Rides: March Mosaic'ness
As originally seen on The Radavist, here is the Life Is A Beautiful Detail style in-depth story to the building of two beautiful NCAA March Madness Mosaics.
the backstory
Every good project needs a few basic ingredients to get rolling..
- The right environment
- The right creative influences
- The right people
Environment: It all started at the 2014 North American Hand built Bike Show (NAHBS). This is the premier custom built bike show and each year it showcases the best of the most brilliant builders from around the world. The level of stoke at the show is always at an all-time high. Making it the perfect environment for kickstarting new projects. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the NAHBS Instagram feed.
Influence: Timing of the 2014 NAHBS show happened to coincide with the start of the NCAA March Madness tournament. If you’re a college ball fan you can imagine how that may be a strong influence to what’s occupying your mind at the time.
People: The most important part of any project is the right people. Mike Yakubowicz from Blacksmith Cycle attends NAHBS every year, but 2014 was different. The eastern seaboard locale of Charlotte, North Carolina meant that it was within driving distance and much easier for friends to join the trip. Paul K from Blacksmith and friend Eryn S who are two close friends and college basketball fanatics, both made the trip down to NAHBS with Mike.
All the right pieces were in place but something needed to spark the project. Here’s how that happened. Over dinner and drinks in Charlotte, Mike, Paul, and Eryn were talking about the soon to be starting March Madness tournament and it organically transitioned to how much fun it would be to build custom bikes in homage to their favorite teams. But there was one person missing from the team… the frame builder. There was really only one choice.
the builder: mosaic bespoke bicycles
Founded by Aaron Barcheck and based in Boulder Colorado, Mosaic is in the business of turning dreams in the reality. With a frame building pedigree starting with titanium at Dean Titanium Bicycles, Aaron has built out a family of models that range from road, to cyclocross, and into mountain bikes. Now working with both steel and titanium, the crew at Mosaic employ their four-phase process (tailor, draft, craft, compose) to move from conception to delivery while ensuring they deliver on the promise of a bespoke bicycle with a singular personality and beauty.
the frameset
Chosen for its road smoothing ride characteristics, the Mosaic RS-2 is a custom geometry road frame built with size specific steel True Temper OX Platinum Tubesets. It comes standard with a modern 1 1/8” headtube and the customers choice of two-tone paint. Of course they are handcrafted in Boulder, Colorado just like the paint job says.
the designer: blacksmith cycle
Blacksmith Cycle is Canada's premier custom road bike shop, working with many of the top builders in the industry - Argonaut, Parlee, No. 22 and more. And while the RS-2 is Mosaic's most modest bike, Blacksmith Cycle happens to build more RS-2's than any other dealer in North America, a testament to the shop's focus on ride quality and craftsmanship over bells and whistles.
the builds
Eryn’s Syracuse University Orangemen
- Brand: Mosaic
- Model: RS-2
- Frame Size: Custom (~57cm)
- Final Weight: 17lbs
- Fork: Enve road 2.0
- Headset: Chris King NoThreadset
- Seatpost: 3T Stylus 25 LTD
- Seatpost clamp: Thompson
- Saddle: Fabric Scoop Shallow Race
- Stem: 3T ARX Team Stealth (120mm)
- Bar: 3T Tournova Team Stealth
- Bartape: Fizik 2mm Soft Touch
- Bottle cages: Arundel Mandible (white out)
- Brakes: Campagnolo Chorus
- Front derailleur: Campagnolo Chorus
- Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Chorus
- Crankset: Campagnolo Super Record 11 172.5
- Bottom Bracket: Campagnolo Ultra Torque
- Chainrings: Campagnolo Super Record
- Chain: Campagnolo Chorus
- Shifters: Campagnolo Chorus 11
- Cassette: Campagnolo Chorus 12-25
- Wheelset: Xentis XBL 4.2
- Tires: Continental Grand Prix 4000
- Pedals: Look Keo 2 max
Paul’s University of Michigan
- Brand: Mosaic
- Model: RS-2
- Frame size: Custom (~54cm)
- Final Weight: 15.14lbs
- Fork: Enve 2.0
- Headset: Chris King NoThreadset
- Seatpost clamp: Thompson
- Seatpost: Fizik Cyrano 00
- Saddle: Fizik Aliante R1
- Stem: Fizik Cyrano R1
- Bar: Fizik Cyrano R3 bull 40cm
- Bartape: Fizik 3mm Tacky Performance
- Bottle cages: Arundel Mandible (black uni weave - glossy)
- Cables: Campagnolo
- Brakes: Campagnolo Super Record with Tune Carbon Brake Shoes
- Front derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record
- Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record
- Crankset: Campagnolo Super Record 52/36
- Bottom Bracket: Campagnolo UltraTorque
- Chainrings: Campagnolo Super Record
- Chain: Campagnolo Super Record
- Shifters: Campagnolo Super Record
- Cassette: Campagnolo Super Record 12-25
- Wheels: Lightweight Gipfelsturm Schwarz Tubular
- Tires: Continental Attack/Force Pedals:
- Look Keo blade 2
“Special thanks to Crestwood Prep and ZeroThree Studio in Toronto for their location and equipment support on this post. Thanks to Blacksmith Cycle, Mosaic Bespoke Bicycles and The Radavist for bringing it to life.”
