2013, so far, has been a year of great contrasts, and it’s no different here on Cycle EXIF. One day you’re seeing an obscure Spanish brand of road racer favored by Miguel Indurain and the next you’ll see the latest carbon fiber 29er MTB from Bianchi. Sure, the frame was built in the Far East but when it comes to a custom build, there’s none more exacting than a champion marathon mountainbiker.

Mike Blewitt has raced mountain bikes for much of his 31 year-old life and is the team manager of the Subaru-MarathonMTB.com team. This is one of their bikes, a Bianchi Methanol 29FS, assembled with personally selected parts that meet Mike’s high standards. While Bianchi may no longer manufacture their bikes in Milan, but the design and technology lying within this frame is still reparto corse.

A specialist in MTB stage races, Mike is aware of the latest and lightest technology available to the professional off-road endurance cyclist. For gear and Q factor options, he built his 29FS frame with a Cannondale crank set and outfitted the cockpit with carbon bars and accessories by Ant White’s Mount Zoom. Powered by a suite of Shimano XTR, a pair of ENVE rims were laced to Kappius hubs—featuring an astounding 240 points of engagement.

Find out more about the Subaru-MarathonMTB.com team here.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

About two hours ride south of Sydney stands the Illawarra Escarpment, a dramatic series of cliffs that rise up from the coast, extends about one hundred kilometers south and reaches heights of almost 800 meters above the sea. It’s home to Tarn Mott and Primate Frames, who built this burly rig to blast the single trail that traces through its hills.

Tarn is a burly man himself, an adventurous frame builder who doesn’t baulk at any challenge, whether the order is for a BMX, cargo bike, kick scooter, folding bike or tandem. I recently had the pleasure of riding the Mistral, a stainless steel road frame he built for McLennan Cycles—a highly refined ride, yet I also felt like I could chop a mountain in two with it.

The All-Mountain bounces on a usable 6″ of travel, runs an Alfine internal rear hub and sports a handmade, high flange front hub that’s a robust match to the frame. A clear coated finish reveals Tarn’s engineering skill and his forté: producing bomb proof frames of all shapes and sizes that can take everything you, or the terrain, can dish out. I can vouch for that: he made my wedding ring.

Contact Tarn through the Primate Frames website.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

One drawback about downhill bikes is that going down hill is all they were designed to do. That’s all very well, but when it comes to the majority of terrain, if there’s not a shuttle service nearby, there’s inevitably going to be an uphill at the end. This reality has given birth to a new genre of ‘all mountain’ bikes, which can climb as well as they can descend. Enter the Nukeproof Mega AM.

Paul Petch is the photographer and creative director at Outdoor Photography, based in Auckland, New Zealand. There’s plenty of trails and breathtaking scenery to be enjoyed aboard a mountain bike in NZ, so having a versatile machine is a necessity. The Mega AM boasts 160mm of rear wheel travel, just right for both all-day enduros or technical descents.

Paul talks us through his decision to invest in the Mega: “After toying with lighter all mountain builds I decided it was time for a fun bike that could handle shuttling in Queenstown one weekend and then flowing in Rotorua the next. With a coil fork, which is a first for me in the 20+ years I’ve ridden a bike, it is one huge smile inducing ride!”

“Running 9 speed suits this bike just fine as it’s for riding down more than up—and it nails it! What makes it ride so well with a 170mm fork is the clever geometry and a longer wheel base for super stable riding.”

“The build kit is leaning on the sensible side too, with the wheel set, brake caliper, seat and dropper being transferred from my last ride. Of course there is some bling here and there with King and Hope components. With 180mm rotors, this thing rides like its stolen.”

Big thanks to Paul for the story and photos—check out his website for more Outdoor Photography.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

The 29er vs 26er continues to simmer over a medium heat, but it’s fairly obvious there’s more acceptance of the larger wheel size. Colorado’s Niner Bikes have been at the forefront of the 29er market since 2005, mainly because of founder Chris Sugai’s colossal passion for the big wheel bikes, but also because of Niner’s fresh business approach.

Chris makes sure every Niner employee is an ‘A-player’—hired, after three or four interviews, for a love for the brand and bikes that can match his. The bikes are virtually produced in the cloud: starting off as a Google Doc, brainstormed from chatrooms with customers into spreadsheets, designed with Solidworks 3D and tested with Catia 3D.

