Reportage

Nick Was High in LA on His Purple Haze 160mm Sklar Hardtail

Nick Was High in LA on His Purple Haze 160mm Sklar Hardtail
Photos by Kyle Kelley, words by Nicholas Haig-Arack

I first met Adam Sklar a few years ago while riding bikes with a bunch of frame builder friends in Santa Cruz. I was impressed by the character of Sklar’s bikes – those flattened swoops are pretty sweet, can’t deny it – but it was Adam’s personality and lighthearted approach to riding that made me really appreciate his brand. Our paths crossed again in Moab for the most fun week ever and I was convinced that I wanted a bike from Adam. Fast-forward a few months and imagine my stoke when he asked me to do drawings for Sklar Bikes! Since then we’ve been cultivating a cross-country creative partnership, one that emphasizes creativity, exploration, and good times.

I asked Adam to build me a mountain bike and it immediately became a much bigger project than I had envisioned. Since NAHBS was right around the corner, we decided to make this a fancy show bike. I left the frame design up to Adam – I think my only direction was “make it shreddy.” It is. With 29 x 2.5 tires, a slack headtube angle and plenty of reach, this thing feels like a monster truck.

I drew up a few different paint schemes and worked closely with Spectrum Paint and Powder to figure out what would work best, then I left it up to them to make it a reality. And it’s not a fancy showbike without some component bling, so we got Chris King, ENVE, Fox, SRAM,White Industries, Maxxis, and WTB in on the deal. Basically the best of the best for a totally modern 160mm hardtail bruiser.

The purple bike took its maiden voyage on a road trip to Santa Cruz and Los Angeles last week. Kyle Kelley and Cache took me on a rock-rolling tour of Chilao and a hair-raising loop at Chantry Flat, where we saw the pack mules and met a man who hikes with his cat. All in all, it was a great trip and the perfect way to get to know my bitchin’ new Sklar bike.

If you see me out there on this thing, don’t hesitate to say hello!

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