Posts from the ‘Custom Bikes’ Category
This is our third generation Di2 Mountian Bike. Our Ruegamer bike was the first true mountain bike Di2 conversion and let loose a lot of ideas as to what was possible. The next year, 2010, we rolled out an internal battery 29er with sequential shifting. Sequential shifting was a proof of concept that modified the way Di2 functioned. Instead of two shifters to individually control each derailleur, now all a rider had to do was shift up or down. A brain in the stem would calculate the gear ratios and chose the next gear shifting the rear or both the rear and front derailleurs.
We’ve done a few custom modifications over the years – a custom tuned frame, a Di2 mod here and there, some unique artistic driven builds, two world record light bikes. This year we refined our Di2 Mountain bike focused extra attention to a completely custom Crumpton build. The Crumpton is built for one of our European customers who wanted a unique bike that would intrigue passers-by while still being an everyday rider. Part of the assignment was to work with a pink and purple colorway. Read more
This year we wanted to have two bikes that met two design goals for us. The first being that the bike is race worthy and anyone would feel comfortable on it. The second is that the bike come spec’d with parts that are obtainable and regularly stocked. This Crumpton Custom spec’d largely with ENVE Composites, Tune and New Ultimate joins Jason’s Corsa Team at Interbike as our two race bikes. The Fully Custom Crumpton (more later) and the Di2 MTB (more later) join the mix as a customer project bike and the 3rd in our series of Di2 mountain bikes.
Typically at this point in the year we’d keep our Interbike projects under wraps, but I’m particularly excited about this bike. Not only is the frame a new offering from Crumpton Cycles but the bike has a lot of new parts on it from companies like ENVE Composites, EE Cycleworks, KCNC and Tune. I’m also excited because I think it turned out really pretty. Aesthetically the bike sort of came together better than I could have imagined, with the EE cranks, white Crumpton decals, KCNC Ti Cassette and New Ultimate parts all working together. But I’m probably pretty biased because I built this one for myself. I’m stoked with how it turned out, but pretty bummed that because it’s a showbike, I have to limit the number of miles I put on it, as it still needs to look new in 3 weeks when it leaves for Vegas. Read more
This pair of Enve Composites wheels got some very special treatment over the eight months it took to pull off the one-of-a-kind custom build. As our Facebook followers have already seen, these Enve 45 carbon clinchers are adorned with real 22k gold leaf graphics highlighted by an 18k gold plated Campagnolo Sheriff Star hub and two 18k gold plated Sapim CxRay spokes.
Read more
It’s been a while since we featured some of our custom builds on the website, but this one built specifically for challenging climbs certainly seems worthy of being the first of a series of custom bikes to be featured on the website, especially since it’s quickly become one of my favorite looking bikes. While this bike is immediately heading for pan flat Florida, it will ultimately find its way across the pond and into the Alps and Dolomites which is what it was purpose built for. Read more
Last year’s artist Geoff McFetridge is back to design another bike with us. This year we wanted to give him something a bit more original given his artistic talent. This is why we went with something a little different and off the beaten path, a three speed fixed gear. We started with a custom Parlee TT frame and the great guys at Sturmey Archer made us a special 3 speed fixed gear hub with low spoke drilling. Read more
The buildup to Interbike has been both long and hectic for us, but we are totally thrilled with the result of our first project, the Titus Project-29. This is not only the next step of the mountain Di2 project we started almost 2 years ago, but has countless applications for the road group as well. A programmable Di2 brain that in this setup uses a single shifter with multiple modes including both sequential shifting of front and rear derailleurs together as well as the ability to manually shift either derailleur independently.
It’s time for “stealth and minimal” and what better bike to do it with than the example from my first customer’s custom bicycles post. You can find a lot of minimal components on our forums and you can find just as many matching color, or lack of it, themes. I did write a brief personal observation on this bike but when I told Phil I was posting his bike he was kind enough to offer his personal take on it. So I’ll stop meddling in this bicycle’s affairs and let the owner speak! Read more
For the second post on my series of Bikes From the Forum, we’ll look at Rob English’s custom Time Trial bike. I live in Portland, Oregon, where the term boutique, when applied to bikes, conjures images of tweed rides, artistic frame building and custom paint jobs. Here at Fairwheel Bikes, boutique takes on a different nature — a minimalist viewpoint oftentimes not just in weight but in aesthetics.
Rob’s bikes, fabricated under the name English Cycles, adds an entirely different nature to the boutique term. His bikes are boutique in the sense of craftsmanship, yet they’re still focused on being utilitarian. Not in the cargo-bike sense, they’re utilitarian in the quest to go fast. Rob is a problem solver, tackling engineering goals that change a lot of what we took for granted about frame and component design. This bike is a combination and ever evolving solution to Rob’s TT needs. We’ll look more into the, low handlebars, aero yet stable front wheel, and brake placement, I hope this gives you a good insight into this frame.
Read more