Niner riders are so enthusiastic about their brand, they’re referred to as ‘Ninerds’. Matthew Mead is an awesome wedding photographer, based in Sydney, who recently built himself up a Jet 9 RDO. These are extremely versatile frames: “I can drop the suspension down to 100mm,” Matt tells us, “add some air in the rear shock and do a 100km XC race on it, or I can put on some beefy tires, run the fork at 120mm, soften it up and bomb down Mt Stromlo with a big smile on my face.”

“I’m caught up in the hype now. To me, medium travel carbon dually 29ers are the way of the future. Especially this frame, it’s got everything you need! 12mm axle, all carbon with internal cabling (which will be more awesome when Di2 comes around for MTB).”

Even Specialized, who dismissed 29ers as a passing trend, now offer their legendary Stumpjumper exclusively with the larger format wheels. The medium travel frames tick a lot of boxes for a lot of riders and Niner Bikes have a special ingredient: a special mix of quality, good design and passion.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

Road riding, or racing, is all very well. But for me, there’s nothing more satisfying than watching a bicycle getting really worked; whether it’s fixed freestyle, flatland BMX or 26″ street riders destroying the urban environment. When it comes to the latter, the Blackmarket Edit1 is the perfect weapon.

This one is owned by a Blackmarket team rider from Sheffield by the name of Matt Jamieson. Matt is just at home blasting trails as he is in the skate park or carving lines down the high street. After years of having to chop the mounts from his frames, he’s finally happy with the brakeless frame.

The Edit1 consists of Blackmarket’s Black Lite Heat Treated Chromoly tubeset by True Temper, American designed and handmade in Orange County CA. There’s some nice details: laser cut 1″ dropouts and bridges, CNC’d integrated head tube / BB and externally double butted seat tube.

If you’re wondering about the piece of leather lace on the front wheel, well, Matt’s had the same piece on nearly all of his bikes. One of those funny superstitions that haunt a lot of cyclists. Special thanks to Richard Baybutt for the shots, another Sheffield local and Corpses From Hell photographer.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

One of the biggest stories to emerge from the 2013 North American Handmade Bicycle Show was the new collaboration between two of Portland’s most renowned custom builders, Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira. Ira and Tony have joined together to form Breadwinner Cycles: six models of the most essential and beautiful bicycles you’ll ever want or need.

There were six bikes presented at the NAHBS: the JB Racer (a 29er inspired by Tony’s great mountain biking friend, Jeff Bates, who was, sadly, taken by cancer), the Hole Shot (a champion cyclocrosser), the Continental (based on Ira and Tony’s experience with building frames for Rapha), Aufderheide (the ultimate tourer), Arbor Lodge (the perfect Portlander) and the Lolo (the modern club racer).

Tony and Ira share 15 years of frame building experience between them, producing elegant, sturdy and award-winning frames. They’re both hard cyclists, having covered thousands of miles on—and off—road. Each of the bikes by Breadwinner Cycles represent a genre in which they both have extensive experience riding and building frames for.

Lolo

Arbor Lodge

Aufderheide

Continental

Hole Shot

JB Racer

All of the bikes are showcased on the slick and functional Breadwinner Cycles website, but their true background is that each are built by two of Portland’s most dedicated builders. Whatever the path you choose to ride, there’s a Breadwinner built for you. Frames start at $1,795 and ship in eight weeks or less. You can also follow along on the Breadwinner tumblr, Facebook page, twitter and Instagram.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

For NAHBS newbies — that is, first-time builders — there’s a special table. It’s called the New Builder’s Table and entrants can only display one bike. Alex Cook is a Minneapolis native who has been building frames for about 5 years as A-Train Bicycles. This is his astounding NAHBS masterpiece: a candy-colored stainless steel 29er.

Alex went all out on this, there’s no doubt he’ll be invited back to future Shows. He started by building a fillet-brazed front triangle out of 4130 sleeve tubing, then cut it apart and took the joints. Those joints were then shaped by hand into a set of lugs, which he then used to join together a KVA stainless steel front triangle. The rear triangle is Columbus Life and the fork is a matching Niner carbon fork.

We’ve featured one of Alex’s bikes before, a stainless steel tourer, but you can chat with him in person at the 2013 NAHBS — he’s on Booth #9. If you can’t make it along, head to his website instead. Massive thanks to Dan Bailey of Pallas Athena Custom Bicycles for the scoop.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

No sooner had Exra Caldwell finished his newest build than he boarded plane for Rome, departing on a well-deserved European vacation. The UTA stands for Ultimate Tight Ass and is, ultimately, a tool for Ezra to hit some trails and get some fresh air. The Tight Ass refers to the generous donation of parts from manufacturers wanting to contribute to Ezra’s beautiful cause.

