Part 2: Made to Measure: The Stories Behind Australia's Finest Custom Bikes
Most riders still believe the best bikes in the world are raced in the WorldTour. That to ride like a pro, you need to buy like a pro—off-the-shelf, big brand, mass-manufactured. But what if the best bike you'll ever own doesn't come from a factory floor, but from a small workshop in Melbourne? What if the most dialled, performance-driven machine you'll ride is hand-built—not just for racing, but for whatever purpose your future riding takes you?
In this ongoing series exploring Australian custom frame builders, I’m shifting the spotlight onto the people who make bikes differently—and arguably, better. This second feature follows Sean Doyle of Devlin Cycles. If Sean reflects the grit of an underdog, Mark Hester and Kelly O’Dwyer represent what happens when technical mastery, clear vision, and a strong support structure converge. Mark is, in many ways, the exception—a builder who’s “made it,” yet still pushing upward to redefine what performance custom really means. Prova stands not just as a bike brand, but as a standard bearer for modern Australian framebuilding. Mark may not frame himself as a pioneer, but the truth is—he’s already shaped the industry he works in. And his story, like his frames, is still being built.
An Engineered Experience, Not Just a Frame
Visiting workshops to experience the origin of world-class frame building isn't something I take lightly. Over the years, these visits have shaped how I understand bikes—not as objects, but as personalised solutions. They’ve helped me better match riders with their ideal fit, feel, and frame.
From the moment I walked into Prova’s new Melbourne workshop, I sensed something distinctly resolved. Unlike the charming clutter often romanticised in artisan studios, every corner of Prova tells a story—each room a chapter in the rider’s journey: design, fit, fabrication, finishing, and delivery. This isn’t just a place to build bikes; it’s a fully realised system for building them well. Every zone has intent. It felt less like a workshop and more like a narrative unfolding—from a space to interview clients, to storage of raw materials and all the way through to a functional machine ready to roll over surrounding mountain roads.
Prova frames waiting for the proceeding final stages
Having visited some of the finest frame builders and manufacturers across Europe—Zullo, Cicli Barco, Deanima, Bixxis, and factories like Campagnolo, Vittoria, and Miche Wheels—I can confidently say: Prova operates at a uniquely elevated level. And yet, there’s something unmistakably Australian about it—creative, grounded, and quietly uninterested in chasing trends.
Prova evokes the early years of greats like Gianni Pegoretti or Zullo—that moment when a builder’s path becomes certain, their voice quietly assured rather than loud. While some parallels can be drawn with the methodical flow at Cicli Barco, what sets Prova apart is the intimacy of its scale. Here, it’s just Mark and Kelly—yet nothing feels constrained. Infact, everything feels distilled, intentional, and tightly held to their standards.
What truly separates Prova isn’t just the materials or aesthetic—it’s the clarity of their process. Every step is defined. Every decision has weight. And each stage builds not only a remarkable product, but a connection between rider and machine that’s difficult to replicate in any mass-produced setting.
The Rider in the Room
Mass-produced bikes, even the most technically sophisticated, are built for a market—not a person. While mass-manufactured bikes—like those from industry leaders such as Specialized, trek of Giant—can be visually and technically impressive, they often lack one irreplaceable element: complete connection to the rider through every stage. Even the most advanced production techniques can’t offer what a builder like Prova can: a frame built with the rider in mind at every single step.
I’ve stood inside the carbon-weaving factory at 3T in Italy and watched fibre threads formed around pre-moulded shapes—beautifully engineered with intent and driven towards elevating the feel and control of a bike, yes, but unable to reach Prova's deeper and personal dialogue with the rider.
The tactile systems at Prova anticipating each stage of the bike build
At Prova, the rider is part of the bike before the first tube is even cut. Every build begins with fit data, riding goals, and conversations that shape the build as much as any jig or CAD file. From geometry to layup schedules, the bike becomes an extension of the rider's story—their terrain, their position, their ambition. This isn’t just custom in geometry; it’s custom in psychology.
“They physically see their bike go from a box of tubes to a finished frame,” Mark says. “That connection really matters.”
