Home > Bike Types > Mountain Bike

Unique Cycles: custom from DH bikes to chromoly cranks, with some Spiderbike in between

13 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

unique-cycles_custom-chromoly-steel-modular-crankset_overall

Another good find in Vienna was the creations of small German builder Unique Handmade Cycles. Based in Saxony, near Leipzig, framebuilder Sören Marx isn’t afraid to dive into some of the more complicated fabrication challenges. Whether it is a full custom geometry steel and aluminum downhill bike, a tubular steel external bearing crankset, or just a new look for a kid’s steel bike, Unique has something to offer. While the road bike that this crank was on and the deep blue DH bike next to it (more on that after the jump) had their finishes dialed, it was actually the rough steel arms of these prototype cranks that drew us in…

unique-cycles_custom-chromoly-steel-modular-crankset_detail

With more than 20 years of frame building experience, and having apprenticed under both respected East German & French frame builders, Marx can surely braze you up a classic steel frame, and there are plenty of nice looking randonné, all-road style, and hardtail mountain bikes in their build history. But what stood out to me were his more unique builds, and that of course is where the company name comes from.

unique-cycles_custom-chromoly-steel-modular-crankset_hirth

Like you’ll find on a set of Campagnolo cranks, Unique’s latest tubular chromoloy, external BB cup crank arms are bound together with a Hirth coupler in the center of their integrated axle. This prototype crankset is the most recent in more than 6 years of building steel cranksets, but is apparently marked by a big drop in weight both due to the new coupler and lighter arms. Paired with a removable, machined aluminum spider, Unique can build cranks to any length you wish, for any chainrings you can dream up, and pretty much any style of riding. We’ve seen finished cranks with powdercoat or, just cleaned up and clearcoated to let the steel shine through.

unique-cycles_custom-steel-and-aluminum-dh-bike_complete

Unique’s DH bike is certainly a looker as well. Not a lot of small builders ever venture into full-suspension mountain bikes due to the added complexity of all those moving parts. And even fewer delve into downhill territory where the stresses go up pretty quick too. Uniques’s DH bike starts with a large diameter steel toptube which forms the backbone of the bike, connecting the gussetted 44mm tapered (or straight 1.5″) front end to the single-pivot rear. A flattened downtube is offset a bit forward of the BB to allow space in the front triangle for the piggy-back shock, while a triangulated seat mast rounds out the steel front end.

unique-cycles_custom-steel-and-aluminum-dh-bike_suspension unique-cycles_custom-steel-and-aluminum-dh-bike_headtube

The suspension design is a fairly straightforward high single pivot, disguised by what at first looks to be a rocker arm, but is really an extension of the swingarm. The main pivot is hidden behind the carbon cover over an idler pulley, and the rigid aluminum rear end then drives the Cane Creek Double Barrel air shock in one of two positions to alter travel and bottom bracket height.

Total rear wheel travel on the bike is 205mm in its longer setting, and it’s built around a long reach & 63° head angle. This blue version is rolling on 26″ wheels with up to 2.7″ tire clearance and tipped the scales at about 16.5kg (36.4lb) with a pretty affordable build, but Unique says it will also work with 27.5″ wheels as well.

unique-cycles_spiderbike-update_complete

And if you don’t need an overly complicated new bike, someone with an attention to details like Unique can still put out something special. This 20″ bike gets the Unique treatment to turn it into a Spiderbike for some happy kid.

unique-cycles_spiderbike-update_seatstays unique-cycles_spiderbike-update_headtube

A welded chromoly frame and proper single speed fork ends form the basis of a light and solid build, then some trick webs were crafted in between the seatstays and behind the headtube give it a one-of-a-kind look. A quick blast of blue and red paint gives is a subtle look to please the young comic fan, topped off by those silver spider webs.

unique-cycles_spiderbike-update_cranks

And Unique apparently doesn’t limit their crank works to new tubular steel. One of the benefits of solid aluminum cranks; it’s relatively simple to chop them down, redrill & tap some fresh pedal threads in and you can have a set of 155mm kid-sized cranks in no time.

Unique-Bicycles.de

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

13 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Bmx
Bmx
7 years ago

So you bolt the chainring to the cranks using three bolts seems unique but not altogether very neat

1111
7 years ago
Reply to  Bmx

Seems way overbuilt – Cannondate Hollowgram cranks have provided a swappable spider for years, using a retaining washer. I’m sure there’s other examples.

Ol Shel
Ol Shel
7 years ago
Reply to  Bmx

Like old Bullseye cranks, but with the flange reversed.

I like ’em.

Jerome Roy
7 years ago

He has learned frame building in East Germany, France and for the DH bike, it seems like he stayed in Québec too! really looks like the Appalache Réal that Dany Hart was riding in 2006 and 07… nice work!

Graham Mattingly
7 years ago

The Balfa BB7 is back, made in Germany! I miss those weird bikes. This one inverts the materials mix from the original, though. Interesting.

TomM
TomM
7 years ago

Cranks remind me of the tubular steel Syncros cranks from the 1990s.

Greg
Greg
7 years ago

Bring back the Sweet Wings!

blah blah blah
blah blah blah
7 years ago

a snap waiting to happen

mac
mac
7 years ago

Those cranks really hit the bullseye.

Bev
Bev
7 years ago

Looks like he took a page from wraith bicycle’s but not as refined on the fully

Danny
Danny
7 years ago
Reply to  Bev

No he didn’t. There’s nothing special about Wraith Bicycles that he’d particularly take a page from. He admittedly said that the design was a BB7 replica, which we can clearly see.

Unique
Unique
7 years ago

Thanks a lot!
The cranks inspired from the Tioga Revolver. And there are 4 screws to hold the spider. One is behind the crankarm.
And yes. Its an Balfa replica. I loved the bb7! But too steep, too high, too short.
Sorry about my poor english!

The builder.
Soeren

Dan
Dan
7 years ago
Reply to  Unique

Soeren, Thanks for sharing your great work. Keep it up!!!

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.