Fast Boy Cycles won’t need to much introduction to regular readers of Cycle EXIF. Ezra’s frames are instantly recognizable, mainly because of an almost complete lack of branding. You don’t really need too much, what with that big heart on the head tube (especially the one on the UTA — nearly as big as a beer can). The unassuming paint schemes let the builder’s craft speak for themselves.

The bluing technique used on the UTA is one of my favorite finishes, though. It highlights the tiny details Ezra has added to this frame, like a master tailor secretly hides a fancy stitch on a suit, visible only to the wearer. It also shows off the components: Formula T1 brakes, Chris King bearings, Industry 9 hubs, ENVE rims, bars, stem and post, and a SRAM drive train and Revelation fork.

Fast Boy Cycles recently got a Facebook page up and running, which you should Like to keep up with the latest around the workshop and enjoy Ezra’s gorgeous photography.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

My grandfather had a great passion for woodwork and the time I spent in his workshop, my nostrils full of the scent of wood shavings and sawdust, instilled within me a deep appreciation for the craft. The frames by Portland’s Renovo Bicycles are, compared to Pa’s turning, a whole ‘nother level.

You don’t need a fondness for fine woodwork to admire the skill required to build one of these frames, but you do need an open mind. I remained dubious until I picked up their Badash 29er from City Bike Depot today for a photoshoot, but a close inspection revealed a reassuring solidity.

Renovo did a fine job of convincing me of the advantages of using wood for an MTB frame on their website. This ain’t no wall hanging, it’s destined for a damn good thrashing. Its new owner is David West, a materials scientist and an accomplished ‘mountain bike orienteer-er‘.

David collaborated with his friend Marcel van Schie, contributor to Velo Aficionado, on the component selection. Marcel is a strong advocate of 29ers and was able to advise David on a list of parts that would hold the Renovo in good stead on the trails.

The Badash 29er, despite its name, is constructed from hickory and has been tested successfully for impact and strength against tubes of aluminum, steel and titanium. Wood provides a naturally smooth ride, yet is, impressively, extremely stiff. “Tough as old hickory”, indeed.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

Retrotec frames and their curvy silhouettes may hark back to mountain biking’s adolescence, but they are, in fact, fresh from the jig. In today’s age of logo-emblazoned carbon fiber popouts and their complicated, short-travel rear ends, they’re a refreshing reminder of how fun bicycles can be — especially when getting sideways around a berm down your local trail.

Based in Napa, California, Curtis Inglis has been building frames for around twenty years, after learning his skills in the Air Force and finessing them with Bob Seals at the original Retrotec. Curtis rejuvenated the brand as a sideline to his own Inglis Cycles, established in 1996, but now the funky arcs have developed a near cult following, keeping him just as busy as the traditional straight frames.

Retrotec offer numerous frame designs: The Classic, Triple, Twin, Double, Half and Step Through, but their individual layouts can be tailored into almost limitless interpretations. A Half road frame, for instance, a Triple tourer or even a 650B Classic MTB. I’d be happy with this Double 29er, superbly shot by another Californian, the talented Brian Vernor. See more on the Retrotec website and Flickr.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

Well, it’s that time of year again, when some of the world’s most respected custom frame builders begin gnawing their nails in anticipation of the 2013 North American Handmade Bicycle Show. One exhibitor I would like to have a yarn with is Jeremy Shlachter of Gallus Cycles and one bike I’d like to see in the metal is his 650B mountain bike.

If you’re a fan of either reading or cycle touring, or better still — both, put aside an hour, pour yourself a favorite drink and read Jeremy’s ride reports of his randonées. He’s got a real talent for transcribing his adventures in a factual yet passionate way. It’s highly inspiring to get out on the open road and also reflects the motives behind Gallus Cycles, which is refreshing to read.

The use of 650B wheels on Jeremy’s old-school-styled MTB is interesting, as the debate surrounding the ‘tweener’ wheel size heats up. Industry discussion aside, there’s a wider variety of tire options available for the 650B rider, which does make this seem like an attractive option for the ultimate adventure bike. Be sure to catch up with Gallus Cycles at the NAHBS or via the website.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

During the late 80s and early 90s, when mountain bikes really started coming of age, GT frames were instantly recognizable by the Triple Triangle, while a Klein could be spotted by their seamless tubes, one-piece stem / bar combos and wildly over-the-top color schemes. Their construction and desirability is a testament to the vision of the founder, Gary Klein.

