Billy’s Special

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NAHBS Mosaic titanium custom bikes

In case you haven’t noticed from everyone’s NAHBS coverage, there was a lot of Mosaic at the show similar to the number of S-Works at your local crit. 

NAHBS Mosaic titanium custom bikes SRAM
One of the most talked about Mosaic with a red to silver fade at the SRAM booth

Seriously, there was enough to do a whole NAHBS gallery on just the Mosaics. I almost did.

NAHBS Mosaic RT-2 650b titanium custom bikes Billy's special

There was one that didn’t get much buzz though. Our friend Billy got engaged this past fall and he commissioned a custom Mosaic as an engagement gift for his partner in crime, Beth.

It’s a custom RT2 650B built around a SRAM Force 1×11 drivetrain plus a heavy dosage of parts from Paul Component and White Industries throughout. As a matter of fact, Paul handmade a pair of titanium rings for the couple. There are also three bottle mounts for those long trips in the woods and since it’s a Mosaic, it has sweet black paint with pink trim  and a dash of glitter.

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An understated, yet extremely durable and U.S. made White Industries crankset

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Buttery smooth White Industries headset will last for years to come

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Paul Component Klamper mechanical disc brake for the braking moments

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Don't mind the dust on the frame, but this RT2 utilizes a full-length housing for its rear disc brake

How about that for an engagement gift?

NAHBS Mosaic RT-2 650b titanium custom bikes Billy's special
B & B // B &B stands for Billy Beth Bed & Breakfast, a special ride conversation, aka long term imaginary retirement planning
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It’s DAVE From Cal Poly

Handmade Overload

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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.
Impeccable finish.
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.
I told you it’s clean.
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. 
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I’ve never ridden in Chico

It’s DAVE From Cal Poly

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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.

Hello.

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.

… to the main suspension pivot

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.
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Billy’s Special