Sklar Bikes

As Greg put it, he wanted something to “conquer the world of Fondo... crush some CX races... get regularly lost on my local Forest Service roads.” I knew it was meant to be. That’s how I ride my bikes and I am excited about what we came up with for Greg.

The custom steel frame is a really sweet blend of Colombus and Vari-wall steel for a ride that is going to be light no doubt, but super responsive and resilient.

Custom geometry is a little hard to classify, but like any custom Sklar, you are getting a tailored fit and ride characteristic within my “design philosophy”. In the case of a bike like this, it means dirt-centric handling. It means designing a geometry from the ground up for the intended riding and rider. These gravel bikes are not cross bikes or road bikes tweaked to ride on dirt, they were conceived for this specific purpose with “shorter” stems (or longer depending on how you look at it), middle trail, lower BB heights and ample tire clearance - especially with the new possibility to pair Sram’s wireless drop bar levers with a 12 speed eagle MTB cassette. So rad.

Anyhow, Greg topped off his build with some really sweet components. The best wheels of all time IMO, the Enve G23’s, a G series fork, stem and bars. A painted to match Sklar Ti seatpost, Shifting from SRAM AXS and bearings from Chris King in that hot matte punch.

This bike goes in the category of dream bike for sure, and I can’t wait to see Greg out there getting it dirty for a long time to come.

It is true, you can never have enough socks. If you are anything like me though, once you try a pair of these USA-made (by Defeet) Woolie Boolie socks, you might never go back to a synthetic sock, or even something thinner in wool.

These Merino socks are a little thicker than your typical cycling sock, which makes them extra comfy for every day, and the perfect sock for long rides with creek crossings, unpredictable weather, bikepacking trips where you are out on the trail for a few, or even your mid summer after work ride. The Simple, understated design means you can wear them out too without feeling like a cyclist-billboard, which is important because you will want to wear them all the time.

Sizing:

EU 36-39.5 S EU 40-42.5 M EU 43-45.5 L EU46-48 XL

Justin from Shimano and Pearl Izumi stopped by the shop a few weeks back and we talked about craft and what it means to make things.

Call it retro, call it a throw back, we call it the Sklunk.

Though the look of this bar takes inspiration from the “bullmoose” handlebars of early mountain biking, the geometry and design are far from it. I built my first set of this style bar stem early in my framebuilding career, but a pair that adorned the famous “Sklunker” bike gained much attention and led to a flood of requests for this handlebar to be more widely available. For a long time I said no, as fabricating these one-off is a huge challenge thanks to the way the tubes connect on several different axis. A lot of thought and some smart design later, A bar for everyone has been born.

The Sklunk bar is made of 4130 Chromoly for durability, comfort and an approachable pricepoint.

The geometry of this bar is intended to favor mountain bikes, offroad tourers or anything with about a 70 degree head tube angle. The bar comes at 785mm width, which might be great for some. If that is too long, cut them to any length you like! At full width the “effective stem length” is 2mm. This is ideal for more stable handling on your dirt tourer, bike packer, townie bike or where ever you put your Sklunk bar to use.

The Sklunk bar comes at about 855mm wide, ready for you to cut down to whatever length you like as short as 550mm. The bar is optimized for a 70 degree head tube angle to give you 5 degrees of upsweep, a steeper or slacker headtube will change the upsweep of the bar slightly. See the drawing for full geometry specs. Raw/Patina bars will rust! Apply paste wax (included) when surface rust starts to appear.

Width: 550-855mm Rise: 68mm from bottom of stem clamp to bar end Backsweep: 14 degrees Upsweep (70 degree head tube angle): 5 degrees Effective stem length (785 width): 2mm

Dan lives in Brooklyn, NY and he spends a lot of time on his bike. In fact, Dan works on his bike day in day out as a bike messenger in the city. Sounds like a dream job, am I right? Anyway, While he get's to ride every day, his work bikes take abuse and he wanted something nice that he could use on the weekends to go exploring with friends and do some more intentional riding. Something he could ride through the city and end up out in the sticks on dirt roads and trails.

