Four funky mountain bikes from NAHBS 2018
Quirky off-road wonders from Sklar, Olivetti, Boo and Groovy
We’ve covered some of the best gravel bikes as well as traditional road bikes on display at this year’s North American Handmade Bicycle show. Last but not least, let’s take look at four interesting mountain bikes.
- Three stunning road bikes from NAHBS 2018
- 8 great gravel bikes from NAHBS 2018
- Gallery: the weird and wonderful bikes of NAHBS 2018
Sklar
Adam Sklar starting building frames as a teenager, and although he’s only 24 years old, he already has a strong following.
Based in Bozeman, Montana, Sklar builds mountain, cyclocross, gravel and all-road bikes with his signature arcing top tube. He primarily crafts his bikes from steel, but has recently added titanium to his repertoire.
This particular bike was made for a Kitsbow employee. The TIG-welded steel frame features long and slack geometry, a 150m-travel fork and meaty 29×2.6in tires.
Visit Sklar Bikes for more information.
Olivetti
Pete Olivetti is a new builder hailing from Boulder, Colorado. His “Thunder Pig” is constructed from straight-gauge 4130 steel tubing with some artful bends. This rigid singlespeed 29er was designed around 29+ tires.
The Thunder Pig has a bit of a bikepacking theme to it. The segmented fork has plenty of braze-ons for cargo cages. A custom Porcelain Rocket frame bag fits perfectly between the two curved top tubes.
Visit Olivetti Bicycles for more information.
Boo Bicycles
Most custom builders work in steel, aluminum or titanium. A handful work in carbon. Boo melds carbon and bamboo.
According to Boo, bamboo has some similar properties to carbon fiber, such as impressive stiffness from the unidirectional fibers of the plant’s vascular system and excellent vibration-damping qualities.
The most striking feature of this 27.5+ singlespeed is how clean the transition from the bamboo tubes to carbon lugs is. It’s virtually seamless.
Visit Boo Bicycles for more information.
Groovy Cycleworks
Rody Walter has been building frames for more than 20 years. The Ohioan does his best to bring fun to all the bikes he creates. Unlike many of this fellow frame builders, Walter also paints his own frames. As if building and painting his frames wasn’t enough, Walter also builds matching stems, “Luv Handle” handlebars and “Hot Rod” crankarms.
This particular 27.5+ hardtail is about as color-coordinated as it gets. Walter’s cranks and stem are pained to match and let’s not forget about the MRP Ribbon fork that ties the build together.
