John and Cari are en route to the 2024 MADE Bike Show and stopped along the way to see the Paul Component Engineering fam in Chico, California. While there, we checked out Paul’s Meriwether Cycles touring fat bike. This collaboration bike with Oddity Cycles is a three-year project, but if you’re like us, you’ll agree it was well worth the wait. Let’s check it out!
It’s been a year since the maiden voyage of the all-new framebuilder showcase MADE first debuted in Portland, Oregon. For bike nerds like myself, shows like MADE are overwhelming. Not because there’s so much eye candy but because there are so many details and stories behind each bike and there’s simply not enough time to tell them all.
As we ramp up into a torrent of titanium hardtails, steel gravel bikes, metal full suspensions, and cargo bikes galore, I wanted to spend some quality time on this bike because everyone involved with it is a real gem, particularly the guy it was built for. I also have time right now to dive deeper into this bike.
I’ve known Paul Price from Paul Component Engineering for about seventeen years now. We initially met at Interbike in 2007 or 2008 – I doubt he even remembers meeting me – and before I moved to Santa Fe, I’d see him and the team from Paul multiple times a year at events in California.
Over the years, I’ve documented many of Paul’s bikes, soaked in some mountain rivers with him in Downieville, and revved his dune buggy at various bike races. So when we had a few days to kill after our Camera Corner screening in Fairfax, I knew where I wanted to go… Chico!
Paul x Meriwether x Oddity
The first day Cari and I arrived, Paul was in his personal machine shop fabricating a crank spindle spacer for his new Meriwether touring fat bike. Custom bikes like this are complicated. As their design solves problems, new ones arise. To figure out what was going on with this fat bike’s custom chain line and bottom bracket, I phoned Whit Johnson from Meriwether Cycles to get the full scoop.
Whit told me that “Paul wanted a 27.5 x 4” tire on this bike. It was basically a slimmed-down version of his Surly Ice Cream Truck. He wanted that in titanium and a narrower Q-factor — drop bars, big tires, perfect for Bidwell Park chunk. He bought the last of the White Industry downhill spindles, which give you a Q-factor of 186 mm — much less than a true fat bike Q-factor that ranges from 200 – 220 mm or so.”
“I made a similar narrow Q-factor fat bike for Eric Parsons of Revelate Designs out of steel some time ago. Steel is easier because you can really shape and crimp the chainstays to get the right clearance. For titanium, it requires a few more steps.”
Whit expanded on this: “Ti requires a more delicate approach since it’s more sensitive to cracking when bent and dimpled incorrectly, and to get the same stiffness as steel you need to use bigger diameter tubing, that makes it even harder to get the needed tire, chainring, and crankarm clearances. Yokes are very helpful and (in my opinion) provide the strongest and stiffest solution.”
Meriwether used a 92 mm BB shell for an internal T47 bottom bracket. In terms of overall width, this is essentially the same as a 73 mm shell with external cups, but the 92 mm shell provides more room to fit the chainstay yoke, which is needed to clear a 4″ fat bike tire at this chainstay length.
“The Rollingdale Bikes yoke was initially designed by Oakes Manufacturing. Moonmen, Oddity, and Black Sheep have all used it or some version of that yoke in the past. Rolling Dale put his own spin on the design, which you see on Paul’s bike.” He continued. To further allow for adjustment, the chainstay length is 435 with the sliders forward and slid back all the way; they’re 455 mm.
The combination of a 92 mm bottom bracket shell, downhill spindle, and 170 mm spaced rear end offers a 60 mm chain line. Another brand that utilized a similar modus operandi is Otso with its carbon Voytek, which is one of the more playful-feeling fat bikes I’ve ever ridden.
Travis from Paul Component nerding out!
A Team Effort
“This bike was a three-year process,” Paul told me when I first saw him trying to figure out the bottom bracket spacers that would allow for the drivetrain to work as planned. “It features a headtube with integrated cups, so the bearings set inside it,” he continued – this is Paragon Machine Work’s tallest headtube – “and Burnsey made the Squid fork and bars for it. The Squid forks are works of art. It’s the wildest bike I’ve ever owned. Now I just have to figure out what to use it for.”
Paul’s sentiments reflect the deeply held fervent love he has for makers. Aboard this bike are components from his own company, alongside White Industries, a fellow California maker. Custom bikes are often a team effort, with builders working with each other, collaborating, and sharing ideas. Whit from Meriwether teamed up with Daniel Yang from Neuhaus Metalworks to help plan the bike.
Daniel and Nick from Neuhaus at 2023 MADE
“I do fabrication and am clueless about CAD; Daniel does CAD and is clueless about my method of fabrication. So we teamed up and formed a CAD-driven process that neither of us had tried before. It surprised us both that it worked,” Whit said, chuckling. CAD aids builders in planning how their bikes will come together. They can problem-solve and see any potential issues that might arise while mitering tubes or machining bits.
Titanium is an expensive material. It’s one of the reasons titanium bikes are so expensive. That Paragon headtube alone runs $333. Daniel from Neuhaus helped Whit from Meriwether design the twin top tube design in CAD to help save frame material during fabrication. “If you mess up 3/4″ titanium tubing, it’s a couple hundred dollars.” All this adds up to lost money and time. Two things small framebuilding operations are lacking in abundance.
Saving money on not messing up on the the titanium twin top tube and seat stays allowed for enough material to add a Meriwether signature: the portage handle! This nifty handle can be added to Whit’s frames on the drive side or non-drive side, depending on whether the owner is right — or left-handed. It facilitates lifting the bike over obstacles like downed trees or gates.
Whit also made this stunning and featherlite titanium rack, specifically designed to mate to the frame. Paul added the cork into the open ends of the rack.
Once the bike frame was complete, Whit sent it to Oddity Cycles in Fort Collins for Burnsey to do the Squid fork, handlebars, and finishing work. The end product is nothing short of a true work of art that many talented humans have contributed to.
While I can’t promise this thorough of an investigation into each MADE Bike Show build we feature, I’m stoked to spend this much time on a very special bike owned by someone special to me.
See you at MADE, y’all!
Build Spec
Frame: Meriwether Ti
Fork: Oddity Squid Ti
Rack: Meriwether Ti
Stem: Paul Boxcar
Headset: White Industries
Bottom Bracket: White Industries
Handlebar: Oddity
Cages: Ti King Cage
Shifters: Microshift
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Eagle
Brake Levers: Paul Short Pull
Front Brake: Paul Klamper Short Pull
Rear Brake: Paul Klamper Short Pull
Crankset: White Industries M30
Chainrings: White Industries M30
Pedals: Time ATAC
Hubs: Paul Fhub
Rims: Whiskey
Tires: 45 North Dillinger 4
Wheel TA: Paragon
Seatpost: Paul
Saddle: Brooks Cambium
Seatpost Paul
Grips: Brooks Cambium
Cassette: SRAM Eagle
Chain: SRAM Eagle
Got a craving for a custom bike? Holler at Whit from Meriwether Cycles. Tell him we sent ya!