At the MADE custom bike and frame building show, there were a lot of 32” wheels, drop bars, rigid builds, and single-speed offerings. While these were all truly spectacular bikes, they’re generally not the hardtails we’re looking to hit the trails on day in and day out. Still, we managed to find several US-made hardtails that are designed to shred.
Bender Bicycle Co.
The Teravail booth featured a steel trail hardtail from Will Bender and Bender Bicycle Co. Many of the Bender Hardtail’s components were from Teravail — dropper post, bars, stem, tires, and wheels. It features geometry meant to make long pedals more comfortable, with a 66° head tube angle, 74.5° seat tube angle, moderate reaches (480mm on size L), and 430mm chainstays across the board.
NFZ hardtail
Spotting Joel Armstrong’s NFZ hardtail took me back to the “good old days” — the early 2000s, that is. These were the days when “freeride” didn’t necessarily mean full suspension, and Armstrong is keeping that trend alive with his 4130 chromolly steel hardtails. Featuring a 180mm fork and aggressive geometry (63° HTA, 80° STA, 465mm reach, 1,272mm wheelbase), Armstrong said he designs and builds the frames with his riding style in mind: steep climbs and rowdy descents.
Fat Chance
I kept missing the folks at the Fat Chance booth. They had a couple of bikes built up, most notably a titanium Yo Eddy hardtail that was ready to hit the trails. Is titanium not your thing? No worries, they had the original steel Yo Eddy frame as eye candy, too.
Darwin Designs DV/ZN
Darwin Designs, a small titanium framebuilder out of Anchorage, Alaska, had a bike on display at the Industry Nine booth. The DV/ZN was spectacularly anodized with matching anodized i9 components (stem and hubs, among other smaller bits). It is built with titanium tubes secured in 3D-printed titanium lugs and can be set up with multiple wheel sizes: 27.5”, 29”, or 32”. Riders have the option of choosing from matching or mixed-wheel sizes. Despite the potential of running a 32” wheel, the DV/ZN at the i9 booth was set up with a more traditional 29/27.5 mixed-wheel sizing.
The DV/ZN crosses a pretty broad spectrum and can be set up more XC-focused or more all-mountain, with fork travel ranging from 130mm to 160mm. Depending on preference, the headtube angle will range from 64 ° to 68 °, and the seat tube angle from 73 ° to 76 °. Potential customers will work with Darwin to dial in all the geometry and sizing.
Hammond Made hardtails
Channing Hammond had two different hardtails on display at MADE. The All Day is designed as an everyday trail bike, while the Weekender is more of an adventure bike fitted with customizable racks. Read more about Santa Barbara-based Hammond Made here.
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