Café Racer

Meet the Café Racer! Named that since the frame is designed in England and all the Hope components are made in England.

Build a hardtail for yourself, put on a t-shirt, leave the Camelback and cell at home and have fun on a bike again! These things are a blast!

I work at a bike shop and wanted a bike that stands out. A One-off bike. I built it for places like Raystown Lake, Lackawanna State Park and Kingdom Trails that are fast and flowy, but can also be ridden TO the trails.

I initially wanted to just throw together a hardtail out of old stuff laying around. But when the frame arrived, I knew I couldn't just throw old stuff on it.

I built this for reliably, not light weight. I wanted a bike that would take a beating and not break. Hit some small drops and ride away. I used the Hadley hub, Spank rims, Hope cranks and stem and Pike for those reasons. I love my Hope V4 brakes on my other 2 bikes, so I figured I'd put them on here too. The pistons were changed from black to orange just because I could.

I build my own wheels and take pride in that. They're built using a Hadley rear hub for their strength, reliability and quick engagement. I used a Hope Pro4 front hub. Sapim Leader (14g) spokes with purple on the drive side and black on the disc.

The bike rides better than I hoped and brought back that ride I've been missing for 8 years! I thought it would be my back up bike, but I've been using it more than my Spartan lately. Hardtails in general are a blast! But with the extra strength and the 150mm fork I'm not holding back on much.