This week’s Readers’ Rides comes from Paul de Valera from Atomic Cycles, the organizer of the Coaster Brake Challenge. Paul had an idea for a Cruiser and finally executed it, resulting in a very unique bike. Check out more as Paul walks us through the design and fabrication below.
“Paul Component Engineering”
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PAUL Component and Sierra Nevada Brewing Announce their Latest Collaboration: The Sierra Explorer.
It’s the third year of the Paul Component Engineering and Sierra Nevada collaboration bike build. This year, Paul pinged BTCHN Bikes for the Sierra Explorer. Read on below on this kick-ass project!
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Come to the Paul Open House October 19th and Celebrate 30 Years!
PAUL is turning 30! And to celebrate they’re hosting an Open House on October 19th! Read all the details below!
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PAUL Component and Sierra Nevada Built a Sierra Klunker
This is such a magical project and everyone involved put in so much effort to put their best foot forward. It’s such a pleasure to kick off NAHBS weekend with a look at the Sierra Klunker, built with the new limited edition Paul Component Engineering Green parts!. Check out the press release and photos below!
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Paul’s Custom Salsa
This Ross Shafer-built, custom MTB from the 90’s was made especially for Paul of Paul Component Engineering. Check out this video for all kinds of tidbits from the early days of Salsa and Paul, for that matter!
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Mission Workshop Q+A with Paul Components
This Friday, in San Francisco, Mission Workshop is hosting a Q+A with Paul Price from Paul Component Engineering from 6-9pm. Make sure you swing through for this event if you’re in the area, Paul is a fascinating human.
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Blast Beats Abound on a Blackened Steed with this Paul Components Shirt
Chico artist Matt Loomis created quite the graphic for Paul’s newest shirt and I love it! In stock now at Paul!
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Paul and His Oddity 29+ Hardtail MTB
People often ask what I love most about my job. After the obvious – riding bikes – comes watching projects like this unfold. Paul Price lives in Chico and is the man behind Paul Component Engineering. He’s been in this game for a while and has been to NAHBS countless times over the years. In that time, he’s watched a lot of new names pop up in the framebuilding circuit, most notably Sean from Oddity Cycles. Sean’s creations are whacky, fun and offer very unique riding characteristics. For one, they’re titanium, which at smaller diameters, can be flexy. Not in a bad way, just in a unique way. Next up, Sean bends the shit out of the tubes, making them swoopy and thus increasing the wow factor.
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The Eleven Bikes of the 2017 Paul Camp Builder Fleet
Paul Camp is a magical week where Paul Component Engineering invites journalists from all over the US to check out their day to day operations through a series of hands-on workshops. Each journalist is assigned a CNC machine, or workstation and is taught the skills needed to machine brakes, stems, and other components. From there, they camp out on the property, eat sandwhiches and run the machines 24 hours a day, in shifts. This gives the employees of Paul a chance to ride during the week. Everybody wins!
Just kidding. In reality, Paul gives the journalists a tour of the shop, where he walks them through the process of fabricating everything in the Paul Component Engineering catalog. From there, they are able to select a bike from one of eleven builders and go on a ride in the hills of Chico. Swimming usually ensues, along with a Sierra Nevada Brewery tour, some dinner and then everyone goes home. It’s a rad time, or at least I’ve heard it is, because each year, for one reason or another, I cannot attend this Bicycle Journalist Spring Break.
Feeling like I owe Mr. Paul something, not only because we’re friends, but because he had these eleven bikes just hanging out, waiting for a proper photoshoot, I planned on heading up to Chico once I got back from my European travels. Last week, I loaded up the truck and drove straight up California for 10 hours until I reached Chico, Paul and these bikes.
