Bike Check: Schön MiniMTB
I have to admit that amidst a sea of unique and beautiful builds, this adorable little whip was the first thing to jump out at me. Not only is it a unique-looking arrangement of tubes and parts, but after hopping aboard it's immediately apparent that it's actually a pretty well-sorted machine as well. Maybe not the future of mountain bike technology, but boy is it fun and zippy. Add to the mix the powerful Paul Components Klamper brakes, some real Maxxis tires, a OneUp 210 post, and a SRAM Transmission drivetrain, and it might just be ready to take on some real trails.
Schön MiniMTB Details
• 20" front and rear
• 210mm dropper
• 200mm headset spacer
• UDH dropouts
• Schön Studio Instagram
• 20" front and rear
• 210mm dropper
• 200mm headset spacer
• UDH dropouts
• Schön Studio Instagram
Danielle Schön is a framebuilder based in Squamish, BC, and specializes in custom bikes, repairs, and creative one-off projects like this one. Far from a stock item, this MiniMTB is a testament to her creativity and fabrication skill, as even silly builds require quite a bit of careful craft and planning.
Those long unsupported seatstays might provide something like a soft-tail ride, but I'm not going to make any strong claims there. Really they just look elegant, and give the bike an even more unique profile.
There are a healthy dose of fine details on this build, with even some Canadian currency featured in the fork assembly. Rumor has it the Schön team will be taking laps down Half Nelson on this whip once they're back from the show, so stay tuned on that front.
More photos of the Schön can be found here.
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A shipping yard nestled right between the massive bike/ped bridge and the tram landing. South waterfront bike paths all around. Pretty epic spot for a bike show.
First time I went, it was held in an old industrial steel mill/foundry of some sort, not far from Cascade brewing (also very "on brand")
It was an excellent show, with some incredible builds, and the location really added to the whole spectacle. This was a little before the idea of "hipster" was much of a thing, so I couldnt really tell how ridiculous it looked from the outside.
Still a great show, I suggest everyone checking ti out!
BTW, could someone make a proper Bromptain? I mean a mountain brompton with a proper rear shock, a dropper post AND fat tyres. I designed one but I unfortunately can't manufacture it..
running a bmx riser (to reduce the prodigious spacer stack) would be kinda cool, methinks.
mbaction.com/throwback-thursday-the-topanga-mountain-bike-1980-john_ker
mountainbikemuseum.nl/en/mountainbikes/hanebrink-extreme-terrain-662
Look up Dan Hanebrink
edit: here's a PB article about him: www.pinkbike.com/news/rip-dan-hanebrink-inventor-competitor-and-mountain-bike-pioneer.html
Also yes, there are intentional nods to old school bmx in the design.
...long have they lost sight that we're all just grown children having a blast on the woods on 2 wheeled toys
Keep up the Fun! This is a rad build
Is that fork seriously strong enough for a pothole?
I'm not knocking it. Great job with it. But thinking about that fork failing also scares me more than dirt jumping a ladies huffy coaster brake cruiser bike.
Yes, different, but, it's what this brings to me.
I can see the 'seatstays' folding under a BIG hit, and, extended steer tubes up to the bars like that induces a bit of fear (better some BMX Bars) in me.
I wonder at the gear inches you'd have with that cluster, front chainring and 20" wheels. I think that would need changing for most usage. But you could certainly climb stuff with the inches available.
And in an era where 26" wheels are regarded as too 'twitchy', well, 20" brings that feel to new levels.
Nonetheless, I quite like it, mainly through my remembrance of the Moosegoose. I fitted 20x 1"3/8 wheels to mine, with a 6 spd rear end when I lived in the city, for a fun, 'hammerable' commuter to get around on.
Oh, I'd say quite a few people might be aware of Moulton Bicycles, who've been doing small wheel, suspension bikes for Decades now, but I'm mentioning them for those that Don't know of them.
www.moultonbicycles.co.uk
I do love a trellis frame, being addicted to the Triangle as I am.
www.mtbr.com/threads/fat-bmx.822184
There's nothing wrong with being weird just to be weird. Spending your time and money being weird is a primary reason custom builders tend to not make any money and leave the business once they hit about 30 and finally figure it out, however.
Feel free to email if you have any interest in classes and learning to build something that will make waltworks mad
images.app.goo.gl/BUkLvHkHM8vMTJhS7
At the NORBA weekend at Big Bear in 2005 someone podiumed in super D on one of those.
Gotta figure it's in a preproduction/show-only stage right now as no sane person would ever spec a full wireless group on a custom frame and then go through the trouble of brazing internal routing tubes for cable runs that don't exist. That's like days of extra labor for no reason. Seems like the builder just slapped a build kit on a frame that already existed and called it a day, which is pretty much how most show bikes work, just not quite to this extreme.
Also that’s definitely not how show bikes work and running internal routing is certainly not days of extra work. I planned to build this frame around transmission and went from there, had to run an internal line for brakes anyway so added the shift routing while I was already in there, in case I’d like to ever use this as a travel bike and can run something cabled if desired.
theradavist.com/nahbs-2019-bicycle-pubes-and-dear-susans-pubesmobile-most-comedic-innovation-award
I mean, there's really nothing left to do from there. Peak show bike for sure.
20" wheels could have made sense here if it was a minivelo for travel/public transit purposes (make it a folder with a telescoping post/foldable bars), or you could go more over the top and do an art bike. This is neither, as far as I can tell.