Bespoked was as soon as once more in Bitter’s hometown of Dresden, Germany, a couple of weeks again. And regardless that Bitter’s principally metal bikes are already made by hand regionally, they determined to actually pull out the stops for the world’s largest handmade bike present. Just a few distinctive builds and retro MTB inspiration led to some cool {custom} bikes. But it surely was actually this mixture of carbon and metal street bike that stole the Bitter present.
Bitter Carbon Crush prototype metal & carbon street bike
Off-road bikes are certainly Bitter’s coronary heart, however with the success of their latest Area Cake street bike, they determined to place some extra R&D onto the street. The ensuing venture is that this Carbon Crush, a prototype metal and thermoplastic carbon street bike.
The spark of an thought was to create a extra sustainable efficiency street bike. The metal used to construct fashionable efficiency bikes already has excessive recycled materials content material. However not a lot for many carbon in bikes. So, as a substitute of bonding in standard thermoset resin-bound carbon tubes, Bitter labored with a neighborhood Dresden firm manufacturing carbon-reinforced composite tubing with excessive recycled carbon fiber content material, certain collectively in a thermoplastic matrix.
The ensuing tubes could also be incrementally heavier and never fairly as stiff because the highest-mod thermoset epoxy resin carbon tubes. However they’re totally recyclable, already embody recycled content material, and are each extra impact-resistant and harder than standard carbon.
Prototype sustainable carbon + metal development
The Carbon Crush began with the identical butted 4130 development of their Area Cake. It then had its seat tube actually reduce out, and the massive headtube window manually machined out of the already-welded body.
The thermoplastic carbon tubes had been made simply across the nook from Bitter’s workshop, the place all the pieces was bonded collectively in-house. Bitter is proud to say that each little bit of the method was engineered and manufactured in Dresden, giving a fast shoutout to ActoFive (additionally simply up the road in the identical industrial neighborhood) for his or her experience and recommendation on bonding collectively bike frames.
Bitter made the prototype Carbon Crush simply in time for the present – saying the paint and adhesives may not have been totally dry after they rolled it out to indicate off. However whereas it began as a proof of idea, and continues to be very a lot ‘in growth’, Bitter says it’s a “severe step towards smarter, cleaner” bike constructing that they may proceed to refine for manufacturing.
Bitter Get together Dome metal hardtail impressed by ‘96 Kona Lava Dome
Now for some eye sweet. This particular Bitter Get together Dome metal present bike takes its apparent inspiration from the old fashioned cool Kona Lava Dome. The Get together Dome is de facto simply Bitter’s normal Pasta Get together do-it-all bikepacking-ready metal mountain bike hardtail with a recent retro makeover.
The Lava Dome itself would possibly nonetheless be a recent bike from Kona, however like Bitter proprietor Christoph Süße, once I hear that title, I’m transported again to a Nineties period mountain bike.
Bitter gave their Get together Dome a reasonably candy construct to match its killer appears to be like. The restricted version silver SRAM 1987 Eagle Transmission looks as if an ideal match. Then, add in some shiny silver Hope brakes & headset, and a custom-painted Manitou fork for type, plus the unusual silver dropper submit from PNW to high all of it off.
However the actual spotlight of this construct is Bitter’s over-the-top one-off metal Foolseye crankset. Created as a ‘tribute’ to the wild experimental early days of 90s mountain bikes, Bitter wished to create a contemporary model of the traditional Bullseye cranks.
So, Bitter bent up a bunch of metal plate, machined-in their new title, welded all of it collectively, and did a bunch of grinding to easy all of it out. Fellow Saxony Biking fabricator Cyber Cycles, who makes their very own tubular metal crankset, helped out with the CNC-machined built-in 24mm spindle & spline interface. Plus, they get a 3-bolt SRAM chainring mount.
Bitter admits that the Foolseye cranks are “a bit on the heavy aspect” at a claimed 722g earlier than you add a chainring. However they’re open to constructing extra of them, or possibly even refining them, if there may be curiosity.
Chime in on Bitter’s Instagram if you wish to encourage their silly endeavors.
Bitter Metal P.P. fashionable hardtail impressed by 90s Yeti Easton A.R.C.
The Bitter P.P. is one other fashionable metal hardtail impressed by 90s mountain bikes, this time in a collaboration with Hunt wheels to rejoice their latest tenth anniversary.
Identical to Yeti bragged in massive letters on its downtube of the butted & tapered Easton aluminum tubes that made up its 1992 Alloy Racing Composite body – Easton Yeti A.R.C. Bitter reproduced the identical type for its retro-modern hardtail – possibly made funnier for all of us immature juvenile minds out right here studying the title P.P.
So the butted 4130 chromoly Pasta Get together turns into Metal Bitter P.P. in the identical turquoise and grey.
It will get a brand new Shimano XTR Di2 groupset and, in fact, some candy carbon Hunt Confirmed XC mountain bike wheels wrapped in Terravail tanwall tires. They even managed to construct it up with the identical purple anodized highlights for the seatpost and bar ends, and grippy rubber brake lever covers. #chefskiss
Saxony Bike: a Bitter Purple Haze with regionally made parts
To complete issues off, dubbed ‘The Saxony Bike,‘ this practice spec’d Bitter Purple Haze is a venture of the Biking Saxony collective of motorbike trade corporations based mostly within the area round the place Bespoked is held in Dresden, Germany. There’s a surprisingly giant variety of biking corporations, each small & giant, within the area, many owned by younger artistic entrepreneurs
The true spotlight of this bike for me, although, was that Timba watermelon body bag. The Dresden {custom} bikepacking bag maker’s specialty is commonly making a complete set of baggage with matching colours & stripes that line up from one bag to the subsequent. However this easy single purple bag with seeds simply appears to be like excellent towards the rind-green of the body.
I’d nonetheless name this dropbar journey gravel bike an virtually mountain bike, if solely on account of the large for gravel 29×2.25″ Schwalbe Rick XC MTB tires.
Along with the locally-welded and painted Bitter. There’s additionally the regionally made ActoFive crankset, and tremendous fast-engaging Qvist hubs, which Qvist laces to carbon rims simply exterior of Dresden.
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