Tag Archive for "handmade"

Steel, The Mosaic Way

Posted on Saturday, August 10th, 2019 at 12:07 am.

You may know Mosaic as a boutique titanium framebuilder, but the Boulder-based company also happens to make really, really sweet steel frames for those who prefer that unmistakable ride of a well-crafted steel bike. Hello, Mosaic RS-1.

So what’s so special about the RS-1? First, the lead-time is six weeks. That’s ridiculously impressive considering each frame comes with rider specific geometry and matching Columbus Spirit HSS steel tubes for a tuned ride.

But the individualization obviously doesn’t stop there. Available in both caliper and disc brake variants, the RS-1 can be painted in your choices from Mosaic layouts and 45 stock colors, all done by their in-house paint shop Spectrum Paint & Powderworks.

In addition, each frame can be tailored for mechanical/ Di2/ EPS/ eTap shifting. Also included is a tapered Chris King DropSet Headset and a braze-one from derailleur mount. There’s even a choice of 68mm english-thread or a PF30 68mm bottom bracket to choose from. The seat post diameter is at a fixed 27.2mm.

In addition, each frame can be tailored for mechanical/ Di2/ EPS/ eTap shifting. Also included is a tapered Chris King DropSet Headset and a braze-on front derailleur mount. There’s even a choice of 68mm english-thread or a PF30 68mm bottom bracket. The seat post diameter is at a fixed 27.2mm.

Other small details worth noting are star-shaped cable port/bottle boss reinforcements and an integrated derailleur hanger.

For the caliper brake-equipped frames, the RS-1 will be spec’d with QR front and rear, 28mm tire clearance and an ENVE carbon road fork.

Meanwhile, the disc-version, the RS-1d will come with front (142×12) and rear (100×12) thru-axles, flat-mount brakes front and rear, 30mm of tire clearance, and a carbon Columbus Futura Disc fork.

The RS-1/RS1d are available to order today for $6,000 per frameset.

Allied Able Is Ready For All The Gnar

Posted on Friday, May 31st, 2019 at 2:18 pm.

Written by Element.ly Staff

As radical as that elevated chain stay might look, I am excited the new Allied Cycle Work’s ABLE still has that 420mm chain stay for most frame sizes with enough room to accommodate 700x47c/650×55 and 700x43c/650×47 rear tires.

But before you call it just an updated Allroad with a new chain stay, its geometry has been reworked with a slightly taller stack, a 71° head tube with a 66mm trail for the increasingly more technical gravel, or just your hard all-day gnar grind. Still handmade in Little Rock, Arkansas and I love the music video!

Handmade Overload

Posted on Thursday, March 21st, 2019 at 2:00 pm.

Written by Stephen Lam

I loathe going to the North American Handmade Bike Show. IT’s not because the show sucks, but because everything just looks so darn beautiful.

The McGovern Cycles Monstercross 2.0. Drools.

I was admittedly grouchy as I made the trek from San Francisco to Sacramento, yet more than anything, the people, new and old friends, really made the show a whole lot more worthwhile.

Allied Alfa All-Road painted by Brian Szykowny

Onto the bikes. Well, there were lots of them. Scroll through the gallery and you’ll see why NAHBS is such a fun show even if you have no inclination whatsoever to buy one of these custom steeds. The amount of time the builders, or shall I said wizard artisans, spent in making these ridable show bikes was simply amazing. I hope you enjoy the bikes as much as I do.

Fifty One Bikes‘ Mad Bastard experimental TT bike inspired by the ’96 Bianchi titanium TT bike and the classic American-themed Brooklyn Cycling jersey from the 70s.

The Mad Bastard’s cockpit was painted to match the blues on the frame. It also has the new SRAM eTap AXS TT drivetrain.

Caletti Cycles adventure road bike painted by artist Jeremiah Kille.

If I could get one e-bike, it’d be this fresh curvy Sycip

Since it’s a steel Sycip, it’s got the unmistakable penny seatstay cap.

A Pegoretti tribute bike from Don Walker Cycles

Modeled after the Pegoretti Big Leg Emma, the tribute bike is made with the obligatory massive steel chainstays under its light blue and pink color theme

Italy’s T°RED Bikes brought their Levriero RR steel aero bike to the show.

