Ellis Cycles built upon their Di2 road bike from last year to create an S&S coupled dirt road version. Similar to last year’s version, this one adds threaded wiring couplers inside the frame joints to make it easy to travel with.
They also won “Best Touring Bike” for their Modern Classic Randonneur bike and had a bilaminate construction 29er mountain bike. See what the heck that is after the break…
This is how the DRB (Dirt Road Bike starts life.
The Di2 battery mouns to the non-drive chainstay. The wire runs into an oversized hole in the BB shell.
$3,200 frame and fork, $700 for couplers.
The “Modern Classic Randonneur” won Best Touring Bike at this year’s show. It’s a 3.5lb frame made of Reynolds thin wall 953 throughout except for the headtube, which is a True Temper 1.125″ tube. They wanted a wider headtube than the standard 1″ size found on most rando bikes to improve stiffness.
Except the front rack, the shiny bits on the frame are stainless steel, not chrome.
Front dynamo hub powers the headlight, which is integrated into the front rack, and the taillight.
This bike would be $11,000 complete. Frames start around $3,400 with fork.
Ellis’ steel 29er used a bi-laminate construction, which essentially means they took half a lug and brazed it onto the other tubes.
In this case they’re not just cosmetic: the lugs act like a gusset for the downtube.
