This year, Toronto-based specialty shop Blacksmith Cycle upped their presence at NAHBS by bringing three of their clients along to their booth. Not only are they one of the few shops in North America that actually stock a wide range of extremely high end brands, but they crank out the custom jobs for customers throughout the U.S. and Canada. If you’re ever passing through Toronto, look ’em up. While they represent quite a few other builders present at NAHBS, too, their booth featured recent works from Cherubim, Deanima and Low Cycles.
Cherubim has always brought showstoppers, and this year’s concept build is called Airline.
The idea is simple: Showcase what they can do to turn steel into something much more than a round tube, double triangle frame. The shaping is simply incredible, and it’s designed around modern components like the new ENVE aero carbon stem, Zipp aero handlebars…
…and the new 1×12 SRAM Red AXS group.
The flat mount brakes get their own little shelf – a much more elegant solution than using a spacer to make up the gap created by a dropped chainstay.
Their entry into the Campagnolo build contest was a stainless steel road bike with much more traditional shapes…which is the bread and butter of what they build for customers.
Lugged and brazed frames make up the bulk of their work, and despite what their concept bikes might suggest, they do start at fairly reasonable prices.
A full custom steel disc brake road frameset starts around $2,450, plus paint. Like everything at NAHBS, it can go way, way up from there. Head over to Cherubim.jp for more.
Deanima modernizes the classic steel road bike
Last year we saw the new carbon gravel bike from Deanima, the brand from the other Pegoretti brother, Gianni. This year, they brought out two new steel bikes: The all-new O.Q.O.C. shown above, and a disc brake version of the DeFer. The O.Q.O.C. is a 1,350g steel frame that’s all about going forward fast. It’s classic in every sense, from tube sizes and selection, to the standards it’s using. If you’ve been wanting to keep it classic but update your frame, pay attention.
Built with TIG welded Deda Zero steel tubes, it gets a standard BSA bottom bracket with external routing for everything.
Dropouts are stainless steel, and the only real nod toward modernity is the full carbon fork. Well, that and compatibility with all modern 11- and 12-speed road groups…just not the disc brake versions.
The claimed weight is for a size 56, unpainted, which puts it among the lightest steel frames on the market…and close to titanium in many cases.
The DeFer is now offered in a disc brake version, check out last year’s coverage to see what makes this steel frame so special.
Another highlight of Deanima’s output is their paint, all done in house by Gianni. Each one is unique when you go custom, and here are just a few examples…
See more and get pricing and delivery times at Deanima.it.
Low Cycles finally finishes their gravel bike
The Low MKiii Gravel Road is a project he’s been working on for almost 3 years, and it’s morphed from a sort-of cyclocross geometry into a more modern, open road gravel bike. The category has settled on lower, more road bike like bottom bracket heights, and more tire clearance, so that’s where this one landed.
It’s designed around 700×42 or 650Bx48 tires.
The frame can run 1x or 2x, and this model gets a normal oval chainstay to maximize tire clearance, as opposed to the flattened stays of the MKii disc road bike. But he made the seatstays a little thinner and flatter to add back some compliance.
His welding skills keep getting better…he says the finished weld is about 90% as smooth as what you see on the finished product, requiring only a little filing to make them just about disappear.
Frame weights are around 1350g, and the powder coat adds about 25-30 grams. They offer even sizes, plus “odd” sizes that keep the same reach but with a slightly taller head tube. They can do custom, but mostly do set sizing.
All of his models are constantly evolving. Downtubes on all the bikes are getting more shaped, with a bit of ovalization at the head tube.
These bikes would be about $9,200, completes start at $5,000 with Ultegra. Disc brake frames start at $2,599. Check ’em out at LowBicycles.com.
