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Ever since seeing his section in Ride Magazine’s video No Front Teeth, I’ve been a huge fan of Ashley Charles’ riding. Having seen more recent footage, and even being lucky enough to ride with him in person, it’s clear he’s got a hell of a lot of talent for riding little bikes around, so it’s not really surprising that his long-term sponsor, WeThePeople, have hooked him up with a signature frame.

As soon as I got the frame from Hot-Wheels (Massive thanks need to go out to Chris at Hot-wheels for his help!), I built it up. From first impressions, it’s clear that WTP’s incredible attention to detail hadn’t missed a single part of this frame, from the sweet forged seat-stay brace to the smoothly sculpted head-tube and BB shell (And of course the amazing decals). Made from 4130 Sanko cromoly, baked with WTP’s own Magma heat-treatment process, the A2B features an offset-butted down-tube (meaning it’s thicker at the bottom, where you need it the most), a double butted top-tube and a regular butted seat-tube, and totally unique hollow dropouts. As you’d expect from a modern frame, it also needs an integrated headset and a Mid-sized BB - as well as the almost obligatory light-weight seat-clamp. If you like your tyres in monster truck size, you’re also catered for - the flattened wishbone on the chainstays mean that there’s plenty of tyre clearance, and similarly with the invest-cast seat-stay brace.

Enough of the tech-talk though: How does it ride? Well, as you’d expect from a top of the range WTP frame, pretty damn well. The short chainstays (13.25″ slammed, although I’m running it nearer 13.5″) coupled with the 11.8″ BB height mean that the frame’s pretty nimble. With a 75° head-angle it was also nice on the front wheel and for carving into spins. Despite being slightly longer than my previous frame, with a 20.85″ toptube (with the 71.5° seat-tube making it feel a touch longer), it still felt easy to ride, and not at all sluggish. The main plus point for me with how the A2B rode was simply how stiff and solid the frame felt, despite it only weighing 4.8lbs. It’s also a great combination between being stable for manuals and faster lines, but also being flicky enough for more tech, nibbly tricks.

wethepeople : Ashley Charles : videorama from wethepeoplebikeco on Vimeo.

All in all, the A2B just seems… right, somehow. It’s clearly had a lot of time and attention put into it, as all the finishing touches show. Nothing’s been left to chance, and no corners have been cut, even down to speccing matte-finish decals to go with the matte-finish paint. Although it’s impossible to judge the strength of a frame from a few rides, it’s enough time to feel when a frame is good to ride, and feels sturdy and responsive. When I get a new frame, I usually have a bit of a niggling doubt as to whether my new frame is actually better or nicer than the one I had previously, but there was none of that feeling when I rode the A2B for the first time - it really is that good.

For more info on the A2B, check out the WTP product page here. For info on the rest of WTP’s signature series, and all their 2009 parts, click here to check out their new online flipbook catalogue.

Tags: 12, aged, ashley charles, bar, BMX, frame, spin, wethepeople