We're winding down our 2016 NAHBS coverage, but have saved some of what we think is the best stuff for last. Hopefully you are enjoying our extended, deeper coverage of some of the eye candy we saw in Sacramento.
Last, but certainly not least, is a look at Mosaic Bespoke Bicycles. Mosaic's growing presence is a family-fueled affair, with Barcheck still welding each frame, his brother Jack cutting tubes and doing prep work and his wife Liz is handling social media and working as an active product tester. The company has come a long way from just a few years ago when in 2013 it won the NAHBS Best Cyclocross Bike award.
Mosaic Bespoke Bicycles' founder Aaron Barcheck cut his teeth at Dean, and now has built his own company to be one of the premier titanium builders. NAHBS 2016. © Cyclocross Magazine
We've covered Mosaic's work previously of course. Not just their award from the 2013 show, but they were part of our Considering Custom series, we reviewed their cyclocross bike in Issue 20 and we caught up with Barcheck at NAHBS last year.
The wheels are still turning furiously at Mosaic, with the company embracing some of the new frame building options and "standards," including flat mount disc brake caliper mounts and the T47 threaded bottom bracket shell. Of course, the craftsmanship that caught the show's judges' attention back in 2013, a skill that Barcheck honed at Dean Bikes, is still there and he has continued to perfect it.
Winner of best cyclocross bike in 2013 at NAHBS, the XT1 has evolved and still captures plenty of NAHBS attention. Mosaic Bespoke Bicycles. NAHBS 2016. © Cyclocross Magazine
Mosaic displayed Barcheck's person cyclocross bike, the company's XT1 titanium cyclocross model in Team Small Batch livery, Barchek's squad, which he helped found. Barcheck's bike was built with a Shimano Di2 1x drivetrain with a mix of Dura Ace and XTR components. Cables and wires were routed internally and the bike featured double-butted tubes to lower the weight and raise the ride quality.
They also showed off a GS1 steel gravel bike. Mosaic's gravel philosophy tends to put its gravel bikes as a mash-up of road and cyclocross bike geometries, as opposed to a stretched-out, laid-back touring machine. While its cyclocross bikes could now be classified as traditional cyclocross bikes, with a tad-high bottom bracket (around 6cm drop) and tire clearance built round 33-35c tires, the Mosaic gravel bike sports shorter chainstays and a lower bottom bracket. But since everything is custom, if you desire bigger tire clearance and a lower bottom bracket for a more do-it-all machine, you just need to ask.
You can find a Mosaic dealer or contact them directly to find out current pricing and lead times, although a double butted, Ti frame with electronic drivetrain wire ports, internal hydraulic line routing, a 44mm head tube and a T47 bottom bracket shell all built with custom geometry like Barcheck's will run you $5,600 USD.
More info: www.mosaiccycles.com
Barcheck races plenty of cyclocross, flying the colors of the Small Batch team he helped start. Mosaic Bespoke Bicycles. NAHBS 2016. © Cyclocross Magazine