We settled on a snappy light frame with some nice Colombus tubing. The bike is designed around 650 wheels. We built it up with the 48c Compass Switchback hills but it will clear a 2.3” knobby with ease. Dan picked out some choice American made components from the likes of Paul Components, White Industries, and ENVE. Top notch stuff.

This bike is pretty Sklar through and through. It has nice durable parts that will last a lifetime and work flawlessly while doing it. The material choice is thoughtful and intentional, a balance of weight and durability and performance. It’s no race bike though. Hop on this thing, hit the road with friends and get out there.

This bike was built for my Japanese distributor, SimWorks.

The Monstercross category has been a big one for Sklar in the past few years. Perhaps it is my penchant for riding bikes on dirt and my disdain for getting in a car that attracted me to this style of bike and ultimately to designing and building so many of them. There is a really fun balance to strike between the pavement and single track ends of the spectrum when designing a gravel bike and tuning finding the perfect spot on that spectrum for each rider is a treat to be able to do.

In the case of Joe’s Titanium monstercross here, Joe had spent a lot of time riding track bikes in the city and this bike would help him to venture more off road, so we went with something a little more on the snappy and responsive side, which makes a really consistently handling bike and something that is equally fun on and off the dirt.

Titanium is a great material for this type of build. While the reduced weight is a nice perk, the subtle damping of titanium makes for a supremely comfortable ride and a very nicely tracking bike.

We went with 27.5 x 2.1” tires for this build, which look very proportional on this build. Simworks topped of the build with goodies from Enve, Paul Components, a Sklar Titanium seatpost and Chris King bearings.

All in all this bike is one that Joe can hop on and see where the day takes him, and that is what it is really all about.

I have the privilege of building one-off, purpose build, custom bikes every day. As the industry has struggled to define the “gravel category” I have just been over here building bikes that make sense for their riders. In an attempt to show my discontent with the need to slap a label on every last thing, I have called these flat bar gravel bikes Hybrids, because that is silly and labels don’t matter.

Anyhow, on to Ben’s bike…

Ben is one of the pals who got me in to riding bicycles back in the day. Growing up in Boulder, he got to spend a lot of time training and racing to be a super fast cross country racer. Needless to say, Ben can ride a bike really, really well. Anyhow, when Ben’s gravel bike was stolen last fall he knew he wanted to replace it with something better suited for his riding style. We decided on this all arounder gravel bike with a flat bar (which he can swap out for drops and a shorter stem if he ever likes) and simple 1x11 gearing.

While its’ geometry and handlebar may be reminiscent of a mountain bike, the frame is constructed from beautifully butted tubing for a light and snappy ride that only steel can have.

The build is classic workhorse parts with an emphasis on American made goods from White Industries. He also went with a Sklar titanium seatpost and some polished bits from Paul Component.

Sometimes you don’t ride from home. These totes are the perfect size for making sure that everything you need for riding makes it to the trailhead or wherever you begin your adventure. They are also great for separating dusty clothes after the fact, a quick weekend trip, or grabbing groceries. Once this tote is in your life it will become a fast fixture of your daily cary ware.

With a big birthday on the horizon, David got in touch about a new custom mountain bike that he could take riding near his home in the Santa Monica mountains of California. David has been riding bikes for a while and knew what he wanted. Something that maintained a lot of the cross country efficiency of his current mountain bike, but something that would handle those chunky California downhills with a little more ease.

We went with 27.5 x 2.8 rubber to keep things nimble and cush. The rigid fork is suspension corrected so that David can easily swap it out for a 120-130mm fork when he decides he wants that. Sliding dropouts from Paragon Machine works also makes swapping between single speed and gears a breeze.

As David put it, he wanted a mountain bike to ride for the next 25 years and this is a great example of a versatile bike that can grow and change with you through different gearing, wheel sizes, suspension setups. A bike for the ages and something I am happy to put into the world.

The build was topped off with a killer fade from Spectrum Paint and Powderworks, Sram Eagle 12 speed, White industries cranks, Paul Boxcar stem, and that full bearing kit from Chris King in their new matte mango color option.

