Following up last year’s award winning Sunflower Mixte, Reynold Yip of Yipsan bicycles built up a gentleman’s bike he called the Frederick Rambler.
At first glance, it doesn’t seem to live up to expectations set by the brightly colored Sunflower, but the more I’ve looked at it, the more it stands up to the hopes we had for a second act. Dive in after the break and see why, and glance at his mixed tire “Big Bike” mountain bike and a pretty sweet rando ride…
At the front, Yip built a custom Transformer-Rack that converts from a flat one-piece rack to having vertical sides that form dual pannier racks. To transform it, you simply unbolt the support beams on the sides, then slide out the sides of the rack and mount them on the fork blades. Then you simply clip on your pannier bags and ride off.
The steel frame has a twin top tube and internal cable routing to match the Sunflower.
Check out the rake on this fork!
Hidden wiring for the front and rear lights powered by the front hub. Chrome and polishing on this bike push the price to about $7,500, but a less fancy version would be around $5,000.
Check out the polished finish on the cranks, which are upper end Shimano road cranks that have the big ring replaced by a slacks guard. Rear hydraulic brake hose pops out of the seat stays.
The rear rack is fixed and has a nice dark wood platform with integrated E3 LED tail light.
Yipsan’s Rando Bike is made for all types of riding. Integrated front bag made for Yipsan to fit his custom made rack. Light mount and wiring guides are left external for removing the extra stuff during the summer. Extra bend in the rack for running standard caliper brakes for the release arm. Complete bike is around $5,500.
The integrated front bag was made for Yipsan to fit his custom made rack. Above and below, the leather straps on the bottom slide onto the flat slots on the front of the rack, then the adjustable leather strap on the rear of the bag slides over the “U” shaped part.
Light mount and wiring guides are left external for removing the extra stuff during the summer, giving the user the option of using it for a regular road bike. Note the extra bend in the rack on the right side (drive side) that provides extra space around the brake caliper. This allows you to run standard caliper brakes and have room for the release arm. Complete bike is around $5,500.
This Big Bike was for a customer who wanted a bombproof bike. Bi-laminate construction which uses house-made lugs that are brazed to the main tubes.
The headtube is a double tube (one tube over another) to give it that lugged look. The rear tire is normal 2.4 tire, using the large snow tire on the front as suspension. Finish is matte black and gloss, which basically requires two paint jobs, just like the build was basically like making two bikes.
Ball park price for frame and fork like this would $2,800.
