NAHBS 2010 – Philadelphia-based Engin Cycles’ booth had an assortment of bikes, all with great paint jobs and nice lugs. At first glance, the pink and beige bike above looks like a ladies’ randonneur. Technically, only the paint implies it’s for the ladies, there’s nothing that makes it a girl’s bike and I know plenty of dudes that would ride this…it is pretty sweet looking.
They also showed off a light blue pearlescent road bike with nice pinstriping and that brushed/painted steel 29er you see…it won Best Off-Road Bicycle at the show. Lots of photos and info after the break…
This bike was officially described as a “dirt road bike” by the Engin (pronounced ‘en-jen’) crew and the lack of pannier/rack mounts sort of disqualifies it as a rando.
Sweet ghosting of the logo by masking it off before the sparkles were applied.
Little touches like the recessed white stripe on the headtube lugs are what set some bikes apart, and all of Engin’s bikes were similarly gussied up.
Notice the curved cut of the seat tube collar. Engin makes not just the frames, but the seat posts, stems and forks, too, allowing them to tailor the bike to the customer in every way.
The Dirt Road Bike was made with relaxed road bike geometry. The frame is TIG welded steel (those headtube lugs on the top and bottom are for show), and the chainstays and seatpost are brushed stainless steel. This frame’s base price is $1,600, then add $150 for the stainless stays and $700 for matching fork, stem and seatpost. As shown here, it’s about $6,500 fully built.
The 29er mountain bike won Best Off-Road Bicycle, and it’s the same basic design that won at NAHBS in Portland in 2008.
The front triangle is built up with Reynolds 953 Stainless Steel tubing, and the logo and other frame marks are made by etching the metal rather than paint, keeping it super clean.
All of the lugs are made from scratch by Engin’s founder, Drew Guldalian…these aren’t off the shelf parts like most builders use. Dave made the stem, post and fork for this bike, too, and the post and stem are also stainless steel. I asked whether the additional cost of stainless, particularly for the stem, was worth it in terms of performance or if it was just for the “cool” factor, and they said this stem was probably one of the stiffest, torsionally rigid stems anywhere.
Stays are brazed into the lugs and bottom bracket shell for a blend of old-world charm and smooth modern aesthetics.
Replaceable sliding dropouts mean you could run the bike geared if you wanted.
The fork is a lugged, segmented design that’s a $500 add on. The stainless steel seatpost adds $250, and the 953 S/S stem is $500.
This frame in regular steel is about $2,500 and there’s a about a year lead time. Get it in Stainless Steel as shown here and you’re looking at about $4,500. Guldalian said this frame took about three weeks to make. The complete bike as shown here would run about $8,500.
Engin’s road bike (this one, anyway) is a fillet brazed steel frame with paint-matched Edge Composites carbon fork and stainless steel dropouts.
The light baby blue pearl paint was accented by criss-crossed pinstriping.
Paint scheme was carried across the entire bike, from stem to stays.
The cable stop design is smooth, but it sets the cable pretty far off the frame.
The show bike was equipped with a press-fit BB30 bottom bracket, which is a $250 upgrade from the basic road frame. This frameset, which includes the frame, fork, stem and post, costs $3,000. The complete bike, including the custom paint job, would be about $6,500.
New for 2010 is Engin’s single-bolt seatpost. In stainless steel for $250.
Hanging above their display was an example of their full suspension bike, which also showcases their available “reverse sloping top tube” for increased standover clearance.
