Vassago was set up at the Whiskey Offroad with a few new models, covering most of the current trends – gravel, fat and 29+.
The titanium TKO is a new gravel road bike with clearance for 40c tires. This one’s Vassago owner Tom Ament’s personal bike. It’s built with a 44mm headtube to allow tapered forks, and uses a 27.2 seatpost to make it a bit more comfy. They can make it with sliding dropouts for single speed, or with thru axles with 12×142 spacing. The extra width is all in the dropout, so chain line and heel clearance is exactly the same as with 135mm QR.
Grind past the break for more…
Stock frames come as shown. In addition to the drivetrain options, they can add rack mounts and other small changes if requested.
Frame retail starts at $1,999. They’re able to do all the customization because their titanium frames are made to order in house in Pheonix, AZ. Shipping time is about 4-5 weeks from order date.
The Verhauen fat bike is brand spankin’ new, this first one having just arrived a couple days before the event. It’s based on the steel Verhauen 29er we reviewed. It’s a U.S.-made True Temper OX Platinum steel frame with 170mm rear spacing and 100mm BB. That adds up to clearance for 4″ tires.
Tom says the geometry is a bit more aggressive than a standard “snow” fat bike, making it more ready for trail shredding.
Retail’s $1,049 for the frame, no completes available yet but are coming. They just haven’t figured out the spec yet. It’s being made in Portland by Zen Fabrications.
The titanium Optimus Ti 29er mountain bike has been available for a bit, but the new 29+ option adds an 83mm BB shell and stays that are bent out wider to clear a 3″ tire.
This one is 20lb 10oz without pedals and 18″ frame.
A steel version that’ll be available as a regular 29er or 29+ is coming, but no timeframe is set yet.
As accidents sometimes go, this fortunate mistake in coloring ended up looking so good they’re adding it (and a couple others) as an option. The painter used the wrong hue in their translucent powder coat, giving this steel VerHauen a gold tint while still showing the welds.
