How a “maker” builds their personal bike says a lot about how their mind works. For Kyle from Outer Shell, a bag manufacturer in the San Francisco Bay Area, that means go with time-proven staples and splurge on the important places. Kyle’s Mikkelsen is unique, to say the least, but every moment, every bolt, every component has been thought out, down to the cantilever arm, machined to hold his Sinewave Beacon light and Hite Rite dropper.

This bike began its life as a MTB, which then Kyle used as a platform for an all-rounder, town bike and tourer. After ditching the clapped suspension fork for a rigid Surly fork, he used Rival Shifters, mated with an XO front derailleur and a 2x mtb crank to supply crisp shifting on his drop bars. Mounted on the Pass and Stow rack is a prototype Outer Shell rack bag, which Kyle just finished testing on the Stagecoach 400 route.

The thing I find most striking are the multi-colored, “Harlequin” Paul Klamper brakes, made from random anodized bits. When I asked Kyle about the brakes, he exclaimed how important it was to him to support other makers in the cycling industry. Plus, the brakes just look damn slick!

We see a lot of drop bar MTB conversions over here, but this one is one of my personal favorites. Follow Kyle on Instagram and check out his great bags at Outer Shell.