Six bicycles were stolen from KirkLee (1006 Brentwood St., Austin, Texas) during the night of March 21st. Please contact us at 512-371-9661 or info@kirkleebicycles.com if you have any information on the whereabouts of these bicycles. Click on the photo to view a larger version of the bicycle.
Bicycle #1: KirkLee Custom Road Bike
- Black with white logos
- Sram Force components
- Rolf Vector Pro wheels (no stickers)
- Red Speedplay pedals
- Easton EA-90 SLX handlebars and stem
- Ritchey carbon one-bolt seat post
- Sella Italia Flite SLR saddle
- Paint chipped on side of top tube
Bicycle #2: KirkLee Hibiscus Flowers Custom Road
- Light blue with hibiscus flowers
- Sram Red components
- DT Swiss 240 wheels
- White Sella Italia saddle
- Pink Speedplay pedals
- Easton EA-90 stem, handlebars and seat post
Bicycle #3: KirkLee Bicycling Magazine
- Featured in Bicycling Magazine’s Dream Road Bike of the Year competition
- Marbleized blue front end with black rear end
- Sram Red components
- Easton EA-90 SLX wheels
- Edge seat post and handlebars
Bicycle #4: KirkLee 26″ Mountain Bike
- Black with Red KirkLee logos and white stripes on the top and down tube
- Sram X0 components
- Magura Marta SL disc brakes
- Magura Durin front fork (white)
- Chris King hubs and Stans ZTR Alpine wheels
- When stolen, it had FSA cranks, stem, handlebar and seat post
- Sculpted carbon lugs and polished 6/4 Ti rear dropouts
Bicycle #5: Specialized Hardrock
- Bright green
- Shimano STX components
- Rock Shox Jett front fork (black)
- Blue SDG saddle
- Weinman rear wheel with rare Mavic 217 Sunset front wheel on a mid-90s XT hub
Bicycle #6: Santa Cruz Superlight
- Anodized silver
- SRAM X-9 components
- Fox front fork (Talus 32 if I recall)
- Mavic Crossmax wheels
- Blue SDG saddle with checkered sides
- Gold shift cables
- Easton handlebars and stem
- Thomson seat post
Thanks again for staying on the look out for these bicycles!
This 650c KirkLee is a one off custom, designed from the ground up to go fast. The top tube is KirkLee’s own in house manufactured design. The down tube is smaller in diameter than the standard KirkLee down tube and has a more aggressive ovalization at the bottom bracket than the standard down tube. To save weight and increase aerodynamics the head tube is smaller diameter than a regular KirkLee and utilizes a standard 31.8 headset. The rear of the bike uses independent seat stays and a titanium brake bridge co-molded into the frame. As with all KirkLee’s cables, they are held with full carbon stops. In joining the tubes we rethought every joint and modified the carbon layers accordingly. Every tube junction on this bike is flawless and contains beautiful carbon work.
The bike is built with Shimano Di2. Due to the small frame the battery is mounted under the non-drive chain stay. The brakes are run motocross style and the top lever activates the rear brake. Shimano remote shifters operate the rear derailleur independently of the Di2 STI shifters.
Rotor USA supplied the chainrings (40/34), stem (80mm) and ceramic BB. Crupi provided the 150mm cranks. The narrow 36cm handlebars are from Enve Composites. Schmolke manufactured the seat post while KCNC offered the cassette and seat clamp. Lightweight built a stunning set of 650c wheels that are fitted with Tufo tubulars.
At KirkLee we like to build a few “custom” bikes each year and this bike is amazing. We appreciate the opportunity to build one off custom bikes in addition to “normal” custom frames.
View more photos of this custom 650 at our Photo Gallery.
A KirkLee custom with a twist. Along with all the attributes that make a KirkLee this one was painted to simulate raw mahogany. The KirkLee logos are burned into the wood with a branding iron and stain was applied which consisted of candy brown with a bit of tangerine. Although it is hard to believe, yes the bike is 100% carbon fiber.
