Ultra Distance Scholarship x Stayer Cycles Prize Draw

With the mission of increasing representation in the world of ultra-cycling events, the Ultra Distance Scholarship (UDS) selects three recipients per year to receive 8-10 months of intensive support to train for and compete in an established, self-supported ultra-race. Earlier this month, applications opened for the 2023 scholarship in partnership with the Pan Celtic Race, an ultra-endurance event through the Celtic nations of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany. As a fundraiser for the scholarship, they’re teaming up with Stayer Cycles to give away three custom Stayer OMG mountain bikes.

Each OMG is represents vision of three different volunteer builders and mechanics who were each given an OMG frame as a blank canvas to work with. The result is three one-of-a-kind builds that will make any bike enthusiast drool. The UDS also had help from Hope Tech, Velofique, Wizard Works, Fresh Tripe, Ballern, and Brooks for this project.

All money raised through this campaign will help fund the Ultra Distance Scholarship’s work this year and hopefully into the next. The major expenses of the scholarship are coaching fees, mentorship fees, bike fitting fees, administration fees, and additional componentry, equipment, and gear not currently covered by sponsors. The UDS would also love to pay some awesome folks working to make cycling more inclusive and to do some vital consultation work with them, eventually carving out a job position for someone qualified to lead the UDS to further glory (ideally POC-led).

Small Stayer OMG

Hayley is a mechanic and workshop manager at Community Cycleworks in South London. The inspiration for Hayley’s OMG – Cold Brew – stemmed from a big cycle-touring trip. Hayley wanted a practical build that could be taken on fun overnighters and trips off the beaten paths (literally!), with a dinner plate as a cassette and custom reflective Wizard Works bags for exactly that. That doesn’t mean that this bike is boring, though. With a wicked paint job from Lucia at Velofique Designs, this bike is a true one-of-a-kind and will stand out wherever you take it.

Complete with bombproof Hope components, SRAM GX Eagle AXS, a Rock Shox Reba fork, a Stayer carbon 29er wheelset (to Hope Pro4 hubs!) and some Wizards Works luggage to-boot, this bike really has it all.

Medium Stayer OMG

Will is a professional writer for Cyclingnews and an amateur framebuilder and bike restorer for himself. When he’s not reviewing bike stuff, he’s trying not to burn his fingertips off in the garage with his new oxyacetylene torch or playing with his two dogs. His OMG was loosely designed to evoke days gone by, both in terms of MTB tech (it being rigid with canti brakes) and the joys of riding around on a simple bike as a teen, unburdened with the worry of upgrades or marginal gains. Also he wanted it to look a bit like a vintage motorbike, hence the custom bags fashioned from a vintage leather jacket he bought off a guy in Camden (an interesting project for Wizard Works) and the beautiful shiny Honjo mudguards.

This seriously fun build comes with a custom-made Stayer bi-plane fork, Velo Orange klunker bars and Grand Cru canti brakes, a Brooks Imperial sprung saddle, a beloved old-school Mavic derailleur, and Velocity dually rims with a Velo Orange rear hub and a dynamo up front.

Large Stayer OMG

Lewis is a designer, fabricator, and bike person.Their build was driven by material processes. Instead of conceiving of a vision of a bike and aiming towards it, could a process be found that would lead the way? Here, copper plating and patination techniques guided their conceptual approach. Initially inspired by nickel-plated BMX bikes, the ever-changing finish alludes to buildings like Battersea Arts Centre, highlights maker-marks and machining toolpaths, and begins to show some of the multiple material states that the plated finish can exist in.

This stunning bike is proudly single speed, though the frame is also ready for the full luxury of gears. It features a hand built Stayer ‘stiff as fork’ fork and handbuilt custom bullmoose bars. It also sports an X-Fusion dropper post, MKS Bear Trap pedals, a Stayer Gravalloy 29er wheelset with Teravail Coronados, a Middleburn to Wolf Tooth sprocket, Paul levers, and pretty Yokozuna brake calipers. This bike is currently on display in the window of Cloud 9 Cycles in Bloomsbury if you would like to see this museum-worthy object in person.

The prize draw will close at midnight GMT on November 18th, 2022. All it takes is £5 to get one entry into the prize draw for the bike of your choosing. You can purchase more entries for better chances as well. Enter at Crowdfunded.co.uk and learn more about the scholarship here.

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