If you read my post from back in November, you'll know last year was a tough one on the frame supply side. The short version: I moved production of the Peregrine to a new builder in mainland China, it didn't work out the way I'd hoped, and it cost us. The frames themselves were well built, but the finish quality wasn't where it needed to be and dealing with the fallout took up a lot of time and energy that I'd rather have spent making bikes.
The good news is that we're back working with Maxway in Taiwan, who've built the vast majority of our steel framesets over the years. They're old friends at this point, and the quality they produce is genuinely exceptional. Getting back to working with them feels like the right move, and I'm confident that the frames coming out of this next run will be as good as anything we've put our name on.
Those frames are the Peregrine MK5. Pre-orders open June 2nd at 12pm (GMT+1).
It's a meaningful update to a bike that's already earned its reputation, and I want to share a bit of the thinking behind the changes.
650b (aka 27.5") sizing for S and M
The most significant change is to the small and medium frames, which are now built around 650b wheels. This has been a long time coming, and it comes down to a constraint that's baked into the Peregrine's design from the start.
The lugs dictate the geometry more than people might realise. Because investment cast lugs are made for specific tube diameters and junction angles, there's really not much room to deviate from a classic horizontal top tube form. That's part of what gives the Peregrine its look, but it also means there's an inherent trade-off between standover clearance and front end height. On the larger sizes that's manageable. On the smaller sizes, especially with big 29" tyres, standover has always been tighter than I'd like for those folks under 5'8" or so.
Building the S and M frames around a shorter 390mm fork and optimising them for 650b x 55mm (or 27.5x2.3") tyres solves that. Better standover, less toe overlap, and a bike which is just in better proportion to the rider's size. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, and the MK5 felt like the right moment. For those who want to run 700c wheels on those sizes, that's still possible, you'd just be looking at a maximum of around 45mm tyre width.
Brakes
The brake mounting specification has been updated on both frame and fork. The rear now uses a native 160mm flat mount, which means a standard flat mount caliper works straight away with a 160mm rotor, or you can run an adaptor for 180mm. The fork follows the same logic with a 160-180mm mount. Bigger rotors aren't just about stopping power, they give you better modulation, so a light touch is enough to scrub off speed without grabbing. I'll be honest, I don't know why you'd want to go smaller than 160mm, but you practically can't with this setup anyway.
The fork
Alongside the brake mount update, the fork has had a few detail improvements. External brake cable routing remains, because it's practical and easy to service. The dynamo cable ports on the inside of the fork blades are now slightly larger at 6mm, which makes routing cables simpler and allows for use of some nifty couplers. There is now a star-shaped reinforcement brazed in around each port to remove any risk of cracking at that point. Small things, but the kind of details that matter over the long life of a frame.
Everything else
The lugged rear dropouts from the MK4 carry over, now updated for the 160mm rotor spec. They have two threaded eyelets for mudguard and rack mounts, with a maximum rear carrying capacity of 35kg. External cable routing throughout. Eccentric bottom bracket shell. Clearance for up to 29x2.2" tyres on the larger sizes. None of that has changed, because none of it needed to.
The numbers on this batch are small. That's partly the nature of working with a builder who takes their time and does things properly, and partly a deliberate choice. If you want one, pre-ordering is the way to make sure you get it.
More soon.
Sam