What I thought was a head tube conjunction more commonly found in aero carbon bikes but T°RED made it out of steel anyway.

It might not be very obvious, but this Ti Cycles was built with FSA’s ACR (Advanced Routing System) front end where all the cables are routed internally within its own bar, stem, spacers, and headset combo, making one hell of a clean cockpit.

Here’s another McGovern I really like. While Monstercross 2.0 was fully carbon, this gravel rig has a steel+carbon construction. All the blue tubes are carbon, it’s got carbon-wrapped joints at the seat tube and top tube while the rest of the frame is fillet-brazed steel to combine the best characteristics of both materials.

The carbon-wrapped junction that connects the carbon seat tube with the steel seat stay

Some thought this bike was ugly AF and some thought this bike was offensive given that it’s named Pubesmobile for a dude better known as Bicycle Pubes. But there’s something to be said about this Dear Susan-made frank stein rig. I especially like those curve lines up front.

White Industries cranksets were everywhere at the show but this anodized red/blue version is by far one of the best looking ones. Sorry Paul.

Rob English‘s booth is always a tough one because every bike there can easily win a bunch of awards. This is Rob’s personal bike purposely built to compete in the Trans Am bike race. It’s got some aero attributes such as an aero head tube, fork, clip-on tt bars, a custom carbon fiber storage box while the rest of the storage components are neatly nested.

Both brakes were shrouded with custom carbon covers made by Parlee.

The radical-looking seat stay on this Weis Manufacturing track bike is sure a showstopper but what’s also interesting is the materials used. Weis is the first company to make a frame out of Allite Super Magnesium AE81 tubing that is said to be 50% lighter than titanium and 20 times more shock-absorbing than aluminum.

As to the reason behind the asymmetric seat stay? Better power transfer, according to Weis.

Paul Component founder Paul LOVES his local brewery Sierra Nevada so much he commissioned a Sierra Nevada themed Retrotec single-speed with as much green bits one can possibly cram into a bike.

The custom front rack will fit two 12-can packs of Sierra Nevada perfectly.

Better known for its excellent seatpost and stem, Thomson showed off a prototype titanium bike and matching titanium seatpost they’ve been working on. The Thomson-designed and overseas made 3/2.5 gravel frame will be made in five sizes with details such as accommodation for 650 hoops with clearance for 700×45 tires plus eyelets for fenders, racks, and cable ports.

Besides the titanium bike and seatpost, can I just get some of these Thomson spacers?

It seems everyone that’s doing titanium is also doing anodization at the show, but the Aurora from No. 22 caught my eyes with its matching anodized fenders, Campy Super Record grouppo, and a carbon seat tube pulling double duty as an integrated seatpost.

Just a bit of anodizing on the seatstay bridge. I love the level of detail here.

Based in Salt Lake City, Cerreta Cycles showcased one of their steel road machines made out of Columbus Life tubing plus a custom seat topper covered in a sweet winter dazzle camo-inspired paint job. Oh, this bike is for sale too.

The Cerretta also sports a pair of some incredibly minimalistic-looking and lightweight carbon bottle cages by Alpitude.

Japan’s Panasonic brought two bikes to the show and this is the sole complete bike with a finish inspired by stained glass.

And sure enough it looks like stained glass.

Another gorgeously-made steel road machine. This time it’s the O.Q.O.C from Italian Maker DeAnima featuring Tig welded Deda Zero Custom tubeset, custom cnc stainless steel dropouts, and a BSA bottom bracket. It’ll take a 27.2 seatpost with your choice of external
mechanical or internal electronic routing.

Painted DeAnima logo on the bottom bracket

Spearheaded by legendary framebuilder Carl Strong, Montana’s Pursuit Cycles had one model to show: The carbon fiber LeadOut. As a small batch builder, only 35 of these will be made in your choice of five standard color themes like this gorgeous blue “pursuit” palette. You can also have it custom painted but with the standard paint job this good, I’d happily take the standard paint.

The head badge that also works as a birth certificate with individual frame info.

Our good friend Andrew from Cyclocross Magazine photographing a bitchin’ Seven Evergreen Pro SL with blue/pink finishes and spokes in matching colors by the wizards at Industry Nine.

