“I just wanted a touring bike.”
That was Jimmy’s response when I asked him to sum up his Crust Bikes Dreamer build. The thing is, this is not just a touring bike and whether Jimmy wants to admit it or not, a lot of thought went into this bike. Just look at the build kit!
Let’s take a step back for a second. We’ve looked at a Dreamer build before. Darren, the creator of this bike, had his build featured here. Darren’s thoughts on this bike are pretty simple. He began with an off-road, drop bar geometry, beefed up the clearance, added some braze-ons and was done. The Dreamer is a light tourer, with air-hardened main tubes that are light and strong, without weighing the bike down. The chainstays are aircraft-grade steel which are bent to clear the chainring and tires while offering less flex while pedaling. These frames use 12mm thru-axles, have front rack mounts, three bottle mounts, and a steel fork. Dreamers are meant to be front-loaders, with the rear mounts only designed for a bag support rack, not panniers. If you’d like a low-trail version of the Dreamer, Darren can do that, too.
The price for these frames is $1675.00 +S&H, with a $500 non-refundable deposit. The Dreamers are made in Los Angeles, by Darren and Jimmy’s bike is a good example of Darren’s craft. Darren has broken down more info on the Dreamer at the Crust site, where these bikes are on pre-order, are available in any color – a special for this pre-order. You can pre-order the bike now with a $500 deposit and have a month or so to pick out your color. Not a bad deal!
Ok, now back to Jimmy’s build. Not wanting another drop bar bike, the JJJ Bar inspired the feel of the bike. A Nitto rack supports the Wald basket, and offers a mounting point for the Sinewave light, ran from a SON hub. For gearing, SRAM’s Eagle GX and White Industries Cranks. His wheels are robust Velocity Blunt rims, with WTB Byway tires. PAUL short pull Klampers with Canti levers and when the going gets rough, Jimmy’s got a QR seatpost clamp to drop his saddle a bit.
This bike began as a go-to-tourer and is living its life as an innercity singletrack shredder, and found itself acting as a grocery getter and everything in between, as touring bikes often do. Jimmy’s specs and build kit were chosen after building dozens of bikes like this for customers, seeing what works and what doesn’t and most importantly, buying shit that lasts…
If you’d like to pre-order a Dreamer, do so fast! The pre-sale ends tomorrow. If you want a bike like Jimmy’s, holler at Golden Saddle Cyclery.
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If you want a custom build like this and live in Los Angeles, hit up Golden Saddle Cyclery.
