Steve Potts has been building bikes for a long time, helping shape some of the early days of mountain biking. Nowawadays, it’s all about titanium for him, and the bikes vary a bit but mainly fall into road/cyclocross or mountain bike categories.
The one above is in the former, but takes a modern approach with 650 wheels and tires, his Type II fork and disc brakes. A modern-retro parts build gives it a bit of character, but not at the expense of performance in most areas.
Check it out, plus a very cool bamboo-and-carbon commuter bike concept from Alabama’s Hero Bike and some Italian flair from Scappa, below…
The paint’s lines follow across the frame and pump, and the saddle and bar tape are color matched.
Dubbed his “Go Anywhere You Want” road bike”, the fatter tires certainly help handle more adventurous rides.
His hardtail mountain bike had all the right modern touches: tight chainstays, 1×11 drivetrain and dropper seatpost.
HERO BIKE
When we visited Hero Bike’s Alabama workshop, we saw some pretty creative uses of bamboo and carbon fiber to create functional bikes and build-your-own-bike kits. They’ve been plenty busy since then, coming up with new ways to laminate and use the natural material, shown here on a commuter bike concept and a skateboard deck!
The frame integrates a leather shoulder bag.
The body of the bike is woven bamboo laminated over ingrained and notched balsam wood to create compound shapes, which are then reinforced in sections with carbon fiber fabric and trusses.
Check them out at HeroBike.org.
SCAPPA
Scappa is an Italian brand with a surprisingly diverse line of road, track and mountain bike offerings, which is completely not obvious from their meager booth.
This titanium pista bike was elegant enough, but it became even more interesting when he said they make the bars, stems and saddles, too.
They also make these hubs, which allow the spoke flange to unbolt from the hub shell just in case you need to switch those out. It’s a clever design if not entirely practical.
The Il Corriero is their new carbon aero road frame for 2015 that they say weighs in at an astoundingly light 630g for a medium, unpainted frame! Since it’s custom, you can spec which pressfit bottom bracket standard you want along with the usual geometry tweaks.
Naturally, a bike this light needs a lightweight carbon saddle, also made in house.
As are the rims.
And the bottle cage.
