Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright: SingleBe Camo Plus

Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright: SingleBe Camo Plus

If there’s one thing that can be said about the Eastern European custom bike building community, it’s that they aren’t afraid of breaking tradition and aggressively testing genres. SingleBe is a small workshop in the Czech Republic town of Choceň and their latest mountain bike is a radical piece of engineering.

Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright: SingleBe Camo Plus

The 4-colour camouflage paint really is disruptive and performs its role well in drawing the observer’s eyes away from the details. Made from a mix of Reynolds 853 for the main triangle and 4130 seat and chain stays, some clever aspects only become apparent upon closer inspection.

Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright: SingleBe Camo Plus

Check out the asymmetric chain stay bridge, allowing clearance for the 32-hole Absolute Black round chainring — not one of their ovalised models. The drive-side stay was sliced off where it meets the tyre and replaced with a section of steel plate, which was joined to the left side by a length of smaller diameter tube.

Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright: SingleBe Camo Plus

The SingleBe team is a small one, consisting of only three guys: Karel is the chief frame builder, Tom Kutin manages the day-to-day running of the business, and also assists with design and painting, and Roman is the head painter. They obviously work well together, bound by a desire to create truly awesome bikes.

Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright: SingleBe Camo Plus

Roman carried the camouflage design all the way onto the Shimano Deore cranks and the full carbon, 15mm axle, tapered fork. Even the stem and bottom headset cup were matched. There’s not a dropper seatpost on there presently, but it’s ready for one, with internal routing.

Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright: SingleBe Camo Plus

The ‘Plus’ in SingleBe’s Camo Plus refers to the 27.5+ wheel size — you’ll get a 2.8-3″ tyre in that frame, although you could also swap the wheels over to a 29er platform. Camo Plus is actually for sale right now, so if it ticks your boxes, get in touch with them. You can view more images on their website and Flickr album.

SingleBe Website | Facebook

Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright: SingleBe Camo Plus