Full Custom Monster Cross
Drop bar dirt bikes are all the rage these days, but it’s not really anything new. It’s been going on for years, and the bicycle business is as prone to fashion as much as any other business, so it’s very much “in” right now. What has changed a ton over the years is the technology available to install on drop bar bikes… things that were generally reserved for mountain bikers only: hydraulic disc brakes, through axles, wide tires. As “gravel” bikes became mainstream, and now have become the new norm, all of the good tech has set deeply into the roots of what comprises a gravel bike.
The custom framebuilding world lost one of its oldest distributors of inexpensive tubes and frame components this year. Many people don’t know what goes into putting a frame together, but I will tell you… it’s A LOT. Each tube is selected for its characteristics. Each component is sourced for the desired aesthetic or functional purpose. No detail is left unthought by the mind that is about to craft the frame. Every bike starts with a first thought. This one began when I purchased a closeout “matched” tube set when the aforementioned distributor went out of business. It was crazy cheap… like 90% off cheap. Like doesn’t matter what I’m going to do with it cheap. The only thing I needed were dropouts and braze-ons, and I had a ready-to-ride frame.
I originally thought of building a hardtail mountain bike to to complement my big, hefty, full-suspension trail rig. Then it dawned on me I would need to get a different seat tube to accommodate the geometry I would want for such a bike, and I was too insistent on starting the build right away. I gave some thought about what kind of monster I could put together if I created a drop-bar bike capable of clearing huge 2.5 tires… or maybe even bigger. And what if that bike could run 27.5” wheels or 29” wheels. And what if you could run it is a singlespeed or a 1x drivetrain? I wanted to have a bike that could be as at home on rooty singletrack as it was on gravel forest service double track. I didn’t want one of those goofy looking “gravel” front suspension forks, but I did want some cush… and grip, I wanted tons of traction.
So was born this beast of a bike. A fillet-brazed, 4130 CroMo gravel bike currently running 27.5x2.35” tires. The frame will accept wider, but I would need a different fork to go larger in the front. Custom anodized (i outsourced this process) Paragon sliders to tie in the White Industries hubs. The inside of the fork paint-matched to the anodization on the rear to tie the colors together. 1x11 GRX drivetrain. Everything you want in a mountain bike, but on a “road” bike. The love child of Beauty and the Beast… before he turned predictably handsome and banally pedestrian at the end.
This is a fitting build to a tube set that was otherwise bound to be orphaned elsewhere in a different ending. I’m glad I got a hold of it and gave it a loving home.