The connection infiltrates into questions regarding how a client aims to ride, where they ride, and how they want their bike to feel beneath them. That intimacy with the rider is carried through every design decision, fabrication technique, and finishing detail. And each stage is carried out in-house. From geometry to tubing selection, weight distribution to weld tolerances, every element of the bike is shaped around the rider’s unique body and intentions. You’re not simply choosing from a selection of frame models—you’re collaborating with the machine that will eventually carry your weight, your efforts, and your story.
Discussing the bike industry at Prova Cycles
And perhaps that’s the clearest distinction: mass production serves a market, while custom serves a person. At Prova, the rider isn’t just a recipient—they are woven into the very identity of the bike. At Prova, the rider is embedded in every step.
The Engineer’s Advantage
Mark’s path to framebuilding wasn’t accidental—it was methodical, though he often refers to it as fortunate. But having spent time with many Australian framebuilders, I’ve come to see that “luck” is often a humble builder’s way of describing relentless curiosity. Like Sean Doyle of Devlin Cycles, who sketched suspension designs on his drafting table in the '90s, or Chris Palmer, who taught himself carbon layup from first principles, Mark’s route was steered by a deeper need to understand—and build.
Raised in his father’s automotive workshop, Mark absorbed the rhythm of tools early. Steered toward engineering as a career, carbon composites became his technical foundation. Racing and modifying cars led to a mechanical engineering degree, followed by elite roles at Honda and Ford, where carbon fibre and structural design became his trade.
But as I’ve seen with other builders, the further one travels into the world of corporate engineering, the more distant the original motivation feels. The desire to build something real, with your own hands, never quite leaves.
In Mark’s case, that reconnection came while working in the UK, where he stumbled across a framebuilding school exhibit at a Rapha event in Yorkshire. Unlike the industrial production lines he knew, here were gas torches, hand tools, and the immediacy of making. The spark was lit. He enrolled in the course, producing his first fillet-brazed steel frame—a deliberate choice to step aside from carbon production.
“I first signed up to do the course to make a frame... A couple of friends asked if I could make them frames, so I went back. I took time off my engineering job to go back and make more frames while living in the UK. And then we got sick of the cold, so we came back to Australia and slowly started setting up to do pretty low-volume fillet-brazed steel bikes.” —Mark Hester, Prova Cycles
Mark’s turning point came when Instagram connected him with a customer from another city—someone outside his immediate circle.
“That was the moment,” Mark recalls. “Someone that I didn't know, that wasn't from where we were living, contacted me to order a bike. I'm like, that's cool. Just from Instagram!”
From there, Prova gained traction.
Precision by Design, Not Default
But unlike the mass-production lines in Asia, where speed often dictates the build process, Prova’s growth never sacrificed feel for scale or process for speed.
As with Sean Doyle’s overbuilt steel mountain bikes or Chris Palmer’s hand-laid carbon layups, Mark’s work is anchored in intentionality. Titanium, steel, and carbon aren’t just materials—they’re chosen for their structural properties and how they influence ride feel.
His early work with steel taught him how to shape ride quality through geometry. But his introduction of 3D-printed titanium components wasn’t about chasing trends. It was about structural refinement—controlling weight, improving serviceability, and exploring organic shapes that traditional fabrication couldn’t achieve.
In this way, Mark’s work mirrors what I’ve seen at Baum or Bastion—brands who balance innovation with aesthetic discipline. At Prova, nothing is performative—everything is earned.
Kelly’s Path: From Chef to Custom Builder
Kelly’s entry into framebuilding came via an unexpected route—after being made redundant from a career as a chef, she joined Mark in the workshop with little knowledge of bikes other than the occasional commute. That was just a few years ago.
Kelly O'Dwyer at the Prova workshop
Today, she not only rides a custom Prova mountain bike and gravel commuter, but builds and finishes frames alongside Mark—including her daughter’s. It’s a powerful reminder of the inclusive, evolving space that Prova represents. There was no ego here—only shared passion, attention to detail, and a very visible emotional investment in every frame.
With quick-growing expertise in carbon layup Kelly also has a keen eye for detail and a matching ability to complete frames' finishing stages. This plays a crucial role in ensuring that every Prova frame not only performs but presents beautifully.
