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

• SRAM Red drivetrain
• Edge Composites Carbon 1.45 Tubulars, handlebars, stem, and seatpost
• Ligero Wheelworks aluminum clinchers with hubs made in USA

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

Another Interbike has come and gone for the year. Interbike always provides for a very busy week as we meet with potential customers and check out the latest in the bike industry. We saw some things we can’t wait to integrate into our custom carbon frames. Stepped forks, BB30 and integrated seatposts come to mind.

Once again our custom frames were used in the Rotor Bike Components to show off all of their great parts. That 3D crank is looking really nice. Can’t wait to see it hit the US market. The guys at Rotor are always a blast to hang out with and we’re gracious to work with them.

Congrats to Vegas local Jefon Jefferson for winning the USA Crits Finals Cat 2/3 race on a KirkLee / Rotor bike while also racing the Industry and Master’s 35+ as well.

Thanks again to everyone that stopped by and talked with us. It really helps reinvigorate us knowing that folks are excited about what we’re doing. See you next year!

KirkLee was recently featured in the October issue of Road Bike Action magazine. The online version is now available for reading.

The one word that defines a KirkLee frame is custom. The Austin workshop is full of carbon tubes that have all been designed by and made for KirkLee. Brad will pick from a selection of tubes of different shapes and sizes for each frame made. “We designed our own laminate schedule for each tube,” Brad says proudly. “And from there, everything is imaginable and up in the air in regards to what we can build.” Each frame is made off a template using the “tube to tube” process. No molds are used.