Twelfth Bike

or Ride What You Will

Sketchy!

Posted by Susan on April 22, 2011

Here’s my new custom built Sketchy, built by expert frame builder Mike Salvatore of Seven Cycles. Made to fit me and my riding style, it’s light and fast, has plenty of room for fat tires (700 x 35) with fenders, fits a rack on the back, and has triple water bottle mounts.

Front view of the sketchy

A long distance dirt road riding machine.

Pink Sketchy

Color is RAL 3015 Light Pink

I wanted a simple mounting solution for rack and fenders.

Brake bridge with integrated fender and rack attachment

Brake bridge with integrated fender and rack attachment

Since this bike is intended for epic rides (such as D2R2), I wanted a third set of water bottle cage mounts. These also work nicely for holding my Lezyne pump. Though the frame does also have a pump peg, should I decide to carry a “normal” size road pump.

Pump intalled in place of third water bottle.

One good use for a third set of water bottle mounts.

Since I don’t race, I don’t ever find that I need a front ring larger than 42. This triple crankset is converted into a double, with a chain guard in place of the third chainring. This is a simple solution to compatibility issues of using small rings with standard derailleurs. This gearing is enough for me, the chain guard offers a little extra protection against grease when I’m commuting, the weight is negligible, and there is less chainrub in the front.

I’ve put about 1,000 miles on it so far. It’s wonderful to ride.

Stainless steel head badge

Stainless head badge.

7 Responses to “Sketchy!”

  1. Susan, you have a blog!

    Thanks for the pictures of Sketchy, it’s a very distinct bicycle and I love seeing him (her?) at Harris.

  2. Susan said

    Yes, I don’t know what it is about the pink, but I never get tired of looking at her.

  3. Awesome bike! I think I might have seen you on it at yesterday’s D2R2. It was sporting a Berthoud front bag.

    • Susan said

      Thank you. Yes, you did see me, but the Sketchy was naked except for fenders. Nice to see your post about riding dirt roads around Boston.

  4. […] Campy super record carbon road racing rigs to mountain bikes to lovely porteurs. (My favorite was Susan’s Sketchy.) It was easy to follow veterans on the route if one wanted to, but there were many occasions for […]

  5. Steve Park said

    Does Mike Salvatore build with titanium too? I’ve always wanted a bike like this except in ti.

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