Bikes We Ride: Loren's Custom Olivetti Dropkicker
This bike is the culmination of a year and a half of life-changes, company purchases, relocations, industry shortages, family sicknesses, friend-makings, shattered-eblowings, bet-takings, race-bailings and trail railings. It started as a collaboration among industry friends to be a show-bike for a handbuilt show that never happened. We were building it for an unknown customer to be found at a later date, and somehow, that turned out to be me. The project thus took on a personal nature as myself and the builder, Peter Olivetti worked out the details. Pete’s a damn fine bikebuilder and even better person. Now, also a personal friend.
Modeled after Olivetti’s Dropkicker model, this is a hardtail mtb designed to be ridden in drop bar or flat bar mode. It uses AXS components and is equipped with an extra brake set so all it takes to swap is loosening a few bolts, cutting a few zip-ties, throwing on another handlebar and re-sorting the mtb brakes. The unused bar hangs with brakes attached, waiting for its time to play. A 120 suspension fork brings the headtube angle out a degree and the bottom bracket up a touch, both perfect for moving from “bikepack adventure” to “xc trail ripper.” Sliding dropouts allow for geometry tweaks and give the option of running single speed. The bike is shown here in geared dropbar adventure mode.
Key Build Specs:
- Custom Obike Co Steel frame. Curated tube thicknesses to balance ride quality, strength and weight (mission accomplished).
- Custom built Serpentine Carbon/Project 321 wheelset.
- Sram AXS Red shifters and brakes.
- Sram AXS GX Rear Mech and crankset, XO cassette
- Whiskey Parts suspension corrected rigid carbon fork.
- Paul Engineering Boxcar Stem
- Thompson Elite Seatpost
- Wolftooth headset, seatpost collar, bottle cages, ellypitical chainring, supple bar tape, alloy bar plugs.
- Sage Titanium Saddle
- Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge Tires