Awarded “best gravel bike” at the show, Massachusetts made Evergreen Pro SL combines filament-wound carbon fiber top tube, seat tube and seatstays to a 3/2.5 titanium frame with a striking two-piece drive side stay for added clearance.

Special shoutout to Travis at Paul Component, Dennis at McGovern Cycles, Jeremy at Sycip, Billy at ECHOS, Evan at Alex Rims, and Andrew at Cyclocross Magazine for keeping things light and fun.

It’s DAVE From Cal Poly

Posted on Monday, March 18th, 2019 at 10:48 pm.

Written by Stephen Lam

I was all ready to photograph this wooden bike at the Cal Poly Bike Builders booth when I saw this small-tubed downhill rig chilling front and center. We at Element.ly don’t cover much downhill but a downhill bike is also not a common sight at NAHBS, either. So I decided to take a look.

Cal Poly Bike Builders is a mechanical engineering club out of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, an uber-competitive public university known for its excellent engineering program that happens to be surrounded with plenty of good riding. I know this well because I really wanted to attend that school.

Besides the main show that is the frame, the student-run club manufactures much of the bike including the brakes’ master cylinders, levers, as well as this very nice sounding bell.

Plenty of safety wire was used from tying down cables

According to Chris Fedor, the club’s vice president and a 4th year mechanical engineering major, this downhill rig, named D.A.V.E for Downhill Assault Vehicle Extraordinaire, was conceived one week after the 2018 NAHBS.

With about 3,000 man-hours of work done by as many as 25 members of the club to manufacture much of the bike from scratch including the use of 3D modeling, FEA, running the CNC machines, and brazing the steel frame together at the fabrication facilities on campus that would make some full-time builders very jealous.

Suspension is handled by a Öhlins coil shock and DH fork..

Needless to say, D.A.V.E is one hell of a student project. The bike has yet to see any trail action, per the members’ agreement of not riding the show bike before NAHBS, but perhaps the lead welder will get first dibs? There’s also rumored to be a long waiting list.

Member-made direct mount stem and a CP (Cal Poly) headset stem cap

Yup, they CNC’d their own platform pedals too.

A Bike Made With Whisky Casks?

Posted on Wednesday, September 13th, 2017 at 11:54 pm.

Written by Stephen Lam

GLENMORANGIE ORIGINAL BY RENOVO — Photo: Renovo

Yes, it’s entirely possible to make a bicycle frame out of whisky casks.

I can count a handful of collaborations between bike manufacturers their automative counterparts (Colnago/Ferrari, Specialized/McLaren, Pinarello/Jaguar…)

But this is the first time I have ever heard of a bike made of whisky glass. I mean, I saw the email subject line right after I made it to Apple Park for the iPhone 8/X launch event and I kept wondering what’s up with this wooden Renovo whisky bike.

Named the Glenmorangie Original after Renovo’s partnership with Scotland’s Glenmorangie (and one of their popular Scotches, the Glenmorangie 10 Year Old – The Original.) Each limited edition frame uses roughly 15 staves from twice-filled American white oak casks which are shipped to Portland, Oregon where they are then shaped and put together into a hollow trapezoidal-shaped top and downtube that traces the curvy shape of the staves while a curvy thin seat mimics the shape of a longbow to soak up all the unpleasant bumps.

Just as wood has its own characteristics from growth and well, being aged in some fine Highland scotch, each frame will be one-of-a-kind so you can be certain that no one in your weekend riding group will share the same frame even if he/she decides to order one.

Renovo bills this as an all-around adventure machine so the disc only frame will have plenty of clearance to fit up to 700x40mm tires. A tapered headtube, PF30 bottom bracket and thru-axles are also employed to further boost the frame’s stiffness. Front and rear fender mounts come standard and is rear-rack compatible with a rackmount seat collar.

The Glenmorangie Original launch edition built with Shimano Ultegra R8000 and hydraulic brakes will be available for a cool $6,950 while the Prestige edition with Dura-Ace 9170 Di2 will be $11,450. It’s not exactly cheap and the bike won’t smell like whisky, but it’s definitely something different from your typical carbon fiber titanium steed and is still capable to go just as fast.

https://renovobikes.com/

I’ve never ridden in Chico

Posted on Thursday, May 25th, 2017 at 9:41 pm.

