Reportage

A Baphomet Bicycles Light Tourer: the Shreddy Rando

My intent was to space out the three complete builds I photographed during my Shop Visit at Baphomet Bicycles, yet I received a number of requests to expedite this gallery to this morning. That’s a good sign, right? People are very interested in this bike and it’s easy to see why. Dillen from Baphomet originally called this bike his “Right-Hand Path”, with his personal hardtail being the “Left-Hand Path,” yet his Instagram followers summed it up perfectly with the catchy name “Shreddy Rando.”

So let’s look at this bike in detail, including a synopsis from Dillen.

When I do Beautiful Bicycle galleries from framebuilders, I usually email them, clarifying my notes, and asking questions I might have forgotten during the Shop Visit. Dillen’s response made me change this up a bit, so let’s just read what he has to say:

I specifically designed it thinking about the old forest service broncos. Something that could take you down any fire road endlessly while hauling all the necessary gear. In the design process, I made a point to give it a high-volume front triangle for a big frame bag.

I’ve been itching to get it outfitted with bags but can’t afford the good shit at the moment, so it will have to wait. Imagine it with a Swift rando bag up front, Zeitgeist out back, and a custom half frame bag in the middle! (All in coyote colour of course.) I think this is the closest thing to a “road bike” I’ll ever make.

Circling back to Dillen’s no-plastic principles, his cable hoops eliminate zip ties. How sweet is that square seat stay bridge and internally-routed cables?

The frame is all Columbus Zona tubing aside from the seat tube which is Columbus Life (simply because it’s what I could get my hands on. In general all my bikes are Zona unless there are shortages).

Sliding dropouts because when you are 200 miles from home and you tear a derailleur off, you want to not die out in the woods. Seriously though, I made this thing with very long miles in mind. I opted for the Eagle shifter because I think bar-end shifting is annoying and I can’t afford the wireless goodies.

In the future, I might spring for AXS though, because I would love to be able to charge a spare derailleur battery tucked away in the rando bag with the generator hub though.

Numbers the geometry heads want to hear are as follows:
-HT 70º
-ST 72º
-BB drop 75mm
-Chainstay 450mm

Components:
-Rodeo Labs Spork
-White Industries cranks
-White Industries wheels
-René Herse Antelope Hill tires
-Paul seatpost and clamp
-Paul Klampers
-Paul stem
-TRP levers
-Ergon saddle
-Dajia Cycle Works drops
-SON hub and Sinewave Beacon lamp with rear light
-Velo Orange fenders
-Velo Orange Flat Pack Rack