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NAHBS 2011 – Ellis Cycles’ Di2 Dirt Road Bike, Winning Touring Bike and a 29er

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nahbs 2011 ellis cycles shimano di2 dirt road bike with s-and-s couplers

Ellis Cycles built upon their Di2 road bike from last year to create an S&S coupled dirt road version. Similar to last year’s version, this one adds threaded wiring couplers inside the frame joints to make it easy to travel with.

They also won “Best Touring Bike” for their Modern Classic Randonneur bike and had a bilaminate construction 29er mountain bike. See what the heck that is after the break…

This is how the DRB (Dirt Road Bike starts life.

The Di2 battery mouns to the non-drive chainstay. The wire runs into an oversized hole in the BB shell.

$3,200 frame and fork, $700 for couplers.

nahbs 2011 best touring bike winner ellis cycles modern classic randonneur bicycle

The “Modern Classic Randonneur” won Best Touring Bike at this year’s show. It’s a 3.5lb frame made of Reynolds thin wall 953 throughout except for the headtube, which is a True Temper 1.125″ tube. They wanted a wider headtube than the standard 1″ size found on most rando bikes to improve stiffness.

Except the front rack, the shiny bits on the frame are stainless steel, not chrome.

Front dynamo hub powers the headlight, which is integrated into the front rack, and the taillight.

This bike would be $11,000 complete. Frames start around $3,400 with fork.

nahbs 2011 ellis cycles bi-laminate steel 29er hardtail mountain bike

Ellis’ steel 29er used a bi-laminate construction, which essentially means they took half a lug and brazed it onto the other tubes.

In this case they’re not just cosmetic: the lugs act like a gusset for the downtube.

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fleche1454
fleche1454
13 years ago

Ellis i like your style
looks like you built all the bikes with the right geometry so that you didnt need set back posts nice
still not a fan or randunneur bikes but that is a personal thing.
two questions though:
1 does that hole in the bb of the dirt road bike fill the frame with dusk, dirt, and other stuff off the dirt roads?
2 does the cable routing on the top tube of the mountain bike hit your legs or get in the way, i had a cross bike that had that once and my legs always hit it.

good bikes though, i like the un-marked mtn fork

me
me
13 years ago

If U hit frame or cables this just means that U need proper bike fit cos for sure Your knees are collapsing to the inside

fleche1454
fleche1454
13 years ago

@me
you know how you jump back on to you cross bike in a race, or maybe you don’t.
i dont think getting another fit was going to solve that issue of my short/pants getting snagged a little on them.

me
me
13 years ago

I thought it was during pedaling…….

Dan
Dan
13 years ago

Can we all just agree to stop calling a parts group a “grouppo” please, its like calling every bike ride “tour de something in english.” Read Sheldon Brown’s take on derailer vs derailleur. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer.html

NIce bikes though, it does seem silly to leave the bottom of a bike open like that, but Im sure he could come up something to cover it.

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