Bike Check: Kilian Reil’s Custom Trail Bike – Steel Frame, Gearbox & A Coil Shock

Kilian Reil has spent a lot of the European Bike Problem photographing different builders’ bikes, however now it is his flip to step in entrance of the lens and exhibit his personal creation. Kilian hasn’t constructed his personal bike, however he is labored in partnership with Undertaking 12 Cycleworks, a small Dutch builder, to create a steel-framed, gearbox full suspension bike that, as you’d anticipate, has elements from European manufacturers from head to tail.

Undertaking 12 was began by Michiel Burgerhout who, after greater than 10 years as an architect, determined to comply with his ardour and transfer into body fabrication. He builds highway, mountain and gravel bikes and makes use of a mix of water-cut components, CNC, and silver and brass solder to convey his creations to life with a give attention to bikes which might be as good to take a look at as they’re to journey.

Burgerhout affords just about infinite customisation with the body he’s commissioned to construct, his solely restriction on this body is that the seat tube angle should sit between 75 and 77 levels. Reil specified the wheelsize, geometry, and journey of the body and loosely based mostly it on a Santa Cruz Tallboy, as he was searching for a motorcycle that was snug on lengthy excursions and multi-day occasions just like the Swiss Epic. The construct took Michiel a month and a half to finish and is the thirty first bike his model has produced. The complete geometry sheet might be discovered beneath:

Whereas a metal body might not be the primary materials you’d consider for a long-distance journey, Kilian has drawn on his expertise touring by means of Siberia and Central Asia when speccing his dream construct. Regardless of the various miles he’s anticipating to rack up on this bike, reliability and sturdiness have been extra essential than gram pinching. The result’s a 132mm journey body with aluminum wheels, a coil shock and a Pinion gearbox but in addition a Berk carbon saddle, Beast carbon bars and Tune hubs.

The intricate shock mounting and linkage is a murals

You do need to work with a twist shifter, however a single cog on the rear wheel dramatically reduces the unsprung weight.

The pink brake adapter is a neat flourish.