It’s a mountain bike, the one you ride day in and day out. Drew get’s the importance of having a mountain bike that is capable and predictable and always there for you from the quick after work cruise to that big 3 week bike packing trip you have planned next summer. When you have a bike that you enjoy all of that riding on you know you have a winner. After retiring his previous mountain bike, which he spent six whole seasons on, this should be Drew’s new ride for a long time to come.

The titanium frame is going to be resilient and comfortable for the riding it will see between Bozeman, Tuscon and even some time in Los Angeles this winter. Drew is a tall guy and the fit on his last bike was less than perfect. Getting him on to something designed for his dimensions feels really good and from his first test ride it sounds like we did really well on that custom fit and sizing. The important numbers here for the curious geometry geeks are 815mm front center, 94mm trail (68* HT), 433mm Rear center and 318mm BB height (sagged).

For the build we went with my go-to “Smart money” build kit which features wheels from Industry Nine, Fox moving-bits with the Step Cast 34 fork and transfer post. Maxxis rubber is the best, Paul Components Boxcar stem, Enve M6 bar, White industries M30 crank and Sram GX Eagle with an X01 Cassette to save some rotational weight. In my opinion this build is right at the intersection of maximum performance and budget-minded builds. As we said with this bike - Predictable, reliable and just what you need.

This bike is going to spend its’ life in Bozeman and I am excited to get out on the trail with it and its owner come spring when the snow is all gone.

This is where Sklar Bikes come from.

Illustration by Nicholas Haig-Arack

Made by Opinel in France, these folding pocket knives are the perfect companion. I use mine for everything from making lunch on the trail to opening boxes in the shop - It never leaves my side. A Paracord loop makes it easy to hang from your pack, hand to a friend or find in deep pockets.

Bill is a tall guy, and I like that with the suspension-corrected ENVE MTB fork, the frame looks proportional. But the size of this bike is one of its’ least notable aspects. Bill was looking for a new everyday bike, something that he could take out a few times a week on tarmac and get lost onto some trails and rougher roads on the weekends. Though pictured with the ENVE M525 wheels and 2.0” Maxxis tires, Bill will run the bike half the time with the ENVE G30’s and a 40c slick. Two setups to really tackle it all.

On top of the custom geometry and large tire accommodation, this bike splits in two for travel. An S&S Coupler splits the down tube. Undo the two seat tube binders, pull out the seat post and the frame is ready to fold up and put into a standard sized box to take advantage of that free checked bag when Bill is flying around the globe for work.

This build is all out. Chris King bearings all around with cranks from White Industries as well as Enve’s new gravel bar, post and fork and stem. Sram Force makes the gears shift. This bike should be great for Bill at home or on the road!

My friend Mal hit me up this winter looking for a frame that she could do a lot of different kinds of riding on. Something that she could race cross on in the Fall but also put in big gravel miles the rest of the year, working her way up to the Dirty Kanza 200 next year. Cool!

Luckily this fits in with a lot of the style bikes I not only build, but ride myself. Albeit I don’t think I will be seeing 200 miles of gravel in a day any time soon. Anyhow, we put together this nice build with some of my favorite components. Some nice light tubing from Columbus is going to keep this ride buttery smooth but real responsive for when it hits the cross course or some of those Seattle ups and downs. The geometry is pretty middle of the road between all-day comfort and aggressive race. We set up the handlebars so that they can get lowered for cross season with room to go up for those really big days if Mal finds herself needing that. Kitted up with 35c tires now, there is good clearance for a 45 or a lot of mud.

The build uses a full Shimano Di2 Kit which is super clean and crisp. Mal is working with Shimano on a “multi-surface” bike project over the next couple of years.

Alex is one of my best riding pals, so building bikes for him is always fun. We do really similar riding here in Bozema - a mix of long logging road climbs, super rough rocky descents, smooth flowy singletrack and everything in between really. Often we ride from town too, so some efficiency is nice. That is why we went with a Ti frame, for that ride livelieness and to save a little weight. The bike is built around 29x2.6” wheels. I love that wheel size. It has a lot of the advantages of a plus bike without the crazy rolling weight and excessive rolling resistance. If there is a happy medium, this is it.

