Every so often, a bike shows up that makes you stop mid-scroll and say, “Wait… what am I looking at?”
Not because it’s wind-tunnel optimized. Not because it shaved 37 grams off a derailleur bolt. But it exists purely on creative energy and mild chaos. That’s exactly what rolled into Bespoked this year: the Apocalypse Bike from TOMO— a Tall, Fat, Cargo, Rear-Suspension, Two-Wheel-Drive bikepacking rig that was apparently just a faint idea two weeks before the show.
Two. Weeks.
According to the builder, it came together in between finishing other bikes and doing actual paying work. The whole thing had maybe ten yards of straight-line testing before it was stuffed into a car and hauled to the event.
No real shakedown. No backup plan. Just vibes. I’m bummed I missed it… but the folks over at Berm Peak take it through a battery of wild tests and capture the bike’s pure anarchic core. All captured in the video below.
Built From a Kid’s Old Fat Bike… and a Pile of 4130
The backbone of the build? The builder’s son’s old fat bike.
From there, it spiraled — in the best way possible — with bits of Apollo and Marin grafted in and a whole lot of 4130 steel tubing tying everything together. If you like fabrication that looks intentional but slightly feral, this one hits.
And yes, it’s actually two-wheel drive (when in 3-wheel configuration, the back two wheels are driven).
Because if you’re already building a tall, suspended, cargo-ready apocalypse bikepacking machine, why stop at one powered wheel?
It Raced. Indoors.
As part of the event, there was racing around a car park and through a building. Completely normal.
The Apocalypse Bike ran practice laps in full 2WD trim, then switched to “short tail” mode for the actual racing. That phrase alone tells you everything about the energy of this thing.
Apparently, a few brave humans test rode it, and the universal facial expression was a mix of panic and joy. Which, honestly, is the ideal outcome.
More Please.
Bespoked isn’t just about perfect weld beads and polished titanium. It’s also about letting builders go a little off-leash. This bike is what happens when someone says, “What if we just… tried it?”
Just imagination, steel, and a deadline. Is it practical? Probably not. Would I line up to ride it? Absolutely.
Because sometimes the bikes you remember most aren’t the fastest ones, they’re the ones that make you laugh, shake your head, and immediately start thinking, “Okay… but what if I built one?”
Thanks for bringing a smile to my face on these wild winter days, TOMO and Berm Peak.
