We didn't necessarily save the best bikes for this final gallery, but it does happen to be chock-full of special builds. From an aero kids bike and custom carbon speed machines to a race-winning singlespeed MTB and perhaps the most important gravel bike ever made, this grouping has all of the flavors and is a must-scroll.
To get caught up with our previous Made reporting, check in with Part One, Two, and Three galleries, and also have a look at two unreleased bikes from Moots.
English Cycles Aero All-road
This customer asked for an aero all-road build, so we have a frame with an integrated ovalized seatmast and clearance for 40 mm tires (or 35s with fenders). The hoses are hidden via a pre-production headset and stem from Cane Creek.
This upcoming HCR system is intended to simplify fit adjustments, with the hoses not passing through the stem, but rather being tucked into a channel underneath it. This means that the stem can be swapped out for a different length without disturbing the hoses, and it is ease to move spacers above/below. Also nice that the spacers are metal, rather than the common use of plastic for these parts.
The bike is fitted with the new Campagnolo Super Record 2x13 wireless group. My first time installing it – I am impressed with what I have seen so far and the shifting in the stand. I’ll be curious to ride it if I can get a group on my own bike at some point. -Rob English
University of Arkansas
The School of Art at the University of Arkansas is offering framebuilding classes, and Chase Young was at MADE to promote the courses. I couldn’t help but smile seeing his personal build of a new category – aero kid!
Funnily enough, this little singlespeed takes cues from the English Cycles TT Mk3, with aero tubing and a similar seatstay bridge. Small bikes are no less work than large ones, and the attention to detail on this mini-aero-machine is nicely done. -RE
Cunningham CCPROTO
A welcome addition to the MADE show this year was a display of bikes brought up from the Marin Museum of Bicycling. I was immediately drawn to this original Cunningham, built by Charlie Cunningham in 1979. Designed and built as a mountain bike 46 years ago, it could readily pass as a modern gravel bike – Cunningham was way ahead of bicycle technology, and had the skills to not only build the frame in a material that was very unusual for bicycles at the time (aluminium), but to fabricate many of the components too.
The sloping top tube layout was perhaps the first instance of this style; no one else could do it, as seat posts were all very short. However, Cunningham was willing to create his own seat post to fit the oversize seat tube, and thus could decide on the length. The seat post uses a no-weld design, with a simple single bolt secured into the pin through the post.
It is hard to come up with a genuinely new idea for bicycles. Quite a few of the things I have thought up I later discovered that Cunningham did it already – such as with the brakes on this bike, that are a predecessor to the successful roller-cam brake. Here, the actuation is with a scissor link, which is similar to how I did the rear brake on my first time-trial bike. These center-pull brakes provide plenty of power with ample tire clearance, and are secured to the frame with rivets and glue, rather than braze-ons (or would be weld-ons for aluminum). This eliminates the need to add heat and also adds some reinforcement.
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The bars have a flared drop and the levers are turned in – sound familiar? Then, with the drivetrain, there is a wide-ratio 5-speed freewheel, with a single chainring up front (sitting close to the chainstay to maximise tire clearance), augmented by an auxiliary spring on the derailleur and a two-piece chain retention system for the chainring.
Then there are the other features, such as inline cable adjusters, equally spaced (126 mm) front and rear dropouts, a segmented steel fork, oil ports on the brake cable, and removable levers for the quick-release skewers. Oh, and the seat post is quick-release because: dropper!
Cunningham only produced 178 bikes, but fortunately his component designs were made a lot more widespread through his work as one of the founders of WTB in 1992. -RE
Thomson road bike
Unveiled at Made for the first time, Thomson is relaunching some of its bike models, including this steel road platform. Made near the brand's hometown of Macon, GA, by expert builder Nate Zukas of Zukas Cycles, the frames are comprised of Columbus Zona triple-butted steel tubing.
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