Functional Art

Jesse Turner is building beautiful rides at Slow Southern Steel.

By Bryce Ward | Photography By Kai Caddy

The typical high-end bike purchase goes something like this: You go online or walk into a bike shop and choose from a limited selection of frame sizes, typically between five to seven on average; the bike you purchase comes equipped with a host of standardized components (stem and handlebars, pedals and crankset, saddle and wheels), most — if not all of which — you will immediately or gradually replace to improve fit or gain a marginal advantage; at some point, you hire a professional bike fitter to optimize your position on the bike, which will likely result in yet another fit-related purchase.

This is not the most efficient or cost-effective way to purchase a premium bike, but it is the most efficient and cost-effective way to produce one, and so this process has long been the norm in the cycling industry. If you’ve been in the game for a while, you may try purchasing a frameset on its own so you can hand-select each component from the outset, but this approach usually ends up costing more in the long run, requires quite a bit of research and specialized knowledge, and unless you know how to assemble a bike from a hodgepodge of parts, will likely result in you hiring a mechanic to complete the build. At this point, even if you’re willing to take on the challenge, it’s worth considering a different approach altogether.

For many cyclists, purchasing a mass-produced bike makes the most practical and financial sense; if you are content with stock components in the short term and a standard frame size in the long term, it is the most straightforward and cost-effective solution. But if you’re a cyclist who prioritizes performance, spends a considerable amount of time in the saddle, and plans on investing a fair bit of money into your next bike, then a custom-made alternative makes a lot of sense.

A custom bike may seem like an unfeasible purchase at first, but if you compare it to the standard approaches of purchasing a high-end bike, it can be just as cost-effective, if not more so. It also has distinct advantages over a mass-produced bike: It is made specifically for your body, riding demands and personal preferences, and it gives you an opportunity to ride a bike that is a direct expression of your personality — a bike that suits you perfectly from the moment you receive it.

“A custom bike may seem like an unfeasible purchase at first, but if you compare it to the standard approaches of purchasing a high-end bike, it can be just as cost-effective, if not more so.”

The trouble with purchasing a custom bike is finding someone who will make it for you. Fortunately for cyclists here in Arkansas, there is a frame builder based in Fayetteville who provides this very service, and he’s utilizing a material that has become overshadowed in an industry crowded with carbon fiber and aluminum alloy.

Jesse Turner, the owner and craftsman of Slow Southern Steel (SSS), has been hand-building custom steel frames and orchestrating bike builds since 2021, when he first embarked on the creation of a gravel bike for personal use. Before this decisive moment, he spent four years at the University of Arkansas earning a degree in sculpture, an experience he draws from to this day. After graduating in 2016, he spent his next four years working as a bike mechanic, providing him with ample opportunity to hone his mechanical understanding of bikes, tinker with builds, and gain inspiration from the numerous high-end bikes that passed through the shop stands. But when a global pandemic entered the scene, the uncertainty of the future acted as an impetus for Turner to move toward a career more in line with his aspirations as an artist and craftsman.

In 2020, he left behind his life as a bike mechanic and enrolled in welding school. Upon completion, he spent the next three years working as a welder and fabricator, contributing to local projects such as a dragon-themed staircase rail, columns shaped like an airplane wing, and a storefront bike rack. It was during this period that he began experimenting with frame-building, an idea that had laid dormant in his mind long before he strapped on a welding helmet. The surge in online information about frame-building during the era of social distancing aligned well with Turner’s timeline, and he took full advantage of the newly available resources.

After finishing his first bike in 2022, a process that took him about six months to complete, friends and local riders started asking for custom-made bikes of their own. This interest in his work, combined with the fact that welding and fabrication work was drying up around this time, was sufficient reason for Turner to take a leap of faith toward a once dormant dream. And so, in 2023, Slow Southern Steel — a name inspired by the title of a heavy metal documentary – became official.

Don’t let the first word in this company name mislead you. Each of Turner’s bikes are designed and crafted with performance top of mind. Steel is often overlooked in the performance cycling world for being a heavier material that is not as stiff as aluminum or carbon alternatives, but this is not inherently true. The quality of a steel frame depends entirely on how it’s made, who makes it, and the components that complement it.

