While lots of attention was placed up on Andy Hampsten’s 1988 Giro-winning race bike, which was indeed branded as a Huffy, there was plenty more to see at his booth. But it was still pretty cool seeing a complete Dura-Ace group from that era, so we nabbed some pics.
Like Hampsten, Ellis Cycles had their take on a gravel road bike, and Funk had a range of titanium mountain bikes to behold. Yipsan, meanwhile, scaled back the flash and only brought customer bikes, but they still had the kind of details we love to see. Click on through for the gallery and notes…
Click any image to enlarge.
Hampsten’s modern bikes are built in Seattle, WA. They build about half with ti, half with steel. Bikes start at $2,400 for steel, $2,900 with lugs. Ti starts at $3,500.
Hampsten’s new dirt road bike is built for up to 35c tires and uses long reach calipers. It’s got the same low BB and performance geometry that matches racing bikes from the late ’70’s. It’s called the Strada Bianca, Italian for “white road” because of the light gravel used to make the path more visible at night.
Andy’s a fan of dirt roads, so even his road bikes have the rear brake set a bit higher so you can easily fit a 27c tire in there.
Track bike is new, being built for the coming velodrome in Erie, CO. It’s got a 7-11 paint scheme, which is the team Andy was on for most of the years that team was around. It’s built like a keirin bike, which makes it decent for all around track use. It has a threadless stem and steerer, but Hampsten says technically only women can use those, men are supposed to run quill stems.
ELLIS CYCLES
Dave Wages’ Ellis Cycles had his usual assortment of fancified road bikes, this time with a S&S-coupled travel bike and a few touring/gravel machines.
Above is the Voyageur Inox Travel Bike made of KVA stainless steel tubing and a custom fork with integrated contact points built into the dropouts to pull current from the Schmidt SonDeluxe SL dynamo front hub. Wiring for the lights are run internally through the fork and front rack.
No wires make it super clean looking, and the couplers make it easy to take with you.
The Strada Fango translates to “Road Mud”, and this bike’s designed for both.
In addition to the disc brakes and clearance for up to 29×2.0 tires, Wages used a Ki2 conversion for the rear derailleur so it could handle up to a 36T cog. The frame is uses mostly fillet brazed construction except for the lugged bottom bracket, which made it easier to run the Di2 wiring internally.
Mike’s Strada is a road bike with a very high end set of tubes and lugs. The frame is a mix of True Temper OX Platinum, Dedacciai stays and Columbus fork blades with Llewellyn Manorina stainless steel lugs. Even the fork crown and top tube cable routing bits are stainless!
FUNK CYCLES
Funk Cycles’ La Ruta is their best seller, a simple pivoted design that gets 80mm of travel in the rear. 29er frameset with shock is about 4.6lbs, letting you build up a ~21 pound complete bike.
Now they’re offering a 650B version (above) that has the same geometry but with slightly shorter chain stays. Where the 29er version is built around a 100 fork, the 650B is designed for a 80mm fork. $3,995.
No lower pivot saves weight and keeps things simple. The short travel means the material isn’t over stressed.
Here’s the 29er version with a very clean seat tube bolt clamp built into the frame.
The Triple Play 29+ fat bike is their latest creation. The name is subject to change, but it’s so called because it can work with a variety of tire and wheel sizes, including the new 29+ fat bike tires. The BB height is somewhere in the middle, helping it feel right regardless of wheel choice.
It’s built with a 100mm BB shell, but they’ll offer 73 width, too, for riders that only want to run the 29+ tire size. Clearance at the rear for up to a 26×4.2 tire. Frame is $3,400.
YIPSAN
Yipsan’s yellow city commuter bike had a few nice details hidden on the frame.
Custom racks are a mainstay on his show bikes. Just behind the fork crown you see the slightest bit of wiring going into the downtube. From there it disappears until…
…it juices up the integrated rear blinky light.
The Reynolds 853 steel touring bike used S&S Couplers and some nice lug work:
This light blue mixte would match up nicely with his award winning Sunflower Mixte from a couple years ago. And while we’re strolling down memory lane, it’s worth checking out his cafe racer bike from last year.
