Reportage

Suds and Buds at The Custom Bike Show in Golden, Colorado

Colorado has long been known for custom bicycles and talented framebuilders throughout the state. It’s also not a secret that our state has a high density of said talented builders within a short distance of each other. On Wednesday evening, a small group of custom bicycle brands gathered at New Terrain Brewing in Golden, Colorado.

Zach Gellar, founder of Acoustic Cycles in Pine, Colorado, and organizer of the evening show, said:

“The front range has a ton of really talented builders that I wanted to get together to show off what they can do. New Terrain Brewing Company took over the marketing and logistics for the event. They have a really great bike community, and being located at the base of North Table mountain is also a great place to start and end your mountain bike ride, so I knew we’d catch some of the Wednesday night ride crowd.”

The show consisted of six framebuilders: Acoustic Cycles, Axial Bikes, Bender Bicycles, Black Sheep Bikes, Gallus Cycles and Oddity Cycles. One outdoor hardware and soft goods company, Widefoot, joined in on the fun as well.

Acoustic Cycles chose an XL steel 29er hardtail to be photographed featuring custom bent tubing, full internal cable routing, stainless steel T47 bottom bracket, Syntace dropouts, and seat tube collar. The headbadge was made in house with powdercoat by Dark Matter finishing.

Axial Bikes drop bar concept takes the “all road” concept to the next level. A polished and waxed steel frame with S&S couplers for airline travel, can be run single-speed, fixed, belt, or 1x geared, all with disc brakes and either 700cx38mm or 27.5×2.1″ wheel/tire combos. With full external cables and hose, the bike can be reconfigured, or disassembled and boxed in half an hour. Frame weight 1600g, as pictured 19lbs.

Bender Bicycle Company featured a flat bar gravel bike with a 1×12 drivetrain, titanium bars by Oddity, Paul Components levers, Ultradynamico tires, and stunning paint done by Flux Customs.

Black Sheep Bikes wanted to showcase their 26.5 pound titanium fat bike featuring a custom truss fork, one-piece bar/stem combo, and most of all a 27″ step through height making it easier to get on and off in the snow.

Gallus Cycles featured a lugged frame made of Columbus SL tubing. It’s a randonneur commuter build complete with a SON dynamo and friction shifters. Jeremy designed the drop outs and used a water jet cut process to make them. Paint is based on an 80’s Porsche and was done by Black Magic Paint.

Oddity Cycles chose a drop bar gravel bike to showcase the 3,500 miles put on by its owner in less than two years. The build features a titanium frame, unicrown fork, seatpost, and stem all made in-house.

Widefoot has been making bikepacking gear in the US since 2014, and their flagship products the LiterCage and CargoMount are now both made in Colorado. They are based in Fort Collins and have been updating manufacturing methods by bringing more processes in-house.

“New Terrain wants us to come back next year. Hopefully we will get even more Colorado builders to come next time,” Gellar said.