Last updated: 11 October 2026
This page is a public summary of the Required Build Specification that comes with every Creature Cycles design. Please read it before you buy, so you know what building the parts properly involves. It sits alongside our Terms & Conditions and our Design File Licence.
1. What the specification is
The Required Build Specification sets out how parts made from our design files must be manufactured, post-processed, inspected, joined and assembled for the design to perform as intended. It forms part of the design. A design file without its specification is not the complete design.
The full specification is a revision-controlled document. We supply it with your design files, and it is specific to your design. It is confidential and remains our property. You may share it only with the fabricator making the parts for you, including any framebuilder joining or assembling them. This page is a summary only. If this page and the revision supplied with your files differ, the revision supplied with your files applies.
2. Key requirements in brief
The exact requirements for your parts are in the revision supplied with your files. In general terms:
- Material. Parts must be made only in an alloy approved in your specification, to the recognised material standard it names. At present these are titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) and 316L stainless steel, to the relevant ASTM additive-manufacturing standards. No substitution of alloy, grade or supplier is allowed without our written approval.
- A qualified, capable supplier. Parts must be made using the process the specification requires (currently laser powder bed fusion). They must be made on a qualified production process, by a supplier on the qualified supplier list in the specification, or by one you have satisfied yourself can meet the specification in full. Build orientation and part marking must follow the specification where it sets them.
- Post-processing. The specification sets a required post-processing sequence, and the order matters. It includes heat treatment to the specified cycle (not a supplier’s default cycle), removal of supports without damaging the part, machining of joint faces, bores and bearing seats where drawn, finishing of the marked critical regions, and a final surface treatment. Additional treatments such as hot isostatic pressing are not required as standard. Discuss them with us first if you want to use them, as they can change material properties.
- Inspection and acceptance. Each batch and each part must be inspected as the specification sets out. This includes material and heat-treatment certification, visual, surface and dimensional checks, and a first-article check for a new design or supplier. Parts that fail inspection must be rejected, not reworked, unless we agree otherwise in writing. Your supplier should give you a certificate of conformity and supporting certificates with the parts. Keep them for the working life of the frame.
- No unapproved modification. The parts must not be drilled, filed, reshaped, re-radiused or otherwise modified. The design must not be scaled, resized, or applied to a different frame, discipline or rider weight from its stated design basis, without our written approval.
- Joining, assembly and testing. The framebuilder is responsible for joining and assembly to the conditions the specification sets out. Parts must be joined by TIG welding only (brazing and other methods are outside the specification), using the specified filler, mating tubes, fixturing, alignment, venting and weld exclusion distances. You are responsible for testing and certifying the finished frame to the applicable standard, and for any UKCA/CE marking or conformity assessment. We do not supervise, inspect or approve manufacture, joining or assembly.
- Design basis. The design is produced from the information you give us, such as intended use, rider weight and system weight. If that information is wrong, the design is wrong, so check it before manufacture.
3. Scope of the design and our liability
Parts manufactured, post-processed, inspected, joined or assembled otherwise than in accordance with the Required Build Specification fall outside the scope of the design, and we accept no responsibility for them. We are not the manufacturer or supplier of the parts, and we are not party to your contract with your fabricator.
Our liability for the design applies only where parts have been manufactured, post-processed and inspected in full accordance with the specification, and are used appropriately, meaning for the intended application and within the use stated in the specification. This doesn’t affect your rights if the design files themselves are faulty or don’t match the agreed geometry. Nothing on this page affects your statutory rights as a consumer, or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or any other liability that can’t be limited by law. See section 14 of our Terms & Conditions and section 6 of our Design File Licence.
4. Accepting the specification
- Online orders (design files bought through the Frame Designer): you accept the Required Build Specification by ticking the terms box at checkout. You also agree to pass its requirements in full to your fabricator and to anyone carrying out the framebuilding.
- Bespoke, commercial and OEM work: the specification for your project is issued for signature. You confirm the design basis and accept the specification by signing it before manufacture.
5. Questions
If you’re not sure whether your supplier, process or intended use meets the specification, ask us before production. Email info@creaturecycles.co.uk, or write to Creature Cycles Ltd, Idris House, Bridge Street, Corris, Machynlleth, SY20 9SP.