Written by Stephen Lam

I’ve never ridden in Chico… Until two weeks ago.

After the first day of introductions, a shakedown ride, a whole lot of names to remember and even more Sierra Nevadas involved, came the second day of Paul Camp in Chico, named and organized by none other than Paul Price of Paul Component Engineering.

The Paul. Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly

I know, there are a lot of Paul’s in the previous sentence.

The plan for the day was to ride bikes. Precisely, custom handmade bikes made specifically for this one ride.

Pick a bike! Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly

I was set up on a 27.5 drop-bar mountain bike built by Robert Ives at Blue Collar Bikes in Sacramento. Painted in bright candy red and adorned with just about every anodized blue component Paul makes out of his shop.

27.5 Monstercross by Blue Collar Bikes. Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly

The bike was gorgeous as it was playful and surefooted to commandeer… very much like Ives himself, who was a welder at Ventana and Ibis before dabbling between his own bike company, a day job as a metal fabricator, and being super involved in a Pitbull rescue in town.

“I want to build bikes that people can go out and get rad on,” said Ives when I asked him about his design as we slowly pedaled closer to Bidwell Park.

Once we quickly treaded through the trails we rode on the previous day, it was game on. Although the post-ride strava revealed we didn’t climb a whole lot, I was getting reacquainted with rock navigation 101. It wasn’t that the trail was really gnarly, but let’s just say I was rusty while everyone else was in tip top shape.

Whatevs, I was riding with a badass group of frame builders and their bikes. This must be the rideable version of NAHBS.

After a quick descent on the double track and ripping through the shrubbery (read: poison oaks), I made it to lunch.

It was a picnic by a Big Chico Creek. After what seemed to be an eternity of riding with no overhead covering, it was a much welcomed break.

River-cooled beverages for all. Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly

But we had more to ride.

“Stop at parking lot P on the way back,” said Travis, one of Paul’s employee.

We did as we were told and out of nowhere, boom, came the view of the canyon. Definitely not huckable, but the size of the canyon was unexpected. It was amazing and for a second I wished I was at that sweet looking swimming hole at the bottom of the canyon.

I spent the last few miles in and out of paved bike paths and parallel singletracks.

Further down at the front of our dirt peloton, Adam from Sklar Bikes was giving Burnsey of Oddity Cycles and Maurice from Dirt Rag a quick tow. I quickly snapped a photo on my camera and that essentially summed up the entire laid-back rad nature of Paul Camp.

Burnsey of Oddity Cycles and Maurice from Dirt Rag getting a tow from Adam of Sklar Bikes — Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly

Minutes later, Curtis from Retrotec ditched his bike and dashed into the water at Five Mile while Paul tried to hustle all of us back to the hotel. We weren’t done just yet!

Curtis from Retrotec going for a quick splash — Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly

We had an appointment at Sierra Nevada.

It was a combination of a brewery tour, a handmade bike expo in the brewhouse, and dinner out on the patio. One of the attendees quipped, “This must be the biggest handmade bike gathering in Chico.”

Forget the whole biggest handmade bike gathering thing. This must be the best bike party in Chico.

We Love Aluminum Frames, and You Should Too

Posted on Friday, April 15th, 2016 at 6:36 am.

Written by Stephen Lam

eTap-equipped MKI road at NAHBS. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Frame holding jig in the finishing booth. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

A few of Andrew's origin frames. The steel one in the middle was the one he build while attending UBI in 2009. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Andrew prefers to operate the foot switch bare-footed for better feel and control. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Mise en place. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Pre-weld markings. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Spent welding rods. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Head tube on the welding jig. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

A bunch of triangles made while practicing welds.. and finishes. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

A JET horizontal mitering bandsaw plus the must-have, multi-use gallon bucket. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Rear triangle alignment jig. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Custom frame oven designed by none other than Andrew himself. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Frames. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Welding time. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Andrew seen through the yellow curtain. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Andrew, with a MkI road, and Manny. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

A custom aluminum frame is somewhat of a unicorn these days. Stroll down the aisles at NAHBS and it’s obvious that the dominant materials for frames are titanium, carbon, and steel. And those are all wonderful materials in their own right, but I have a soft spot for aluminum.