The System That Built Prova
When Mark and Kelly moved into their current space, the first 12 months were spent designing the systems, not the bikes. Why? Because the ride quality was already dialled in. The challenge was handling increasing demand without compromising their values or quality control.
Paint, carbon layup, titanium shaping, even customer service—it’s all done in-house, or with close collaborators. Mark and Kelly oversee nearly every touchpoint, including the post-sale support. And that brings a kind of longevity to the relationship that mass brands simply can’t replicate.
Behind the elegance of a Prova frame is a deeply considered operational rhythm. Their project is logged with hand-tagged systems, wall-mounted visual trackers, and real-time progress boards. These aren’t antiquated tools—they’re a tactile translation of the digital CRM systems most businesses struggle to implement. As Mark tells me, "We're visual people", so these tactile systems work not only because they can be tracked by the human eye - they work because they're human-centred, not automated software installed for the sake of building business. And in doing so, Prova makes the rider’s path toward their bike feel more intentional, more seamless, more perfect.
Alison McGregor and Mark Hester at Prova Workshop
What Makes a Prova Bike Unique?
Prova bikes are recognisable not just by their form, but by their feel. Mark is obsessive about weight distribution, stiffness tuning, and material selection—refinements that most off-the-shelf brands simply don’t offer. Frames are designed for long-term serviceability, with machining details and tolerances that reduce wear, noise, and maintenance headaches over years of use.
“It’s not just about the finish,” Mark says. “It’s about a frame that still rides beautifully 10 years from now. And still looks good.”
Paintwork is handled by a dedicated partner. Carbon layups are done in-house. And every rider gets to see their frame’s journey from tubeset to final build.
A recent build at the Prova Workshop, Victoria. And 3D printed components ready for install
A System That Works, in a System That Doesn’t
Mark and Kelly have built something extraordinary. But as Mark admits, their success is in part thanks to opportunities many builders don’t get—access to equipment, community knowledge, and startup capital.
“One of the only reasons this business exists,” Mark reflects, “is because in the UK, there were framebuilding schools. It was relatively expensive but... you could build something from people that knew what they were doing, like existing frame builders.”
In many ways, Australia lacks that infrastructure. in comparison to Europe, equipment is scarce, fabrication knowledge is limited to a handful of builders. Support from suppliers is minimal, and the cycling media still orbits mass brands and marketing dollars. For most builders, there are few lifelines.
Which makes Prova’s story more vital, not less. It proves what’s possible when talent meets structure—and highlights just how far the rest of the industry has to go in supporting small-scale makers.
Community, Connection, and Legacy in Motion
The handmade bike scene in Australia may be small, but it’s tightly knit—and fiercely supportive. Mark name-checks Darren Baum and Dazza at Llewellyn as mentors who offered their time and knowledge freely.
“Sometimes it’s a quick call. Sometimes you stop by for a few hours,” he says. “That kind of help is rare—and essential.”
Today, there are only a few dozen active builders in Australia, and just a handful working in titanium. Prova is not only at the forefront of that scene—they’re helping define it.
Details of a Prova frame at the Handmade Bicycle Show Australia 2021, renamed SPOKEN
With builders like Baum, Llewellyn, and now Prova, the Australian handmade scene has legs. It just needs more oxygen. Thanks to visionaries like Nathan Lorkin, founder of SPOKEN, exposure for these builders is possible on a significant level that positively affects business. Formerly the Handmade Bicycle Show Australia, Nathan has helped bring Australian framebuilders like Prova, Devlin and Palmer to a wider public audience. Alongside this support, if we’re lucky, more riders will start asking better questions—about where their bikes come from, and who makes them.
Prova at the Handmade Bicycle Show Australia 2021, renamed SPOKEN
Want a Prova Bike? Get Sized at Chainsmith
At Chainsmith, we’ve worked with custom builders since our early days. We offer professional custom sizing and consultation sessions in Sydney to make sure every rider gets a bike tailored to their body, terrain, and performance goals. Our expert fit process ensures that your investment in a custom frame delivers everything it’s designed for—comfort, efficiency, and pure riding joy.
