Were not claiming this as an industry-wide trend but at the specialist end of the market at least, steel is doing really well, Reynolds MD Keith Noronha told BikeBiz.

Wed assumed there was going to be a slow-down but it never came.

Many people now realise that a good steel frame can weigh almost the same as an aluminium one. Custom builders recognise that steel makes for a lively frame, aluminium can be a bit dead in comparison.

The old Reynolds company transformed itself into Reynolds Cycle Technology (2000) Ltd. thanks to an MBO on this day last year.