Performance Fit Designer Neil has ideas he just can’t let go of, and he always has a project going, so none of us was too surprised when he started pushing around the concept for a new monster CX bike based around our Expat S frame set. We had done one for our old friend Chipps Chippendale at Singletrack magazine, so that build was fresh in mind.
We were on our regular Friday shop ride, mountain bikes on local trails, and that ride always presents the challenge of breaking off at the end and getting to work on time, or at least on-time-ish. So Neil got to thinking of good solutions, and this is the result.
The 29-inch wheels allow him to crush it on the trail. The on-board bag takes care of commuter essentials. The disc brakes make it an all-weather beast. It rolls fast across town with a stiff, compact geometry and a rigid steel fork.
The orange paint with red and black accents is an homage to the Bridgestone XO-1 Neil grew up coveting, and we did a custom decal (see left) that echoes the famous Bridgestone decal from that great builder’s hey-day. If you’re going to nerd-out, go all the way, right?
The XO-1 was originally sort of the slow-roller in the Bridgestone line-up. It came with a moustache bar and an upright riding position. It’s a short step from there to the wide drop bar associated with modern monster cx set ups. The disc brakes and fat tires just complete the re-think of this classic bike.
We saw our friends from River City Bicycles at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, and they asked what weird, wacky stuff we were tooling on in our spare time. Well here it is guys, a throw-back Monster CX commuter.