The build on this bike is just what I would run on a bike like this too - great wheels from Industry Nine, the trail 270 is a nice width for this tire. I’ve found the stiffness and durability of these wheels to be really awesome and their pricepoint is sort of unbelieveable for the quality and the fact that they are made in the USA. This is my go-to for an alloy MTB wheelset. We went with other good MUSA parts from White Industries on the cranks and headset, a Paul stem of course, Fox suspension and the Eagle GX Group from SRAM. Killer build.

Anyhow, it has been fun seeing this thing shredding around this summer! I think my next MTB will look a lot like this.

Photos by John Watson

Bikes - What do they mean to you?

Feelings of freedom come to mind, a place to reflect, a way to blow off steam from the daily grind, maybe just a way to pick up groceries or get around town. Take a step back though, and the thing that really stands out to me is community. Like many pastimes, bicycles can be the basis for all sorts or relationships between people and places, and for me I don't think anything has fostered those relationships like the bike.

When I began building frames I was introduced to a whole new network of talented and driven people who I honestly didn't expect. While riding was one of the main things that kept us motivated and excited, our shared enthusiasm for doing our own thing and building our own tribes really sealed the deal. Many of our interactions though, have been limited to conversations under the fluorescent lights of various convention centers across the US. Every year at NAHBS we have the same conversation with these friends - "we should be riding bikes, why are we doing this?". Those shows help our businesses no doubt, and talking tech can be fun sometimes, but do we really need to explain how we welded some part of a frame again? Do we really need to go over some silly new standards and minute differences in frame geometry in a hotel bar after we just talked about it all day? Maybe we can't help ourselves, but I sure don't want to.

Anyhow, I decided to do something about it this year. I sent out an open invitation to some bike industry pals to come check out Bozeman and ride, and much to my surprise many agreed. Thomas from Horse Cycles, whose work I have admired since I first began building, made the big trek out from Brooklyn, NY. A handful of Californians made their way out as well - Cam Falconer the master of Utility, my pal Nicholas who's art you can find on a number of my products as well as the legendary Curtis Inglis of Retrotec bikes. The Squid Squad also joined us, it was so nice to have some folks who come at bikes from a different angle. I love what they are doing and those two can ride. Finally, we had Tony from Breadwinner, I was psyched to ride with him again after last years Grinduro, and Bryan from ENVE, who I order all of my parts from and it was so nice to put a face to a name. Bozeman local Carl Strong joined in as did Erik from Alliance Cycles down in Idaho. Last but not leas, John from The Radavist was there to document it all. Of course I couldn't have pulled this off without some help from my dear friends and neighbors at Alter Cycles.

Folks started rolling in on Friday, and we got to check out Happiest Hour at the shop, a nice warm welcome into the big bike community in our little town. We chatted and caught up and prepared ourselves forfour days of riding the best trails that Bozeman has to offer. We swam in creeks, ate baked goods from the Wild Crumb Bakery across the street and some genuine good times. For me the highlight was the final night of the camp. We got to take everyone out to the weekly Tuesday night shop ride. Bozeman locals came out in record numbers with nearly 50 people at the trailhead. We rode one of my favorite trails - Emerald Lake. The vibes were all-time and the scenery can't be beat. You could feel the energy in the air as we grilled and chilled at the trailhead enjoying the views and friends new and old.

I like being a newcomer to the bike industry, though that badge is fading quickly with Sklar's 5th anniversary close on the horizon. Ignoring the norms that I never learned has allowed me to get to where I am so much quicker and having the tools and skills available in this day in age, that my peers did not have access to when they started, has been invaluable. With those tools, small companies like myself and the folks I invited to this camp are able to make a real difference in the bike world and hopefully the world at large. It really is the small people like us who steer the ship that is the bike industry. Whether it be adapting new technologies in the products we build, the way we talk about what we do, or trying to make the cycling world a more inclusive place. Those are things that start here with us.

So will we all see eachother in a convention center somewhere this year? The answer is yes, almost definitely. Will we comisserate together on how we should be riding? 100%. But at least we can look back on riding and remember what is really important.