While the weight of steel is limited by structural integrity more so than aluminum or carbon, it can still be made light enough for most performance use cases, especially when paired with premium carbon components. To give you an example, Turner completed a disc-brake road bike that weighs in at 18 pounds, wheels included, which is only three pounds heavier than the UCI’s weight limit for professional races. In other words, for any cyclist beneath the world-tour level, steel is a plenty capable medium for competition.

And regarding stiffness – which is an important consideration for efficient power transfer while pedaling, confident cornering at high speeds, and race-deciding sprints – steel can meet or exceed that of aluminum or carbon with the right design approach. Steel is inherently stiffer than aluminum, which relies on much larger tube diameters to achieve the same level of stiffness, and it can be just as stiff if not stiffer than carbon, albeit at the cost of added weight. 

Turner chose steel as his preferred medium for a few key reasons: it’s an easy form to work with by hand, it’s widely available, and it’s more affordable than aluminum. These characteristics of steel enable Turner to be creative and intentional with his builds while keeping the price point attainable and practical for his customers. Plus, there’s something to be said for the welded steel aesthetic.

SSS bikes have garnered a lot of attention in the gravel and bikepacking community, where long, grueling hours in the saddle require a bike that is as comfortable as it is capable. By taking an individualized approach, Turner can create a level of harmony between a bike and its rider that proves advantageous in the midst of extremely long efforts, as Andrew Onermaa and Natalie Peet, two accomplished ultra-endurance cyclists, have recently demonstrated. Andrew won the 2025 Tour Divide single-speed category (a 15-day effort) and Natalie won the 2025 Doom women’s category (a two-day effort) aboard custom SSS bikes.

Turner offers three styles of frames as a starting point for most of his custom builds: the Sweet Leaf for gravel riding, the Warhorn for mountain biking, and the RFTC (“ride fast, take chances”) for road riding. The process of creating a SSS bike can be broken down into seven steps:

1. The prospective customer reaches out and explains what they are looking for in their new bike. Turner provides as much or as little guidance as needed, including advice for components.

2. After back-and-forth conversation, Turner creates a cost estimate based on the build requirements. If the prospective customer decides to move forward, they put down a deposit and get added to the queue.

3. Turner creates a CAD design based on the customer’s measurements and requests. This is a collaborative process until both sides are satisfied with the design.

4. After the CAD design is finalized, Turner orders the necessary materials and components to execute the build.

5. The frame-building process begins. On average, it takes Turner around 40 hours to create a frame from scratch.

6. When the frame is complete, Turner sends it off for a professional paint job. The customer has practically endless color options to choose from.

7. After the paint is complete and all the components have arrived, Turner assembles the bike himself and prepares it for use. Most customers opt for local pick-up because even if they aren’t local to Northwest Arkansas, a new bike is a great excuse to visit the area and ride.

“As with all artists, the desire to experiment and push one’s boundaries is difficult to ignore but necessary for creative health.”

From initial contact to final delivery, the creation of a SSS bike takes an average of two months to complete. The result is nothing short of functional art.

The creative aspect of frame-building especially appealed to Turner when he was first getting started, but the work became monotonous. As time passed, what he now finds most rewarding about his work is seeing the finished product and hearing from happy customers. At the end of the day, he’s in the business of creating great ride experiences.

Being his own boss is another rewarding aspect for Turner, but the business side of SSS is often the most challenging part of his work. Frame-building is not the most lucrative line of trade, but it has advantages that can’t be measured in dollars, especially for a cyclist at heart.   

Aside from creating frames and orchestrating builds, Turner also creates custom components such as steel forks and does steel repair work. One day, he would like to offer more custom parts and services, even outside the scope of cycling, but for now his focus remains on frames.

One of his first projects of 2026 will stray from the norm of his previous builds: a rare 32-inch sized mountain bike frame, designed for bikepacking, and made not of steel, but titanium. As with all artists, the desire to experiment and push one’s boundaries is difficult to ignore but necessary for creative health. As Turner observed in regard to the bike industry, “frame builders are where new ideas happen.”

If you are interested in having a custom-made SSS bike of your own, the best place to start is by visiting the Slow Southern Steel website (www.sss.bike) and filling out the contact form. You can also check out the SSS Instagram page (sss.bike) to browse some of Turner’s previous builds. If there is a bike you can imagine, Turner can probably build it.