As a kid I drooled over a Klein Quantum Pro with that badass orange paint job, or the flaming red Cannondale CAAD Cipollini rode. There’s a certain beauty to fat tubed, smooth welding frame that just screams come at me bro.

Well, Klein’s gone now (RIP), but my hope of finding a good aluminum bike is not.

The Low Down

Sure, you could go with a big name factory option like Cannondale’s CAAD 12 and Specialized’s Allez, but if you want custom aluminum hand-crafted by an expert, Andrew Low of LOW Bicycles is your guy.

Growing up with interests in model airplanes, guitars and cars, Andrew started building roll cages for off-road vehicles while pursuing his degree in fine arts in Colorado. After moving back to his native San Francisco in 2005, he got really into bikes, and eventually got the idea to make his own frame.

Years of researching tools, saving money, and welding practice finally yielded two frames by the summer of 2010. From there, Andrew “started to take those around town where bike messengers were hanging out.” The LOW frames were an instant hit, and that was the origin of LOW Bicycles.

Today, besides offering four different track models, LOW is dipping into the resurgent aluminum road and cross market with their new MkI road and cross frames—all made in their 500 square foot shop so tidy you would think you just walked into a boutique car shop. Here’s what he has to say for himself.

The Interview

Andrew Low. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

Why aluminum? I like the look of oversized tubing as opposed to steel frames but I also wanted to make racing bikes and aluminum is a great material for that, dollar per dollar it’s the most effective material for racing. It’s really versatile in that you can make a really stiff bike and you can make really comfortable bike contrary to popular belief.

It’s just how you shape the tubes.

Aluminum is softer than steel and it’s not as rigid and brittle as epoxy which you find in carbon fiber.

How many frames do you make now? 12 frames every four weeks, and we stop 4 weeks out of the year. So that’s about 120 bikes a year.

Describe your bikes in five words: Beautiful, aggressive, well-designed, well-made, fast.

Why #thismachinekillscarbon? Because if you get on our bikes you won’t feel any disadvantage because you’re on an aluminum bike. I came up with that hashtag myself. The full quote is “this machine kills carbon and your preconceived notion of superiority.”

That’s what we’re setting out to do with our road bike. It started happening now in the industry where big brands are investing into high-end aluminum bikes. Specialized with their Allez which is a beautiful bike in my opinion. Some people are starting to realize that barring from buying the highest end carbon frame you can get just as good if not better performance out of aluminum. One of my bikes will ride much better than a similar-priced carbon bike. You’ll feel the difference.

Uphill or downhill: Downhill.

Favorite riding place: Riding in Marin is awesome, riding through traffic is fun. I used to love riding the city loop

Shaped aluminum tubes ready to be cajoled into a frame. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

One thing people don’t know about you: I am working on getting my pilot license.

Favorite music: Bands that I grown up loving: the Ramones. Jonathan Richmond, jimmy Hendrix, Lou reed, a lot of stuff from late 70s, early 80s. I play the guitar.

What are you most proud of? That I’ve able to keep this going for five years. Most businesses fail within the first year. I am proud that it took off to begin with. We have a shit ton of struggle keeping the business going. But I am just really proud that I did something people like. For me that’s awesome. It’s validating.

Andrew hard at work. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly

How long does it take to produce one frame: About 30 hours per bike.

Morning or night person: Both. I don’t sleep that much. I go to bed late and wake up early.

Anything else you’d like to add: Buy my bikes!

Steel, The Mosaic Way

Billy’s Special

Allied Able Is Ready For All The Gnar

Who in Their Right Mind Would Start a Bike Company?

Handmade Overload

I’ve never ridden in Chico

It’s DAVE From Cal Poly

Billy’s Special

A Bike Made With Whisky Casks?

Let Me Tell You About “My Guy”

I’ve never ridden in Chico

From petroleum to bikes, I think that’s good karma there

We Love Aluminum Frames, and You Should Too

The Low Down

The Interview

How to Play by the Rules at the Eroica California