ENVE has been supporting frame builders, both in the US and internationally for years now and has developed a symbiotic relationship with these artisans, who choose to put their forks, bars, and wheels on customer’s build kit lists. With this catalog of talent at their fingertips, they decided to have an Open House to celebrate not only their factory and offices in Ogden, Utah but the frame builders who choose ENVE to build out their complete bikes.
Over the next two mornings, we’ll look at a list of 20 frame builders’ bikes, in galleries filled with so many Beautiful Bicycles it’ll leave your mouth watering. Up first is Prova, Holland, Alchemy, Salt Air, Mosaic, Pursuit, English, Speedvagen, Bingham, and Allied.
Made from a variety of construction techniques, Melbourne, Australia’s Prova Cycles unveiled this beautiful stainless and carbon road bike. Constructed using a 3D-printed stainless seat tube cluster that is silver brazed to the top tube, seat tube, and chainstays, with a slip-sleeve carbon seat tube and a tig welded front end, this bike was one of the standout examples of 3D printing.
Southern California’s Holland Cycles brought along a no-nonsense titanium disc road bike to the showcase, featuring a nifty fastback seat tube cluster, internal routing, and precision welds. Holland’s titanium road bikes are made with US-milled aerospace-grade titanium.
Utilizing their carbon layup tuned for all road riding, the Ronin, like its namesake, is for wandering around freely. Be it paved, gravel, or double track, the Ronin’s tubing is tuned to offer a lively ride, with clearance for up to a 45mm tire.
Salt Lake City’s own Salt Air Cycles builds custom bikes per order. Their impressive gallery listing showcases the diversity of their craft, and this 27.5 hardtail was a welcome change to what appeared to be a mostly drop-bar showcase at the open house.
Mosaic’s newly designed RS-1 road bike takes a traditional material – steel – and blends in modern technologies with Columbus Spirit HSS tubing and custom geometries, tuned for their customer’s specific needs. Once the frame is welded in-house by Mosaic, they send them off to Spectrum Paint & Powderworks for a beautiful ombré fade.
If modern, tunable, and completely customized carbon fiber is your thing, then Carl Strong’s carbon fiber brand Pursuit is worth paying attention to. With oversized tubing, flashy paint, and details to appease even the most fickle roadie’s sensibilities, these bikes are a show stopper.
Does it get any more deep custom than an English? Rob English’s work is always a favorite of mine, with his minimal rear triangles, machined and milled components, bolt-on frame bags, super-nifty TT bottle placement and in this case, a clearcoat to showcase his brazing skills. English Cycles offers up a dose of true artisan frame construction and design.
Speedvagen Prototype Step-Through
The story goes, one of Speedvagen’s fabricators had some hip problems that limited his range of motion. He could still pedal a bike, but getting his leg around the top tube had proven to be an ordeal he wasn’t capable of. This is the solution…
If you like stacked dimes and the cleanest welds around, look no further than Bingham Built. There’s a reason why he always wins a NAHBS award for best welds. These bikes are filled with details for those obsessed with expressing a frame’s construction.
The Able made a splash at Dirty Kanza this year, with two of their sponsored riders taking the big W. This particular frame is owned and raced by Kevin Girkins, and you can see contrary to popular opinion, carbon really does patina nicely!
Which bike is your favorite? Comment below! Didn’t see anything to suit your fancy? Check back tomorrow for 10 more beautiful bicycles from ENVE‘s Open House!