Cykelmageren, out of Denmark, never fails to have some new yet classic looking “tourist” bicycles with unexpected features. Built to be simple, upright bikes for navigating the city streets, shifting and braking (if they have gears or brakes) is handled in some unique way. And if you like the tidbits, many of the parts are available separately.
Contrasting Cykelmageren’s old-school style and steel tubes is Kirklee’s flashy paint schemes and carbon fiber race bikes. Click on through to see it all…
Their bikes come in various iterations depending on how fast you want to go and can be configured with more or less upright cockpit parts depending on how sporty you want to look and feel.
The show bike had small ridges twisting around the main tubes (top pic and above, left).
Shifters are generally place on their top- or down tubes and are of their own design.
They usually don’t have too many speeds. This one’s gear shift-type lever’s cable runs into the top tube then through a small metal tube welded to the outside between the toptube and seatstay. It also had an integrated lock on the stays.
Wood bits soften the tone somewhat. Note the light piercing the handlebar.
KIRKLEE CYCLES
Kirklee builder Brad Cason hinted at this BMW Racing inspired paint scheme in our pre-NAHBS interview. In person, it’s pretty spectacular.
Many custom frame builders select carbon fiber tubes the same way they’d select steel or alloy ones, then cut, miter and mold them to fit the customer. Kirklee takes it a step further and bladder molds their own top- and downtubes. Then, the seat tube is turned in a lathe and sanded down above and below the front derailleur mount area to save weight.
Joints use about 150 pieces of pre-preg shaped carbon pieces. That gives them the ability to fine tune how much carbon is used and where it’s placed because each piece of carbon is smaller. It minimizes weight and let’s them dial the feel.
Frames start at $4,600 and paint like these could add approximately $1,200. It’s all done by Darin Wheeler at 2 Wheeler Customs.
Well, that BMW inspired ‘cross bike is nice and all, you say, but where are the disc brakes? This is 2012 after all… Yep, and here are his prototype dropouts for just such things.
More eye candy.
