MTB made in Sheffield

Dexter101

Retro Newbie
Hi Guys,

very random question but can't find much by googling. Are there any "retro" bikes that were made in Sheffield?

Assuming the steel industry had pretty much all gone by the 90's but interested to know.
 
Did Vernon Barker make some MTBs? Or maybe just hybrids?

And Orbit is Sheffield, yes...

And by the way, there's still lots of steel made in Sheffield...just far fewer jobs involved in making it!
 
I had an Orbit mtb and on it was a badge saying made in Sheffield. It however was a custom job and I did not share the proportions of the guy the bike was made for so I never got on with it but the quality of build was superb.
 
From what I've read, some Orbits were really top-drawer, others were really poor - really a mixed bag - so the name alone is not a guide to quality, sadly. They are still going - don't know if it's the original owners, though...
 
Amazing, thanks so much for that. I lived in Sheffield for 5 years and love the city. I try and get as much stuff made there as I can but mainly kitchen focused stuff (knives, cutlery etc). I have never been let down with quality and consider most of it to be better than more expensive brands I have used.

Hadn't really considered the bike scene until last night but couldn't actually find any "historic" brands. Obviously places like Planet X and their brands show up by I believe these are all made overseas.
 
Planet X frames are made overseas, but they are designed and assembled in the UK - plus these days they are a worker-owned company, which is pretty unusual.

I might be biased, but I'd say they offer some amazing bikes (and kit) for the price point they are in (I own a Pro-Carbon road bike of theirs, so I speak from experience). Some of those bikes could almost be called 'retro' soon - I note their website says "Founded in Sheffield, England over a quarter of a century ago.." Wow - a quarter of a century! :LOL:
 
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