Building Your Dream Bike

Lately, people have been asking me a lot of questions about custom bikes. I don’t have a custom bike so I can’t tell you a whole lot about it, but I did a little  research and here’s what I came up with.

My friend who lives up in Minneapolis told me she met Erik Noren, custom bike builder, at a White Elephant Party. She ended up with the White Elephant gift that he brought — erotic dice and a book that reviewed every porno movie ever made. It turns out that Erik Noren is more than an interesting party guest. He’s a custom bike builder who is, well, pretty fucking good at what he does. He might be the only framebuilder who will utter the phrase “proprietary water cut drops.”

Check out this video to get an idea of what this dude is all about.

Peacock Groove – Erik Noren, the world’s most misunderstood bike builder from Bill Palladino on Vimeo.

Says Mr. Noren, “Some people make bikes just for show. I make bikes that show.”

Pretty cool, huh?

Finding the builder to make you a custom bike is like finding…I don’t know. A hair stylist who gets that you want to rock a unique look. Or a therapist who will modify their approach to suit your needs and not their idea of what works best. If you want a custom bike, you’ll have to look around, do your research, find the right person.

If you want to build a bike — ie be Erik Noren — you’ll need to develop relationships with water jet cutters and custom steel fabricators. You’ll also need a vision and a solid manifesto for what you think biking should be.