View photos of this bike and other custom carbon bikes in the photo gallery.
We mixed up the frame wrapping techniques by using the lugged style for the seat tube and tapered for the rest of the joints. The two black widow spiders on the headtube and seat stay offer something unique on this bike.
View photos of this bike and other custom carbon bikes in the photo gallery.
Check out the latest from the KirkLee factory floor.
The photo gallery has been revamped to make it easier to see all of the great bicycles we’ve been building. Not all of our bikes make it into the gallery, but we try to put ones in that are unique. Each custom bicycle as its own album for viewing. This should make it easier to see our latest builds.
As time goes on we’ll continue to add more of our favorite custom bikes and give you a little info about each build. Check out the photo gallery and let us know what you think on Facebook.
Busted frame? Use our carbon frame repair service.
When we’re not busy building our custom carbon frames, we don’t mind helping folks out by repairing their broken frames. All kinds of repairs have come into the shop. One of our first repairs was a broken drive side chain stay. There was almost an inch of carbon missing. A wet layup method was used to repair the bike. Some two years later and the bike is still going strong. The only problem was that the other side broke, so we fixed it too. That’s happened a few times now.
Frame repairs generally don’t take too long, so we’re able to get you back on the road quickly. It all depends on what level of refinishing you want on the paint job. Some can be very intricate and we want to make sure the bike looks like it came right from the factory. Keep that in mind when sending us your cracked frame.
Give us a call or e-mail us some photos of that cracked carbon frame and we’ll give you an estimate. Our goal is to have your riding again as soon as possible.
Bicycling Magazine approached us in January as a finalist for their 2010 Editor’s Choice Dream Road category. Dream Road is where they put the best of the best in road bikes – they’re completely race-worthy, but feature absolutely top-end fit, handling and comfort as well – a no-compromise bike for people for whom price is no object. We were thrilled to be included among such fine bicycles and couldn’t wait to get to work on the bike. They requested a 54 cm frame that best represented what we think is the ideal KirkLee. With that in mind we set out to build the best custom carbon road bike for Bicycling.
Bicycling Magazine Testers said:
- Has a ride I’d describe as “luminous.” It lit up the road.
- I instantly trusted the bike on descents.
- A smooth ride you can be on for hours as the road unspools before you.
KirkLee Bicycling Magazine 2010 Editor’s Choice Details
$9,525 w/ Edge 1.45 Carbon Tubulars | $8,186 w/ Ligero Wheelworks Aluminum Clinchers
Frame
- Hand made carbon cable stops
- 6/4 Titanium bottom bracket shell / Zero Stack headset
- Trademark marbleized hand wrapped carbon joints
- Tubes are bladder molded in house with custom stiffness, weights and lay-ups
- Painted using House of Color paints by Darin Wheeler of 2 Wheeler Customs
Components
The January 2010 issue of The Dropout features KirkLee along with other Texas builders as they cover the Texas Custom Bicycle Show. It’s great to see another Austin magazine focusing on the bicycle scene in Texas. The Dropout can be found online and at Austin bikes shops.
Coming soon to a bike shop near you are some new KirkLee posters. Designed to show the uniqueness a KirkLee custom bicycle is when we build one for you. Our goal is to build the bike around you and we think these posters reflect that.
The Second Annual Texas Custom Bicycle Show will be held Oct 23-25 at the Austin LiveStrong Challenge Expo featuring fine frame builders from the Lone Star State. Bicycles crafted from steel, titanium, and carbon fiber will be on display.
Featured Builders:
- KirkLee Bicycles
- Alchemy
- Bilenky Cycle Works
- Crumpton Cycles
- Daltex Handmade Cycles
- Dominion Bicycle Company
- Gallus Cycles
- Massengill Cycles
- Southwest Frameworks
- True Fabrication
- Violet Crown Cycles
- Willits Brand Bicycles
KirkLee will be there and we hope to see you there as well.
Website | Flyer
Bicycle #5: Specialized Hardrock
