Carl Strong had but one bike on display at NAHBS this year: Carl’s Personal Blend.
It’s a new concept dirt road bike designed to show his take on a disc brake road bike aimed at rough road, back country riding. Bottom bracket is lower than a ‘cross bike, and head tube is a bit slacker to accommodate the increased rake of ENVE’s disc cyclocross fork. This gives it a bit longer front center/wheelbase and more toe clearance. It’ll handle at least a 37mm tire with knobbies, but he can make more room by fabricating a fork, too.
The geometry is, of course, is customized for each rider, but is a balance between a road and ‘cross bike’s performance with the relaxed geometry for longer days on roads less traveled.
Hit ‘more’ for a detail shot and a look at a variety of bicycles from Alliance and DeSalvo, too…
He’ll build them out of steel or Ti, with frame prices starting at $2,000 and $3,000 respectively. Lead time is about six months.
ALLIANCE
Alliance Bicycles builder Erik Rolf’s Dirt Road adventure bike is his most popular model. He usually spec’s long reach calipers, but in the last six months discs have been a common option. He still suggests the rim brakes for customers that are going to spend more time on the pavement or doing a lot of descending.
For folks spending more time on gravel, he’s liking the Hope V-Twin converter for now. This frame has double butted tubing with internal wiring for Campy EPS. He’s got it and the other bikes at the show set up tubeless.
Hardtail 29er is made for aggressive riding, usually with gears and a longer travel fork. This one and the road bike have his titanium seatpost, which provides a nicer ride than a dropper post. He’s got a quick release collar to make the best of it.
The steel road bike is a classic build. Rolf’s based in Ketchum, ID, and builds with Ti and steel, including stainless. Frames start at $1,500 for steel, $2,600 for Ti and $2,500 for stainless without paint, $2,700 with.
DESALVO
DeSalvo’s gravel road bike is a no frills bike with geometry between road and cross. Longer chainstays open up the rear end a little for clearance up to 33c tires. Headtube’s a bit relaxed, too.
His titanium 650B/27.5 mountain bike with sliding dropouts and frame break allow pretty much any type of drivetrain.
Steel bikes start at $1,550 and Ti at $2,550. Mainly does classic builds, nothing fancy. Mike DeSalvo says he just tries to build bikes with clean lines at a good price. The road bike complete with full Ultegra, R?l wheels and ENVE fork would be about $3,500 to $3,700. All are made in Ashland, OR.
