“I could earn more as a Deliveroo driver”: Feather Cycles founder announces custom frame brand’s demise, citing cancelled orders and claiming “bike industry doesn’t make people rich”

Ricky Feather, the founder of custom steel frame company Feather Cycles, has announced that he will build just 50 more bikes before closing the business, citing increasing financial pressures and the impact of cancelled orders as the key factors behind his decision.

Feather, a former BMX racer, has run the Yorkshire-based company on his own since 2009, hand building premium, custom steel and stainless steel frames and bikes, winning a host of Bespoked awards while also establishing the WKNDR brand, focusing on more entry-level custom machines.

But in a video posted on Feather Cycles’ website this week, Feather has revealed that the financial and personal strain of running the business – a serious back injury in the wake of the Covid pandemic meant he was unable to work at the same pace as before – has prompted him to call time on the company, as he claims he could currently earn more money “as a Deliveroo driver”.

Bespoked Bristol 2022 feather cycles head tube (credit: road.cc)

However, Feather – who noted that Feather Cycles “has been almost my entire adult life” – says he is determined to “go out on a high”, and has pledged to spend the next two and a half years building 50 “final” bikes, which he is currently taking orders for on a first come, first served basis, and which he expects to complete by September 2027.

“I’ve decided I’m going to call time on Feather Cycles, but not just yet. The plan is I’m going to build 50 cycles, then that’ll be it,” the York frame builder said in the video.

“It’s not a conclusion I’ve come to overnight, but is based on months of thinking about the future of the business and what I’ve done over the years.

“It was never my intention to become a frame builder, but it was a way out of the factories and over the years I’ve built some incredible bikes.

“It’s insane what I’ve achieved, the people I’ve worked with, the places I’ve been, and the awards I’ve achieved. Things like that don’t happen to kids from council estates, or that’s how I felt.”

Feather Cycles custom frame head tube (credit: Feather Cycles)

However, Feather says his business, and his enthusiasm for it, has been damaged in recent years by customers cancelling orders, sometimes without even telling him, leaving him with a half-built custom frame, or failing to pay their invoices.

Last September, we reported that Feather was forced to heavily discount a custom frame after he started building it for someone he knew, only for them to subsequently back out of the purchase – the third time in 2024 he said he was “left completely stuffed” by a customer.

“This frame is a perfect example of why around two years ago I was forced into a corner to not start any work without full payment for fabrication,” he wrote at the time on social media. “It was a decision I didn’t take lightly as I really feared it would affect business.

“The decision came after I was left broke three Christmases in a row due to customers not paying invoices on completion of their frame.”

 

 

 

 

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Speaking in the video posted on his site this week, Feather said: “Over the last couple of years, things have become increasingly difficult – not just because of the current climate in the bike industry and people watching their money a little bit more. The orders have been trickling in and I feel more fortunate than I know a lot of people are,” he said.

“The problem is quite of the few of the orders I’ve taken over the last few years have unfortunately seen the customers not paying their invoices, or they’ve disappeared altogether and cancelled their orders.

“It’s always disappointing when someone pulls out after you’ve put the time into building the bike. I’m fully committed to what I do, and it’s never nice when people let you down.”

He continued: “Feather Cycles doesn’t feel like what it once was. My passion for building bikes is as great as ever, but my energy for running a small business is burning out.

“Already small margins seem to be getting even smaller. Getting work is increasingly more difficult and time consuming. I am always happy to put in work and never take it for granted that I will get the job, but it has become far more common place to be led down the garden path to find no fruit tree at the end of it.

“I must soon legally register for VAT, meaning I have no choice but to add 20 per cent to the cost of my frames at a time when so many want so much for so little, nor do they want to wait in a queue.”

ricky feather race frame (credit: road.cc)

Reflecting on the struggles associated with running a small bike business, the York frame builder said: “All I want is to make a living, but once a business gets to a certain size, the system just doesn’t lean in your favour.

“As a craftsman, you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is no room for expansion, it isn’t scalable, no one else can build a Feather. I wouldn’t want them to, but also, if they’re close to being capable, they’re already giving it a go themselves.

“I’m at the point of my life where I just want to be able to pay my bills. It’s never been my intention to make a tonne of money, I’m not naïve. And I know the bike industry doesn’t make people rich. But it’s got to the point where I’m barely scraping a living, and at 40-years-old you want more for yourself and your family.”

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He continued: “I’m super proud of what I’ve achieved over the past 16 years. I’ve got hundreds more bikes in me, I’m just not sure if I have hundreds more months not knowing if I have enough money for the mortgage or not.

“And ultimately, when you’re so good at what you do, that shouldn’t be the case. I could earn more money as a Deliveroo driver, than I do being one of the best at my craft.”

Despite stepping away, both “for my own wellbeing and for that of those around me”, Feather insists he will go out on his own terms, and is currently taking deposits for the “Final 50”, bikes that will range between £11,000 and £16,000.

“My plan is to go out on a high. I want to build the best 50 bikes I’ve ever built, for people who really appreciate what I do,” he said.

“I think now is the time to call it – to give me the opportunity to see through what I set out to do in the first place, work with great people, build some great bikes, and do things on my terms.”