Start-Up Spotlight: Bevelo Bikes

Bevelo Bikes is a UK-based manufacturer specialising in high-quality tandem bicycles. They’re designed and built for performance, comfort and shared riding experiences. With a focus on craftsmanship and innovation, they offer a range of customisable tandems tailored to meet the needs of recreational riders and enthusiasts alike. We sat down with founder, Jonny Charlton, to find out more…

Jonny: “My job ended unexpectantly and it left me high and dry aged 50, and needing to create a whole new future. I decided to start my own company, designing and building carbon fibre tandem bikes. I had very little money and no professional training.  Previously I had hand built carbon tandems for my own use and had often been asked to make and sell them. I’m not an engineer or designer by trade but had a curious mind and an enthusiasm for bikes and design. Hand building carbon bikes is a slow process and the techniques involved had not evolved like in the modern manufacturing of solo carbon bikes. I imagined some design innovations that would speed up manufacturing and create stronger tandem frames with new innovative features.”

Why did Bevelo Bikes choose SOLIDWORKS?

Jonny: “I had never used CAD or a 3D printer, but I’d observed what they could offer. They allow small companies to design, innovate and manufacture at a small scale. I saw that SOLIDWORKS could be the gateway to creating new products. It could also challenge existing product costs. I set out to turn that vision into a new business.

“With no job and facing a challenging time, I decided to move back to Wales with family. I secured places on the Business Wales and Innovate UK Rapid Business Growth schemes. The bootstrap support system introduced me to Visiativ’s SOLIDWORKS for Start-Ups Scheme and then my CAD journey begun. It was challenging to learn to use SOLIDWORKS, but if a child can self learn a video game then I believed I had no excuse!

Over the following year, and with the help of the Visiativ Support team, I learnt the basics and created the product innovations that I had previously sketched on paper. Having new CAD models of my designs, I could now communicate their features to others. Then, I could seek help through the bootstrap system. As soon as my ideas became SOLIDWORKS models they were elevated from an amateur paper sketch to a professional and powerful display of their features and benefits.

“Having access to SOLIDWORKS Design Premium for the first 12 months for free was an incredible help in getting Bevelo Bikes off the ground. I now have my first design patent pending, a studio workshop and a range of digital manufacturing machinery all driven by SOLIDWORKS. Adopting these new techniques into bike frame building has allowed a business start up in a small workspace, with much lower costs, a fraction of the space that would be needed for traditional industrial machinery.”

Bevelo Bikes design process

Jonny: “From hand building carbon tandems using traditional techniques I experienced that it was a slow, expensive and dirty process. I believed there was potential to include new design features and innovate the manufacturing process by adopting SOLIDWORKS. The new generation of small digital manufacturing machinery such as Wazer water jet cutters and 3D printers helped as well. I recognised that CAD had become the new paper and pencil. Therefore, to keep design and innovation at the heart of the new company then CAD would have to be in mine  – and everyone’s – skillset. As a result, all design would always be in-house.

From the outset, my aim was to create a full in-house design process and shrink the R&D costs. This would allow me to challenge current product costs in the market. It’s all that I imagined it could be. I can have an idea today, model it in SOLIDWORKS tomorrow and 3D print the following day. It’s exciting and motivating to be able to realise ideas into physical objects so quickly and without discouraging costs. It encourages more and more ideas because I know they can soon become real.”

Tell us about a recent project

Jonny: “I set out to create better joints for the frames of carbon tandem bikes. They were traditionally made by tube notching the ends of the frame tubes and nesting them together at joints such as the headshell and bottom bracket. All the joint strength came from the carbon that was then wrapped around the joint. It’s effective but primitive and difficult to maintain consistent quality if scaled up production.

Consequently, I set out to create a new type of frame joint that would give a much stronger connection of the frame tubes, that would allow more interesting frame tube profiles to nest together, and use the inside space for new additional features such as an internal cable routing system. Modern carbon  bikes made in moulds cannot utilise the inside space of the frame in this way due to how they are made. So I saw an opportunity to innovate, to improve manufacturing, bring new features and offer bikes with new thinking.

“Initially, the new innovative frame connectors were modelled in SLS Nylon 12 and carbon wrapped. The printed unit provided a low cost and highly adaptable mandrel to create a carbon joint around. It could also carry conduits through it to provide an internal routing system. The system proved successful and allows easy custom frame sizes. My CAD skills grew and I’ve been able to create the system to now be a shell structure and printed in titanium. This will go on to be my main product. In summary, by adopting SOLIDWORKS into my skillset, I’ve been able to manifest my innovative ideas into new products from a small budget and found a business.”

Working with Visiativ

Jonny: “Through the SOLIDWORKS for Start-Ups programme, Visiativ played a key role in helping Bevelo Bikes turn an idea into a viable business. They provided access to industry-leading design tools and offered ongoing technical support. Visiativ enabled us to develop new skills, refine concepts and bring our innovations to life with confidence.”

What’s next?

Jonny: “In 2026 I will be bringing to market my first tandem and solo carbon bikes featuring a new (patent pending) titanium frame joint system on the inside with easy to use internal cable routing while the outside is carbon wrapped to give further strength and the attractive shapes that carbon can offer. They are fast, light weight and beautiful. Learning SOLIDWORKS has been the gateway to  making everything go from an idea to a product in the global market. So far I’ve learnt only what I needed to create my products and it’s only the beginning of my SOLIDWORKS learning journey. As the company grows through first sales and then scales up and brings the designs of the five year innovation plan to market.”

Find out more about Bevelo Bikes on their website.

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