Pursuit Cycles, which is a project from several builders led by Carl Strong, recently introduced their Leadout disc brake road bike, and NAHBS was the perfect opportunity to show it off in person. As always, there’s simply too many bikes to showcase every single one, so this year we’re putting the highlights together in several roundups over the next couple weeks. Kicking it off are five brands (and builders) that need little introduction…
The Leadout is Pursuit’s limited edition build for 2019, and the name inspired the paint schemes.
Offered in several colors, the geometric graphics started life as simple rectangles but gradually became more artistic.
The color blocks became triangles, and regardless of which color combo you go for (there are three options, including a tan one not shown here), there’s a yellow triangle in the mix. It’s a representation of the yellow jersey in the midst of a finish line leadout as you’d see it from above.
One nice little touch is this textured chainstay protector with an additional patch on the inside of the non-driveside stay where your disc brake rotor is likely to hit the frame when putting the wheel back in. They used a textured material so that even as the chain hits it and scuffs it, it still looks good (as opposed to a smooth one that would just look beat up). Get all the tech details on the Leadout bike here, and check them out at PursuitCycles.com.
Don Walker Cycles
Show proprietor Don Walker still finds time to build bikes, sticking to steel road and track bikes. They’re very traditional, but he had a couple nice paint schemes on display. Loving the simplicity of the angled blue stripes on a matte black frame.
And then there was this beast, showing an exquisitely detailed painting across the entire frame and fork. Check them out at DonWalkerCycles.com.
Dean Titanium
Dean wasn’t showing any new models, but they did bring back their Jester paint scheme for their cyclocross bike. The frame gets a slightly curved top tube that flattens out (slightly) toward the rear.
The bend and shape make it easy to grab and hoist over barriers, and more comfortable to shoulder for the longer run ups. More info at DeanBikes.com.
Shamrock Cycles
Shamrock Cycles never disappoints with their attention to detail and fun features. Shown above is a travel commuter bike with S&S couplers to break apart and fit into a standard case. It’s belt driven and gets full coverage fenders, front rack, lights and all the accoutrements needed for properly getting about.
The “Green Machine” was made as a keeper personal bike (and experiment) for the builder, Tim O’Donnell. Inspired by the old Ducati trellised moto frames, he used three smaller tubes at various angles for the downtube just to see if it rode differently (apparently not).
Color shifting green paint takes on gold and purple hues depending on your angle.
Speed holes, because why not. The frame gets the last of his new old stock Campy dropouts paired with an 80th anniversary Super Record group.
Last up was the hot orange gravel racer. Designed for a customer that wanted a fast bike for dirt roads, they gave it partial fenders so it would protect the rider but still throw a bit of a rooster tail to keep competitors from latching on and drafting. Brilliant! See more of their work at ShamrockCycles.cc.
Rivendell
Rivendell is known for their lugs, so this (mostly) fillet brazed bike was unique not just for it’s shape, but also it’s technique.
A few ornate lugs still adorn the bike, but it’s the other little details that set it apart. It’s using a new 1-1/8” head tube, an offset kickstand plate to give it more support, and a custom-made Nitto stem.
There’s 27.5×2.8” tire clearance with V-brakes. There’s no disc brake option because they have always done 1” fork steerers, which aren’t really designed to handle the stresses of more powerful brakes. But, more importantly, builder Grant Petersen likes lighter steel forks and they’d have to beef them up a lot to handle disc brake forces. So, V-brakes it is.
Check out the rest of their collection at RivBike.com.
