At Sea Otter 2015, Squid Bikes / Beer Components enjoyed success getting onto the extended podium, with Emily Kachorek in the Women's Elite Race and Eric Nelson in the Singlespeed Race both finding fifth place.
Squid Bikes is a company still in its infancy, rolling their first frames out last summer to get ready for the cyclocross season ahead. The rider-owned company, based out of Sacramento, sports plenty of familiar American faces, including Anthony Clark and Kachorek. The bikes come in six different stock sizes, with models for either cantilever or disc brakes, and all are built from 6000 series aluminum.
Frame sets with a ENVE Carbon CX fork and Chris King Headset start at $1,600, with full builds also availble. One of the models that best captures their spirit is the well-named Rattlecan, which is sold as a naked frame without clearcoat and allows the customer to paint it up as they see fit.
Today we look at Eric Nelson's singlespeed machine. He is a Southern California racer who rides for Rock Lobster this year, but rides a team bike from the Squid Bikes / Beer Components.
In order to get the proper chain tension for a singlespeed, the Squid bike features Beer Components’ eccentric bottom bracket. Nelson's finishing touches include a Dura-Ace 7900 crankset, Shimano R785 levers and brakes, and a Shimano PRO Vibe 7s cockpit - same as European pros and Jonathan Page's Fuji Altamira. With these and ENVE XC tubular wheels, we found the bike to be quite light.
Use the slider below for more details and specs of Nelson's Beer X Squid Bike.
Eric Nelson’s Squid is an aluminum frame with the option to build it up with a mechanical drivetrain. © Cyclocross Magazine
