AMERICA’S TOP BIKE BUILDERS

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Zanconato Custom Cycles

Builder: Mike Zanconato
Age: 34
Location: Sutton, MA
Number of frames per year: 60
Styles offered: Road, cyclo-cross
Materials: Steel
Price: $2,900 and up
Philosophy: “Cleanliness, simplicity, fit. I like simple designs that just work. I don’t like fru-fru.”
Known for: Impeccable craftsmanship coupled with workaday utility. If there’s an heir apparent to Sachs, it’s Mike Zanconato (zanconato.com).

 

Strong Frames

Builder: Carl Strong
Age: 46
Location: Bozeman, MT
Number of frames per year: 90
Styles offered: Road, mountain, cyclo-cross 
Materials: Steel, titanium, carbon fiber 
Price: $1,650 and up
Philosophy: “If it ain’t necessary, don’t do it.”  
Known for: Mastery of multiple frame materials. Strong is a “materials geek,” as comfortable with steel as he is with carbon fiber (strongframes.com).

 

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Black Cat Bicycles

Builder: Todd Ingermanson
Age: 36
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Number of frames per year: 15–40 
Styles offered: Road, mountain, cyclo-cross 
Materials: Steel
Price: $1,700 and up 
Philosophy: “I focus on making the bikes ride correctly, but it’s also important to me to add creative details, to have a pleasing aesthetic.” 
Known for: The “swinger” dropout, which allows simple chain-tension adjustments (blackcatbicycles.com).

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Vanilla Bicycles

Builder: Sacha White
Age: 34
Location: Portland, OR
Number of frames per year: 35
Styles offered: Road, cyclo-cross, touring, track, commuter
Materials: Steel
Price: $3,000 and up
Philosophy: “To create a marriage of beauty and function.”
Known for: Bikes that inspire an emotional response. His frames are coveted by bike geeks (he’s one of the few builders Sachs openly praises) and the uninitiated (vanillabicycles.com).

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This article originally appeared in the June 2011 issue of Men’s Journal.

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