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An Afternoon with Paul Component in Chico
For over 25 years Chico, California has been the home base for Paul Component Engineering. During the Speedvagen Fit Tour we swung by to check in on their operations and to get a sense of what the team, the city of Chico and Paul Price himself are all about…
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Paul Components: New MicroShift Thumbie and 31.8 Drop Bar Shifter Adapters
For all the dirt droppers and bike packers, Paul Components just released something special that’s sure to warm up your current build project with golden rays from Chico, California… Here’s the one-two from Paul himself:
“PAUL Component Engineering has released not one, but TWO new shifter adaptors. One is for MicroShift bar-end shifters (found on many new SURLY bikes); PAUL has designed a MicroShift Thumbie that will allow riders to use MicroShift bar-end shifters on a flat bar. The adaptors will be sold as singles or pairs. MSRP for the pair is $74.00 and singles are $39.00. These weigh in at 60g per pair.
The other new PAUL adaptor allows for the use of the SRAM trigger shifters on a 31.8 drop bar. This idea was born from a desire to run the awesome 10-42 cassette on drop bar bikes, a 420% gain ratio. These adaptors mount on the 31.8 bulge portion of the bar next to the stem. MSRP on this game changer is $41.00. Weight is 22g.”
420% is proof that the dirt gods love gain ratios. See these two shifter adapters at Paul.
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Paul Components: Tall and Handsome Seatpost
After my NAHBS coverage of the Paul Components booth, they hit me up requesting to use my photos for their front page. Well, they did and it looks great! Last night, I checked in on Paul Components‘ site because they told me their new Tall and Handsome seatpost would be in stock at the end of March. I wanted to buy one for my Geekhouse and sure enough, there it was, in all of its 26mm setback glory. I immediately picked one up and cannot wait for it to arrive! That is one sexy beast!
Check out more at Paul Components.
Previously:
2011 NAHBS Recon: Paul Component Engineering
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2024 MADE Bike Show: Head Shots and Head Tubes
In 2013, at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, we featured a unique approach to documenting framebuilder showcases entitled “Head Shots and Head Tubes.” Now, over ten years later, we did it at MADE…
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2024 MADE Bike Show Part 07: Bike Friday, Black Magic, DeSalvo, Partington, Restless, Rodriguez, Sanitas, Small Monsters, Wheatfall
Our 2024 MADE Bike Show coverage from Portland, Oregon, continues with Part 07. Click on through below for selects from Bike Friday, Black Magic, DeSalvo, Outer Shell, Restless, Rodriguez, Sanitas, Small Monsters x Mosaic, and Wheatfall.
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2024 MADE Bike Show Part 05: Artefact, Bantam, Destroy, Flatiron, Holland, No. 22, Prova, SaltAir, Seeker, Significant Other
Our 2024 MADE Bike Show coverage from Portland, Oregon, continues with Part 05. Click on through below for selects from Artefact, Bantam, Destroy, Flatiron, Holland, No. 22, Prova, SaltAir, Seeker, and Significant Other.
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2024 MADE Bike Show Part 03: Blandford, Fat Chance, Frances, La Marche, Onguza, Ritte, Ron’s Bikes, Schon, Sycip, Wilde
Our 2024 MADE Bike Show coverage from Portland, Oregon, continues with Part 03. Click on through below for selects from Blandford, Fat Chance, Frances, La Marche, Onguza, Ritte, Rons Bikes, Schon, Sycip, and Wilde.
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Monē Bikes SB2 Review: Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’
We talk a lot about the early klunkers, from Breezers to Cunninghams and Ritcheys, but what about the very first MTBs in the US, the coaster cruisers, aka mountain cruisers? These esoteric singlespeeds rely on a coaster brake hub to control their speed and were adapted from old Schwinn newspaper bikes.
Read on as John reviews his coaster cruiser, a Monē Bikes Small Batch Straight Bar, aka the SB2. These bikes are the simplest mountain bike you can ride: No hand brakes. No gears. Big bars. Balloon tires. This is peak coaster cruiser!
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Torque Palm Power: Granite Design RocknRoll TQ Review
Just about every product, from stems to seatposts, has specific torque specs. Granite Design’s new RocknRoll TQ wrench set ensures you torque that stem faceplate or steerer clamp to the right spec, no matter where you are. John takes a quick look at this nifty little tool kit below…