Kent Eriksen Cycles has earned many accolades over the years. And for 2016 Eriksen took home the award for Best Gravel Bike at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Sacarmento, California.
The award-winning bike is the personal ride of Eriksen employee Brad Bingham. Bingham has been in the industry for a number of years, including working under Kent Eriksen when Eriksen was at the helm at Moots.
Bingham’s gravel bike is, of course, titanium, and has a number of unique features that Bingham says “no one else in the building has.”
Kent Eriksen Cycles won Best Gravel Bike with this titanium offering, which features a T47 bottom bracket, flat mount disc brakes and a custom spider to ensure proper chainline and chainstay clearance for the SRAM crankset and road rings. NAHBS 2016. © Cyclocross Magazine
Included in that list of features are custom designed Eriksen 142 x 12 rear dropouts that themselves are stunning and are designed to work with Shimano’s flat mount hydraulic brake calipers. There’s also a custom designed and machined spider for the XX1 crank. It’s a five arm, 110 bcd spider that allows Bingham to run a full road gear range, with his bike currently set up with 52/36 chainrings and an 11-28 cassette.
And there’s the use of the T47 bottom bracket shell and Enduro’s 24mm bottom bracket. The T47 gives Bingham room to run the rear hydraulic brake line through the frame. The hose runs into the top of the down tube through a smaller tube that sits about 3/4 of an inch into the down tube. The entry point is sealed with adhesive coated shrink wrapping to keep water out and the tight fit of the T47 bottom bracket holds the line in place in the frame so that the hose doesn’t rattle in the frame while Bingham is riding.
The rest of the build is top notch, but fairly straightforward. The frame is fitted with an Enve GRD fork held in place by a Chris King headset, as well as an Enve stem and bar, which is wrapped in Brooks tape. The seatpost is a titanium offering from Eriksen and holds a Brooks saddle matching the tape. The remaining portion of the drivetrain consists of Shimano’s Dura Ace Di2 derailleurs and their R785 Di2 levers. Bingham’s bike is set up with Shimano SPD-SL pedals.
You can see a short video interview with Bingham below the specifications.
Specifications
Frame: Kent Eriksen Cycles titanium disc gravel frame
Fork: Enve GRD
Headset: Chris King
Crankset: Custom designed and machined spider paired to SRAM XX1 arms and Praxis chainrings
Bottom bracket: Enduro 24mm for use with T47 bottom bracket shell
Shift/brake levers: Shimano R785 Di2 hydaulic disc
Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura Ace Di2
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura Ace Di2
Brake calipers: Shimano Flat Mount hydraulic
Wheels: Mavic Ksyrium
Tires: Challenge Gravel Grinder Pro
Stem: Enve carbon
Bar: Enve Carbon
Seatpost: Eriksen titanium
Saddle: Brooks
Pedals: Shimano SPD-SL
Pricing: $3,400 usd, base frame price
Availability: 8 – 10 weeks
More info: www.kenteriksen.com
Our appologies to Brad and you for the slight focus issues in the video. With reporting from Clifford Lee.
