Looking at the frames [**Neko Mulally**](https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/news/Neko-Mulally-Will-Race-Handmade-Alloy-DH-Frames-by-Frank-the-Welder,1407) is racing this year and just thinking that anyone who can afford a premium production carbon frame could be pedaling a custom FTW rig. Not claiming the custom FTW rides better, and it probably weighs more, but just the mountain bike history in every frame... wow.
There's so much neat custom and small-batch stuff coming out it's hard to keep track of it all. A couple of my favourite Canadian-content entries this year are the Kruch "[**Shrimpalicious**](https://www.kruchexperience.com/)" and Daambuilt put together this sweet [**flex-stay beast**](https://www.daambuilt.com/mountain-bike-full-suspension) that caught my eye as well. So much interesting limited batch stuff going on.
And I know there's a lot more suspension engineering being done by the big brands (at least in theory) but for most riders, the difference between a faux-bar and a 6-Bar system on the trail probably doesn't matter - especially after a few months of riding sans service.
But all that said, even off-the-shelf frames with custom builds, maxed suspension, unique colour combinations, and a personal parts selection are interesting compared to the boring generic builds on a lot of boutique bikes.
Photos of those rigs I mentioned...
Kruch:
Daambuilt:
July 11, 2022, 12:32 a.m. - Andrew Major
Looking at the frames [**Neko Mulally**](https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/news/Neko-Mulally-Will-Race-Handmade-Alloy-DH-Frames-by-Frank-the-Welder,1407) is racing this year and just thinking that anyone who can afford a premium production carbon frame could be pedaling a custom FTW rig. Not claiming the custom FTW rides better, and it probably weighs more, but just the mountain bike history in every frame... wow. There's so much neat custom and small-batch stuff coming out it's hard to keep track of it all. A couple of my favourite Canadian-content entries this year are the Kruch "[**Shrimpalicious**](https://www.kruchexperience.com/)" and Daambuilt put together this sweet [**flex-stay beast**](https://www.daambuilt.com/mountain-bike-full-suspension) that caught my eye as well. So much interesting limited batch stuff going on. And I know there's a lot more suspension engineering being done by the big brands (at least in theory) but for most riders, the difference between a faux-bar and a 6-Bar system on the trail probably doesn't matter - especially after a few months of riding sans service. But all that said, even off-the-shelf frames with custom builds, maxed suspension, unique colour combinations, and a personal parts selection are interesting compared to the boring generic builds on a lot of boutique bikes. Photos of those rigs I mentioned... Kruch:  Daambuilt: 