Hailing from South Eastern Idaho, builder Brain Williams of Kelson Custom Cycles doesn’t limit himself to one material when he builds bikes. He works in a mix of steel, titanium, and carbon fiber. On display in the Kelson booth was a clean example of a tube-to-tube lightweight carbon roadie, a carbon and titanium R.A.D (road, asphault, dirt) gravel bike, and even a steel 29er. Not only does he build the bikes, he also paints them in house.
Images and details on the flip side.
When speaking with Brain, he wasn’t sure the weight of his carbon road bike. His best guess was somewhere around 15 lbs. He did inform us that the frame (including the ISP) comes in right at 1000g. When we popped back over to the booth with a scale, it was nice seeing 14.2 lbs come up.
Full carbon drop outs are made in house. Tubes are sourced from Enve, then joined with carbon lugs in house.
The R.A.D. bike seemed to fit right in with one of the major themes at this year’s show: Grave Grinders. And to be honest, it was one of my personal favorites. This one happens to be consist of a titanium chassis with a carbon backbone.
The head tube, downtube, and chainstays are all made from Ti.
The Carbon toptube, seattube, and chainstays are all joined by a hand wrapped carbon lug.
Road. Asphalt. Dirt. Ride all of the things.
And just for kicks, a solid example of a steel 650B MTB. For more examples of Kelson Custom Cycles see their Flickr page.
