Birth of a show bike, part one: Mosaic Bespoke Bicycles
Mosaic began planning for this year’s NAHBS months in advance, complete with detailed CAD drawings and plenty of time to incorporate the builds into the company’s standard schedule
Mosaic founder Aaron Barcheck apparently is not a fan of headset spacers
Mosaic will bring a wide range of machines to the show this year in an effort to showcase each of the company’s most common builds in both steel and titanium
A trio of freshly welded steel frames waiting for their braze-ons and bridges
Although Mosaic is best known for its work in titanium, head welder Aaron Barcheck clearly is adept with thin-walled chromoly steel, too
Thru-axle steel dropouts come courtesy of Paragon Machine Works
A steel hardtail frame tacked up and ready for final welding
Mosaic is building this steel 650b hardtail as a co-branding display with fi’zi:k for NAHBS
Titanium head tubes are machined in-house
A seat stay bridge in the process of being mitered
Mosaic Bicycles built its own media blasting chamber for finishing its titanium frames. Decals are cut in-house, too
A small window lets Kevin Batchelor see what he’s doing inside the media blasting chamber
Steel dropouts are neatly brazed on the stays of these Mosaic show bikes
Lots of builders can produce pretty looking welds that might not be all that strong, though. According to Scott Gordon of Denver Welding & Research, that isn’t the case here. “The discoloration on the chromoly says that they didn’t weld too fast and subsequently quench the weld. The rainbow color (instead of grey) tells me that there was enough shielding and not too much heat input, and not all of the chromium was depleted.”
Finishing bits for three steel show bikes are sorted into little bins. And no, Mosaic isn’t building a bike for Kanye West. That’s just the company nickname for founder Aaron Barcheck
Check out the neatly scalloped ends on the stays of these Mosaic steel frames
Kevin Batchelor faces a head tube using a custom modified Park cutter
All of this craftsmanship will eventually be covered in paint from Spectrum Powderworks
Titanium welds don’t come much neater than this
A section of thick-walled titanium stock on its way to transforming into a 44mm head tube
Titanium head tubes are internally and externally machined in-house. The drawing at left perhaps isn’t the most impressive looking but the numbers are sound
Mosaic purchases its head tube stock in long tubes that are eventually milled down as needed
Mosaic has decided to partner with its dealers for this year’s NAHBS. Velosmith Bicycle Studio of Wilmette, Illinois has decided on a titanium disc road bike
Mosaic uses huge white boards to track its upcoming projects
Recognize any names on this board?
Mosaic founder Aaron Barcheck has no problem seeing into the media blasting chamber he built for himself when he started the company five years ago. Unfortunately, though, not everyone who works for Mosaic now is that tall
A custom machined titanium plug allows the cutter better access to the end of this head tube
This head tube has to be manually sprayed with coolant to keep it from overheating while it’s being machined
There are certainly benefits to being married to a framebuilder. This gorgeous hardtail belongs to Mosaic Bicycles founder Aaron Barcheck’s wife, Liz
Mosaic doesn’t just build its bikes to be shown off. They’re also meant to be ridden – hard
Mosaic employee Kevin Batchelor rode this machine into work the day we visited the shop – on snow-covered roads and in sub-freezing temperatures
Freshly finished frames en route to their final destinations
The 10th annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show is fast approaching and with it comes the usual frenzy for builders to complete their display bikes in time for opening day. Boulder-based Mosaic Bespoke Bicycles, however, will arrive fresh and rested thanks to some careful planning. Here’s a look behind the curtain at what you’ll see next month.
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Mosaic decided six months ago to partner with its dealers for this year’s NAHBS and highlight each type of bike it makes: a Campagnolo-equipped steel road bike for Above Category in Mill Valley, California; a hydraulic disc brake-equipped cyclocross titanium rig for Pro Peloton in Boulder, Colorado; a titanium gravel grinder with Shimano Di2 and hydraulic disc brakes for Blacksmith Cycle in Toronto, Canada; a disc-equipped titanium road bike for Velosmith in Chicago, Illinois; a conventional titanium road racer with Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 for Crankstar in Brisbane, Australia; and a steel road bike with Shimano Di2 for Prestige Cycles in the UK.
There will even be a steel 650b hardtail as a co-branding project with fi’zi:k.
As Mosaic only builds fully custom machines, each bike began with a back-and-forth conversation between builder and rider for critical decisions like geometry but also for smaller features such as braze-ons, axle fitments, and paint.
Mosaic will bring a wide range of machines to the show this year in an effort to showcase each of the company’s most common builds in both steel and titanium:James Huang/Future Publishing
Rather than cram those builds on top of an already busy production schedule, Mosaic had the foresight to instead work them into the usual production schedule. Impressively, all of the steel bikes were welded and already en route to be painted at Spectrum Powderworks in Colorado Springs, Colorado, more than a month before the show. Titanium orders were already well underway, too.
A section of thick-walled titanium stock on its way to transforming into a 44mm head tube:James Huang/Future Publishing
We dropped in to Mosaic’s shop last week to see how things were going – and they were clearly going well. Flip through the gallery to see the progress for yourself, then check back in a few days to see the painted steel frames and the titanium frames being finished up.
A trio of freshly welded steel frames waiting for their braze-ons and bridges:James Huang/Future Publishing
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This year’s North American Handmade Bicycle Show will take place March 14-16 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tickets are available for US$8-18 per day or $50 for a three-day pass. Attendees can register on the official show website.
