It’s that time of year again! The Chris King Open House returned to Portland this past weekend and, with it, a showcase of seventeen custom bikes. Let’s check them out in detail below!
Alliance Bicycles Full Suspension
Alliance brought a titanium Full suspension bike, rolling on the 29″ platform with 138mm rear travel and 160mm front. Custom geometry tailored to trail riding and versatility, 64.5º head angle, 78.5º seat angle, 470mm reach, and a 443mm chainstay. The build spec includes parts from: Chris King MTN30 wheelset, Shimano XTR drivetrain, 213mm Bikeyoke dropper, Hope Tech 4 brakes, Cane Creek eeWings, and 5Dev titanium stem. Brushed accents and 3 color liquid paint by Dark Matter Finishing.
Breadwinner Cycles was thrilled to show off some cool frame updates at the Chris King Open House just in time for its 10th anniversary. Their new dropout design can accept multiple derailleur hangers, accommodates modern flat mount brakes, and has more crank arm and tire clearance. You can expect the same magic carpet ride quality that has made our custom frames the ideal bike for daily riding.
Soloist is a name from deep in Cervelo history, but immediately familiar to anyone with bike racing memories extending back to the early-2000s. It was the weapon of choice for top World Tour contenders on CSC and the Cervelo Test Team, and this year, Cervelo has brought it back for a new generation. The new bike is lighter than the S5, faster than the R5, and ready to mix it up on any parcours.
The Terlingua Titanium SL is Chumba’s brand-new race-focused titanium gravel bike. The frame features an S-bend rear triangle with double-butted oval chainstays and is designed to go fast and far. They’ve maximized compatibility with tires up to 700×50 and typical 1x and 2x cranksets. The sliding dropouts offer a solid platform for adapting your ride style or can be set up singlespeed. Chumba offers a holistic experience to deliver your dream bike, offering fit assessment, component selection, and custom finishes.
DeSalvo Custom Cycles Ti Gravel
DeSalvo returned to the Chris King Open House for the fifth time this year, bringing a titanium gravel bike. This bike is a great all-around machine, highlighted by the lively feel of the titanium. To ensure versatility, this bike is built to accept a tire up to 700 x 50c. For the overall durability of the finish, bold graphics are painted on with much of the frame left as raw titanium. For many, this really can be the ‘one’ bike.
English, unfortunately, didn’t make it in time for the in-house photos but we were supplied with studio shots of a recent build of theirs. Will, the customer, asked for a comfortable, efficient ‘forever’ bike that could fit larger tires and fenders for dealing with the roads and weather in the UK. The frame is built from stainless steel tubing with custom geometry to achieve the position and handling desired. It turns out that Will and Rob English attended the same high school, a detail included in the paint scheme.
A versatile bike built for today’s wandering cyclist- with time-tested and accommodating features throughout to blend classic design with some of today’s industry standards. Sure-footed in its abilities as a light tourer, or a backroad exploratory machine, it boasts stable operation while moderately loaded down.
Configured here on the 700c platform with a drop handlebar and sporting a Shimano GRX gravel gruppo, the ATB can also be set up with 650b wheels to offer capacity for larger footprint tires and equipped with a flat bar for more of a vintage ATB vibe. Giving riders confidence in various environments, both on and off-road, the Doppo ATB meets the needs of today’s most discerning 2-wheeled wanderers looking for versatility, durability, and timeless style.
The HELL CAT Hardtail is a 27.5+ All Mountain Ripper. 66º head tube angle compatible with 130-150mm travel forks. Tapered head tube and room for 2.8” tires. A fully capable all-mountain bike. Stable on steep, rocky, uneven descents and a strong climber. The HELL CAT will have you riding terrain otherwise off-limits and keep you connected with that classic hardtail power and responsive trail feel.
Made from the highest quality materials in the Catskill Mountains, NY
Designed, built, and tested in Boulder, CO, the Mosaic MT-2 is exactly the bike we want to ride. Fast, efficient, and highly capable, the MT-2 is a hardtail at home on the start line of a marathon mountain bike race, as on an all-day adventure or a weekend bike-packing trip in the desert. The MT-2 is designed with modern geometry and componentry, making it the ultimate trail companion. Intended to be built with a 120mm suspension fork and with ample clearance for 29×2.6 tires, the MT-2 is a modern XC hardtail with a hint of rowdy trail shredding built in. A size-specific straight gauge titanium tubeset delivers a lightweight and exceptionally strong frameset that is built to be durable, comfortable, and exceptionally fun to ride.
Designed as an aggressive handling gravel bike, this No. 22 Drifter X delivers on that promise in spades. Featuring a unique 3D printed titanium stem, bespoke headset, and No. 6 carbon gravel fork with fully internal cable routing, this Drifter X is as capable as it is beautiful.
The “All Road” is designed to be smooth and fast on all road surfaces, dirt, gravel, asphalt, or whatever you might encounter. Custom carbon fiber modular monocoque construction with a custom ride-tuned layup. Featuring the “Dr Boom” paint design by @BicycleCrumbs.
Designed, engineered, and manufactured in Bozeman, MT.
From Napa, California, Curtis Inglis makes custom bikes under the banners of Retrotec and Inglis Cycles. This is a custom Retrotec Twin Funduro built around a 140mm fox fork and 27.5 wheels, designed to tackle a proper all-mountain experience.
The gravel bike is made to go where the gravel ends. This Rizzo is an adventure 29×2.3″ machine to take the bikepacking a step further and your dream rides a bit closer. The 12 speed mechanical drivetrain by INGRID and the complete CKPC rolling parts gives this bike all the reliability you can get. Made in Madrid (Spain), Rubén builds this and other frames one by one, 100% custom in sizing and colors; just ask him about your dream bike.
The Storm King is a catalyst for new adventures. It’s a drop-bar beast designed to fuel your exploration, whether in stage races like the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder or single-day endurance races like Unbound or Grinduro. Storm King is a rock-gobbling animal with the geometry meant to go fast.
Simple Bicycle Co. is typically the builder’s builder, AKA builder of private label custom frames for a few brands. This year Oscar decided to show a Simple hardtail trail bike with a modern geometry, fashioned in Ti. It is built around 27.5 tires and a 150mm travel fork. Rowdy!
Speedvagen Suprise Me Mystery Model
Each year Speedvagen produces a one-off custom paint scheme that is a surprise for the customers who elect to get it. The Surprise Me scheme is a snapshot of where our heads are and what is inspiring us. This year’s scheme has vibes of late 80s paint jobs and team cars. To spice it up even more, they are showing it on a new prototype model. Details to come!
The frame and stem are Titanium and hand-made in Santa Rosa, California, and Anodizing by Gary Land. Repeating S crown logos as a panel on the seat tube and down tube. It has Sram AXS components so there are no cables with just the exposed brake lines. All external for ease of replacement service. It’s an all-purpose gravel bike that fits up to a 48mm tire.
We’d like to thank Chris King for supplying these photos, the builders for bringing their a-game, and you for reading this post! What’s your favorite bike in this mix?