Shed Fire

I’m Brant

Shedfire was a design company I ran for a while and this was my sandbox and place where I post things. I still do.

I got a mountain bike in 1986, and soon after got a Saturday job at Two Wheels Good a bikeshop in Leeds. Working there too was John Stevenson, who started writing for Mountainbiking UK soon after they launched. I started doing a few product tests for him, and ended up as Technical Editor there, whilst doing my degree in Engineering at Huddersfield University (OK, it was a Poly when I started, but hey).

Narrowly failing to get a placement at Fat City Cycles for my year out, I stayed in the UK and wrote Mountainbike Maintenance and Repair , or rather finished it, cos John (Stevenson) started it but sort of couldn’t be bothered finishing it up.

I continued freelancing on books and magazines for whoever paid me, mostly working for Future Publishing, until in the summer of 1996 I was approached by IPC magazines to work on a new title for them. That title was MBR magazine, which I worked on for two years before leaving with new publishing start ups Cabal Communications, where I was Editor In Chief on the launch of FRONT magazine, and then the relaunch of Maximum Mountainbike.

I left Cabal to work for Magicalia Ltd as launch Editor for Bikemagic, and left them under somewhat of a cloud (disagreement about editorial direction) to start On-One with Dave Loughran, running as a web-only brand alongside Planet X.

In Feb 2009, I left On-One and Planet X to set up Shedfire as a design company.

In May 2009, I launched bike brand Ragley (named after the woods we ride in Hebden Bridge). I also consulted for NukeProof Components, working on them with their first frames – the Scalp, Mega and Snap. I relaunched Vitus for them too.

In August 2011, I returned On-One and Planet X and their new acquisition Titus.

In July 2014, I left Planet X/On-One and Titus, and came back to Hebden Bridge for a think.

After a bit of a think I started a trouser company with Ed Oxley – http://www.hebtro.co

I have 5 children, Lucinda, Toby, Esme, Grace and Kitt.

And yeah, I live in Hebden Bridge, in Calderdale, England.