I’m a diehard fan of tough and playful hardtails. My affinity probably started with an invincible brick of a Schwinn BMX back when I was 13. It eventually evolved—I ditched my full suspension bike for the first generation of Surly’s infamous Krampus, morphed into the slacker front and tighter rear of a Carver Gnarvester, eloped with Tony’s personal Breadwinner Goodwater for a week, and then fell in love with Cjell Monē’s La Roca.

The beautiful brazing, ridiculously wide Oddmonē bars, dynamo system, meaty 3” Minions, and blue-collar build hasn’t left me wishing for much more. This is my bikepacking rig, trail work workhorse, and all-mountain machine. Its pragmatic reliability is my favorite feature, after the #tinyfuckingframebag and #hugefuckinghandlebars of course.

Everything about this bike feels big. Is big. It’s the kind of confidence instilling tank that you need when your skeleton is jello after 10 hours of chasing jackrabbits through the desert. Yet it is surprisingly nimble despite the wagon wheels and lack of a dropper—I prefer the chunder-taming 29×3” tires and stability of the Mr. Fusion for bikepacking.

I’ve chased (and lost) pros down some of Oregon’s steepest terrain on this unassuming shredder, and it’s still ready to shoulder a Trail Boss and a saw for a long day of trailwork the next day. It’s one of those timeless, humble bikes that just gets a permanent spot in the stable and the only dust it collects is from the wheel in front of me.

The bits holding all the dirt together:
–Monē La Roca steel brazed 29+ frame
-Rock Shox Yari
-WTB Scraper rims on a Shutter Precision Dynamo and XT rear hub, built by Sugar Wheelworks
-3” Maxxis Minion DHF/DHR (I’ll probably go back to Chronicles if/when my sidewall repair ever blows. Been holding for a year now!)
-Oddmonē 860mm bars, BMX stem, and Chris King Headset
-XT 1x drivetrain and brakes
-Crank Brothers Stamp pedals
-Thompson seatpost
-Selle Italia Turbo saddle
–Sinewave Beacon dynamo light with USB charging port
-Supernova rear dynamo light (with bracket from Framebuilder Supply)
-Quad lock phone mount + Lifeproof case
-Ergon Grips
-2 Revelate Feedbags
-Homemade Dyneema Framebag and Top Tube bag
-Prototype Mr Fusion Seatbag (this thing is from 2014!)
-DIY Handlebar Harness ($5 template here)