The Klein frame gained iconic status through several innovations that went on to become industry standard, such as internal cable routing and, introduced on the Quantum Pro in 1994, an integrated headset with a threadless aluminum steerer. These, combined with Gary’s proprietary one-piece Mission Control cockpit and smooth welds, made for a unique and streamlined machine.

This 1993 Pinnacle model, painted in ‘Gator Linear Fade’, is proudly owned by Stephan Becher, a graphic designer and photographer from Germany. Resplendent in matching Rock Shox Mag 21 forks and cockpit, it sports a complete Shimano Deore XT group, apart from two Suntour XC Pro hubs. Massive thanks to Stephan for the photography — check out more work on his portfolio website.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

The boys at my local bike shop, City Bike Depot, have nearly finished building up a Black Sheep Bike for one of their team riders, Arran Pearson — who is also one of Australia’s top endurance cyclists. He’s going to race it in the 2013 Tour Divide, a 4,418km trek across the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. I managed to steal it away for a shoot before it was given a final breakdown and prep.

The Tour Divide is a premiere 20-day endurance cycling event, wending it’s way through the dirt roads and jeep trails of the Continental Divide of the Northern Americas. The route travels through the eastern states and a finishing rider will complete an elevation equivalent of climbing Mt Everest from sea-level seven times. Grizzly bears and mountain lions will be present to cheer him on.

Arran’s belt-driven, 29er Black Sheep is an offered model built to his personal geometry, with minor tweaks to the 800mm-wide bars and the custom racks that will weigh less than his dry bags. He’ll need to be completely self-sufficient whilst on the ‘road’, needing to find shelter each night or bivouac trail-side. A Supernova light system will be a constant companion, powering his Garmin and iPhone.

At this state, Arran was able to give the Black Sheep a test ride, before the City Bike Depot crew break it down, ti-prep every bolt and waterproof the electricals. It’ll be a dream bike for a dream ride: albeit single-stage, solo, self-timed and observed. You can follow his progress via his website, and learn more about the challenge on the Tour Divide site.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

The brothers behind Canfield Bros Suspension, Lance and Chris, create some seriously innovative downhill and 29er frames. But the graphics belie their capabilities, leaning toward the generic side. So Ohio’s Aaron Neumann took it upon himself to spruce up his Nimble 9.

The Canfield boys hail from Layton, Utah — 250 miles away from the spectacular Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. Anyone who is familiar with this region, or have heard of an event called the Red Bull Rampage, will recognize its influence upon the Canfield Bros frames.

Specialists in downhill, freeride or slopestyle frames, Lance and Chris wanted a 29er hardtail to train on, so they created both the 7005 aluminum Yelli Screamy and the 4130 chromoly steel Nimble 9. But when Aaron got hold of his Nimble 9, he took it for a quick trip to the backyard spray booth.

Aaron tell us, “The ‘Aspenflow’ graphics around the head tube and on the fork were created with wet transfer decals and then clearcoated with Spraymax 2k. Not flawless, but about the best that can be achieved with rattle can in the garage!”

I reckon it’s a much more appropriate finish. Perhaps it could be an inspiration for Lance and Chris? Once the coat was dry, Aaron photographed it on the way to work, at the Kendall Hills in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio. See more on his flickr.

PS: Ordered your 2013 Cycle EXIF Custom Bicycle Calendar yet?

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.

There are those among us who would argue that the early 90s were the Golden Age of the mountain bike, regardless of a fixation with anodizing every small part one could get their calloused hands on. The trademark Desert Turquoise hue of the Yeti brand lent itself particularly well to such accessorizing, exemplified here by the Yeti Pro FRO of Germany’s Fabian Scholz.

1984 brought the first sighting of the Yeti FRO, a ‘For Racing Only’ frame produced by the innovative Southern Californian firm. It featured the now-famous looptail seat-and-chain stays and was available until 1992. Fabian managed to acquire a ’92 frame with a cracked down tube which he had repaired, with the intention of campaigning a local pre-’98-only MTB race.

The challenging search for suitable parts followed — understandably, as purple Chris King 1 1/4 headsets, Ringle seat posts and Easton Hyperlite bars are rare and highly sought after. Shimano’s legendary XTR M900 groupset completed the build, along with an Answer Accu-Trax fork and A-Tac stem. Finally, the FRO was complete, in time for Fabian to suit up in period costume and compete.

Big thanks to Fabian for the photography.

A very special Yeti is Miss November in the 2013 Cycle EXIF Calendar: Chris King’s own A.R.C, shot by Andy Waterman of Privateer Magazine. You can preview every month here.

Cycle EXIF supplies a daily dose of commuter bicycles, custom bicycles and classic bicycles.