As the thirtieth anniversary of his first carbon prototype frame approaches, Craig Calfee continues to push the design and process envelope. Having debuted a tandem-to-solo conversion bike last year, and a new 3D printing process for custom, one-off carbon lugs on their Manta endurance road frames, it will be interesting to see what surprises Calfee has in store for this NAHBS.
BIKERUMOR: What are your main building materials?
Craig: Carbon fiber, bamboo and hemp. And to a lesser extent, titanium and Douglas Fir tree branches.
BIKERUMOR: What’s new with your company since NAHBS last year?
Craig: 3D printed custom molds for Mantas. New integrated Garmin mount on the BarStems, shorter lead times and more in-house custom paint options.
BIKERUMOR: Any killer custom bike builds in that time?
Craig: Yes, lots. They’re all over our Facebook and Instagram pages.
BIKERUMOR: What were some of your newer inspirations for recent bikes?
Craig: I went to India last September on a bamboo bike building gig and found the decorative arts there to be truly stunning. We had one artist decorate the cargo bike similar to how they decorate their big cargo trucks. We hope he will get wild on the electric bamboo rickshaw! I want to try some fine line painting on the lugs of an “art” bike at some point.
BIKERUMOR: What are you building this year that’ll draw a crowd?
Craig: There’s a beautiful Dragonfly Tandem that is coming to the show that will really turn heads. We build some amazing bikes but this one had all of our workers checking it out as the finishing touches were completed.
BIKERUMOR: If you had to build a bike for a Kentucky Derby style race (think short, all out effort on deep, loose dirt), what would you build and why?
Craig: A carbon fatbike tandem. We’re building one now but probably won’t be done for NAHBS. It’s all about the traction!
BIKERUMOR: Bourbon or beer?
Craig: Draft beer!
