Since Brian introduced me to Black Cat‘s work a few years ago, I’ve slowly fallen in love with Todd’s craftsmanship. In fact, this bike was my first introduction to the Black Cat moniker. As Brian puts it “I really love that bike” and it’s easy to see why.

Most mountain bikes, well, hardtails anyway, can be documented in ten photos. This one in particular would fall in that category, save for the amazing dropouts and stays. That and the paint job. I had the opportunity to rip through some of Santa Cruz’s trails with Brian last week and aside from one spill, this bike flowed amazingly well through the off-camber, technical descents as well as it scaled up some steep sections.

Even in the few minutes I spent rolling this bike around the block, looking for a photo location, I could see why Mr. Vernor loves it so much. See for yourself in the Gallery!