Moonmen might make you think of the MTV VMAs or perhaps those few astronauts who have traveled to the moon, but really, it’s all about bikes. Specifically, the bikes that a group of friends have ridden around the trails of Fort Collins, Colorado, often until they were joined by the moon’s light.
Forming a new bike company called Moonmen, Paul Knowles, Todd Heath and Ryan Mckee have set out to create some incredible new custom machines. Moonmen have chosen to craft nearly everything out of Titanium, which isn’t surprising considering two of the builders’ ties to Black Sheep Bikes. As the lead fabricator and co- owner, Todd has welded for Black Sheep for the past 10 years, while finish lead Paul had been with the company for 5 years. Now though, the three are setting off on their own moonlit journey where beautiful titanium fat bikes and more will be born…
One of the signature bits of their first bike the #M00, is their Mension chain tensioner. Built into the chainstays, the clever design uses dual threaded couplers that unscrew and force the chainstays to extend. A set screw in the middle keeps them in place once the desired tension is reached. Because of the split chainstays belt drives can be used, and when paired with their splitter option, the #M00 can fit into a standard suitcase.
Said to be created with a heavy inspiration from the BMX bikes of their youth, #M00 is built with split top tubes and plate dropouts like were found on some of the early BMX bikes. A curved seat tube allows for short 17″ chainstays which brace the single speed drivetrain. Since Moonmen bikes are custom you can spec your bike with whatever standards you like but the first #M00 uses a 142×12 rear hub with a 100mm bottom bracket.
Moonmen believe that the more titanium you have on your ride, the better, so the #M00 features a ti fork, seat post, stem, and handlebar. The #LupineFork uses a 1 1/8″ steerer with plate dropouts and a 15x135mm front hub. Other parts include the 30″ wide #MoonriserHandlebar which has a 4″ rise, and 18 degree sweep, and the #BuckeyeStem and #BoltSeatpost. Why all the hash tags? The company likes the idea of being able to search for everything Moonmen on social media, and when it comes to the bikes the numbers seem to represent custom creations rather than names.
Moonmen frames start at $3600.
