Evolution of the Gryphon
I had a vision of a bike, late '04 or early '05, just around the time I moved to London. Slim steel tubes, sweet handling, drop handlebars, big fat 29er tyres, singlespeed - as was my penchant at the time. This emerged from years of sketching bike frames and designs by hand, just doodles really. A good number of hours in the early 00's trawling the forums and chat groups informed my thoughts on the perfect bike. Elements of classic old 'hams, 90's steel mtb's blended with modern stuff I liked. That coalesced into a singular vision of what I wanted in a bike.
The first Singular was the Swift - supplied with a rigid fork, but suspension corrected and really a flat bar bike. But the bike which most closely reflects those early sketches, that original vision - is the Gryphon. I wish I still had some of those drawings, sadly lost in the mists of time or depths of a filing cabinet. The Mk1 Gryphon, was released in '08 being the realisation of that vision. I thought of it as a drop bar MTB at the time - the catch-all 'gravel bike' term didn't yet exist. But it was what I wanted - that lively springy feel, sharp handling, but a balanced, smooth and comfortable ride.
The very first prototype Gryphon - Mk0 - 2006. I couldn't wait for paint to ride it, so the 853 frame got a quick polish, a vinyl decal wrapped on and was built to ride.
Pre-production Mk1 Gryphon from 2008 - set up for some fast XC singlespeeding - 700x45mm Dugast tubulars on Reynolds rims, Tune hubs, CXRays.... OMG they were some fast wheels.
This one is a little size M Mk1 Gryphon which I recently re-purchased for display at the Nest. I aim over time to have one of everything I've produced - so anyone out there with a Puffin, Buzzard, Rooster or Hummingbird - just shout!
The Mk2 version of the Gryphon came out in 2013. The key ingredients of the first version stayed unchanged, just new cable routing, more tyre clearance (this just about squeezed in those newfangled 29+ things) and of course a new colour.
Time rolled on, the Gryphon had maybe a bit of a cult following, but wasn't exactly selling like crazy. I went through some tough times with the business and personally and we pretty much stopped trading by the end of 2016. That led to a little Singular hiatus, ironically just as the whole gravel bike/adventure bike thing was taking off....
By 2019, the buzz of having returned to corporate life having very much worn off, I was seeing more and more of these 'exciting new' gravel bikes coming out which looked an awful lot like what I'd been trying to do for the prior 10+ years - so I leapt back into it. Firstly with the Peregrine in '21, but I had to do the new Mk. 3 Gryphon, it being so close to my heart, released in '23
Again, only subtle changes for this iteration were made - thru axles, flat mount brakes, proper 29+ tyre clearance and of course a new colour!
The cogs keep turning, as they do, and having been doing some custom Ti frames with a fantastic new builder I had to have a custom Ti Gryphon just for myself, if no-one else... I happened to have some hydraulic Di2 levers kicking around, and as sometimes seems to happen, a whole bike build evolved from one part. I drastically underestimated the cost of buying all the other necessary elements to make one of these electric shifting things going, but the end result was worth it. Wide carbon rims, the sadly now discontinued Bontrager XR2 29x3" tyres, the also sadly discontinued Spank flared drop bars, and an assortment of other nice finishing kit - it's just about perfect for me.
Since that first one I've done a good few more custom Ti Gryphons - with noted bike tester and cult leader John Watson of The Radavist giving it an "11 out of 10" review.
As for now, this is the ultimate evolution of those original drawings - though new things are always on the horizon.
I've recently produced some t-shirts with a fabulous drawing from Timothe Girard (@atlasducycle) of a current steel Gryphon SS - they're available in the shop now.
