad 303 XPLR wheels and Goodyear Inter 45mm rubber.

I used other wheels as well during testing to verify the ride feel of the frame separately. Whatever spec you choose, the resulting retro-modern frame is a genuinely beautiful piece. While handmade can sometimes mean a more ‘rustic’ finish, the sanded junctions and paintwork are flawless.

The silver-soldered seatstay lug and cluster is totally seamless, and production models will have similarly glass-smooth joints between dropouts and stays.

The ride

‘Glass smooth’ is an accurate description of the Roadfinder X ride, too. As is often the case, Reynolds air-hardening 853 steel delivers a more muscular, precise but still inherently sprung feel compared to more docile or dull bikes in cheaper steel tube sets.

On the Pashley that’s enhanced by the larger weld areas and stiffness of the T47 BB shell and oversized 44mm head tube. That translates into an encouragingly solid stance underfoot, so while a near 3kg steel frame will always be slower to accelerate than a lighter carbon or alloy frame, it’s got a powerful surge when you press the pedals.

The extra momentum is really clear in the way it continues to roll a gear easily when you back off the pressure. So whether I was on the tops pushing tempo on a rough rocky bridleway in the Dales or ducking low into a headwind on the road, the sustainable speed of the Roadfinder X was consistently impressive.

Even with the super wide and deep Zipp wheels, the bike was never too jarring at slower speeds on rough off-road sections either, with its inherent comfort appreciated more the further I rode.

It also gives the Roadfinder X exceptional traction in turns and climbs, flattering both the Zipp tyres also let me push confidently a lot further towards mountain bike terrain than you’d expect, surviving speed runs down Mastiles Lane and the rocky chaos of the tracks around Pen-y-Gent.

With only 45mm tyre clearance, that’s not Pashley’s intended use case for the frame. When I used 30mm tyres and Zipp 303 wheels, it proved a very smooth and rapid road bike.

Mixed road/off-road use matches the geometry of the Pashley well, as, apart from a slightly longer than average top tube, it’s nearer to an endurance road bike than a quasi-MTB.

There is theoretically potential to stabilise the steering further by rotating the eccentric axle chips in the Columbus Futura Cross+ carbon fork. Unfortunately I couldn’t undo the microscopic Torx bolts holding them in place to try the alternative position.

On the bright side, the traction of the bike made it feel a lot more assured and stable than the frame geometry would suggest anyway.

Verdict

The amount of choice in the road/off-road category is vast. Pashley uses a blend of UK handmade history and cutting-edge tech to create a sublimely riding bike that’s impressively capable in the rough yet swift on the road, too.

Some might want more tyre clearance and/or more progressive geometry (watch this space), and the immovable fork-tip chip was irritating. But I loved the seamless, retro-modern aesthetic as much as the ride.

Considering the craftsmanship involved, the UK manufacture and the custom options, the pricing is absolutely justified.

Other options

Feather WKNDR £2,800+

Stunning, off-the-peg steel all-road bike with custom feature and paint options from award-winning Yorkshire frame-building legend Ricky Feather.

Cotic Escapade 853 £1,799+

This version of Cotic’s Escapade all-rounder is also made in the Midlands from Reynolds 853 like the Roadfinder X (but not by Pashley).

First published in Cycle magazine, August/September 2025 issue. All information correct at time of publishing.