Figuring that since we have spent the last few weeks talking to the beneficiaries of the PBExSRAM Framebuilder Inclusivity scholarship on the Bikerumor Podcast, it would be nice to highlight the bikes that they were talking about bringing to the show. These builders each turned it all the way up, and show goers to the Philly Bike Expo certainly responded. “The overwhelmingly positive response from the public, as well as other industry partners, validated the effort for this initiative,” spoke a chuffed Brooklyn Fowler, SRAM instigator for the Inclusivity Scholarship. “Working with these builders and getting to know them personally through this experience was a highlight to my time working in the bicycle industry.”
Let’s dive in and talk about this party a little more.
Schön Studio – Danielle Schön
Danielle’s recent move to Squamish inspired her show build. Having relocated from the city where most of her off-road riding consisted of inner city ravine trails, she was in need of a super versatile trail bike to handle the trails in her new home. The front of the bike is straight gauge 4130 – beefed up for aggressive descending, and features a 29in front, 27.5in rear to keep the rear short and nimble.
Visually, Danielle was going for a “super flowy west coast mountain vibe” as she feels new mountain bikes by large brands are evolving into bigger, blockier beasts. The form was accomplished with creative application of pre-bent tubing, 4130 straight gauge.
The most visually striking element of the bike is her combination headbadge/gusset. “It was the scariest fucking thing I’ve ever done,” Danielle reported at the show. “It was the last thing on the bike – I knew I had to tack both sides at the same time to keep it straight. ‘What are the critical tack points? How do I go back and forth?’ I stared at it for an hour and a half before I was like: let’s do this.”
Because she was running full SRAM AXS, Danielle wanted to keep running super clean. Brake routing for the ports in at the front of the top tube and out at the seat stay at the brake. “Working with SRAM has been amazing. As much as they are showcasing me, I wanted to showcase them just as much.”
Schön Studio SRAM Build Kit
Groupset: XX1 Eagle AXS Boost
Brakes: CODE RSC brakes
Fork: Lyrik Ultimate 29
Dropper: Reverb AXS
Handlebar: Descendant Colab by Troy Lee Designs Carbon Riser Bar
Stem: Descendant
Wheel, Front: 3Zero Moto 29
Wheel, Rear: 3Zero Moto 27.5
Listen to our pre-PBE podcast episode with Danielle Schön here.
Moth Attack – Megan Dean
Megan Dean’s full suspension submission was, “A joke that got out of hand… and became true.” If you caught our pre-show interview with Megan Dean, you will recognize the pattern. A challenge to her to build her own frame started as a challenge but quickly became a commitment to the Philly Bike Expo and SRAM.
And lo, on opening day of the Expo, there was Megan’s very first full sus prototype, laying out for the whole world to see.
There are brutalist “get it done” features throughout her design. The bike features not one but two custom teal “Team Moth Attack” Peacock Groove headsets. There is, of course, the conventional application of the head tube. Megan used the other in her “very rustic” linkage.
There is a styled bilaminate feature at the seat cluster which reinforces that area, minimally styled, and some head tube reinforcements. Otherwise, the construction of the frameset is Megan’s bread and butter steel and brass-fillet.
When asked if she had properly tested the bike yet, she said she had not. But the bike moves, Megan reports. “It works – I was surprised, okay?”
She is already planning her next prototype – and we wish her well on this latest evolution.
Moth Attack SRAM Build Kit
Groupset: XX1 Eagle AXS Boost
Brakes: G2 Ultimate
Fork: Pike Ultimate RC2 29
Shock: Super Deluxe RT3
Dropper: Reverb AXS
Handlebar: Descendant Carbon Riser Bar
Stem: Descendant
Wheelset: 3Zero Moto 29
Listen to our pre-PBE podcast episode with Megan Dean here.
Untitled Cycles – Jackie Mautner
Jackie Mautner set out to design a double century machine with a klunker vibe – but style took over. “Aesthetically, there were elements that ticked the [klunker] box, but it became too glamorous for that – so it’s more like a ‘glunker.”
The seat stays kink at the seat cluster, becoming a twin cross bars – and brake cable routing on the non-drive side. While the frame design is mostly clean, there are more ornamental internal routing ports and reinforcement rings on the headtube. “This thing is contradictions.” With an ISO tab brake/brake mount and centerlock rotors on the front, flat mount brake/brake mount and six bolt on the rear, Jackie is clearly actively playing with styles and methods. “I’m in my steel-curious phase – I’m still figuring it out.”
The Keith Haring pattern, Jackie admits, was challenging to translate to the physical form of bicycle tubing – especially with so many diameters in play. Haring worked on big flat panels like cars and walls. Jackie says that tubes are more difficult, that “the pattern has to wrap.” To wrap the pattern, Jackie drew each tube unrolled “like a fish and filleting it out.” She then laid tracing paper over the filleted tubes and translated the car painting onto those patterns – this is what she submitted to her painter. “I always default to hand work.”
Untitled Cycles SRAM Build Kit
Groupset: Red eTap AXS HRD 2x w/Quarq
Fork: Lyrik Ultimate 29
Dropper: Reverb AXS
Handlebar: SL-70 Ergo Drop
Stem: Zipp SL Speed
Rims: Zipp 303 Firecrest Carbon Clincher Disc
Listen to our pre-PBE podcast episode with Jackie Mautner here.
