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Road to NAHBS 2012 – Caletti Cycles

John Caletti Cycles steel cyclocross bike preview of NAHBS 2012
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John Caletti Cycles steel cyclocross bike preview of NAHBS 2012

Our pre-NAHBS buildup continues with John Caletti of Caletti Cycles. Until now, he’s been all about steel bikes, but that looks to be changing…

BIKERUMOR: What have you been working in since NAHBS last year?

JOHN: I’m continuing to refine my process, both in office type work as well as in the shop. I’ve been developing some new finish designs with a graphic designer. They are fitting with my style and offer a bunch of cool and fairly unique choices for my customers, which will hopefully make the finish planning and selection process more fun and easier. It seems choosing color(s) is the hardest part. I’ve had people go round and round with elaborate designs before settling on solid black.

Also, I’m using more U.S. made parts on frames, including a cool light and compact dropout for most road and cross bikes, and I’m moving towards more stainless steel for the small bits like cable guides and bottle bosses to add to the longevity of the finish and frame. I’m doing 29ers with larger head tubes (as an option) to allow for tapered steerer bikes and I’ve been working with Titanium, which I’ll soon be offering in addition to steel.

John Caletti Cycles steel cyclocross bike preview of NAHBS 2012

BIKERUMOR: Any killer custom bike builds?

JOHN: There were a few with really amazing finishes, and a few with very clean lines; but many went out as a frame only, so I never got to see the completed bike ready to roll. One unique bike I did get to see all the way built up was a “monster cross” bike. It’s got room for big tires, disc brakes, rack and fender mounts, a unique segmented fork – it’s definitely ready for adventure. Looking at it makes me want to plan bikepacking trips or long days getting lost in the woods.

John Caletti Cycles steel cyclocross bike preview of NAHBS 2012

BIKERUMOR: Did you see anything last year that’s inspired you?

JOHN: There was a Cielo cross bike with a purpose built Moots stem that was cool and a Bishop stainless track bike. Of course there was tons of amazing stuff, but those are some things that are still bouncing around in my head. Neither one was something I’d build in that way or that style, but I admired the elegant simplicity and creativity that went into their design. That’s why it’s still in my head, I’m inspired by the creativity without being ornate and loud.

John Caletti Cycles steel cyclocross bike preview of NAHBS 2012

BIKERUMOR: Can you give us a teaser of what your bringing to NAHBS 2012?

JOHN: Sure, the plan is 5 bikes as I’ve got a bit larger booth this year. I’ll bring a light steel road bike with oversize tubes – a racy bike that will be ready just before the show so the customer can ride it to the show from here in Santa Cruz. I’ll also have a fairly straight ahead cyclocross bike, which I build a lot of. A belt drive 29er with some cool parts, including a Titanium seatpost and handlebar that I’ll make. An “adventure road” bike, which I’m very excited about. It’s basically a more versatile road bike than the standard racer style we see a lot of these days. It will have a steel fork and longer reach brakes so it can fit larger tires for riding rough roads and some dirt. We’ve been riding the road bikes on dirt a ton, which has inspired this one. Another bike born from all these dirt road rides is a Titanium cyclocross bike with disc brakes and Ultegra Di2. So a bit of everything, just how I like it!

BIKERUMOR: If you had to race all the other builders, who would you want to inch out for the win right at the line?

JOHN: Hmm… I’m not too fond of racing, but it would be fun to ride with some of these guys. I had the opportunity to do that at the Levi Gran Fondo in the fall and it was a blast. I’m hoping I can get Carl Strong to come out and ride in Santa Cruz after the show.

John Caletti Cycles steel cyclocross bike preview of NAHBS 2012

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dgaddis
12 years ago

That’s a nice looking bike.

Love the NAHBS coverage, keep it coming!

boobie
boobie
12 years ago

I agree, that bike looks awesome.

Chunky
Chunky
12 years ago

Lovely looking bike.

JDub
12 years ago

Those look like specialized tires on there. Prepare the legal team!

tsutaoka
12 years ago

keep up the good work bikerumor and john!

Joey Mullan
Joey Mullan
12 years ago

This bike is crazy rad, great clearances clean lines, and a stellar paint job. But as the Spooky builder once said. Custom bike or not, saddle rails should not always be parallel to the ground.

Tim
Tim
12 years ago

Love my caletti fork, but that is singular cycles team paint job …….

Pascal Toureasy
Pascal Toureasy
12 years ago

John hit this one out of the park! As the owner I assure you it rides as great as it looks!

Nate
Nate
12 years ago

Tim, you missed the color a bit (a lot of people are color blind), and . . hmmm , that paint scheme might go back a couple years. Originality is copying old shit, but GOOD.

Kevin
Kevin
12 years ago

A job well done. Nice use of xx with red for cx setup. Paint looks good to me, if anything color anodized parts ruin nice bikes. Loose the orange headset and it’s ready for nahbs / then it’s perfect.

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