Watch the full custom build walkthrough on the Maklin Bikes YouTube channel This is one of the ADHX 45s Steve is most excited about — and not the first one the shop has built. Steve rides an ADHX 45 himself with the previous-generation SRAM Force; this one is the latest frame, with the UDH, so … Read more
Watch the full custom build walkthrough on the Maklin Bikes YouTube channel A customer’s Niner AIR 9 RDO — bought from us a couple of years ago — came in for a full teardown and overhaul before their riding and race season. When we got it apart, we found damage and cracked carbon in the … Read more
An old Masi road bike brought back to life with an 11-speed Shimano Ultegra drivetrain and a modern cockpit — a quill-to-threadless adapter for current bars, the original crank and brakes retained, and the customer’s own wheels. When a vintage upgrade is worth doing, and when it isn’t.
A Niner RLT 9 RDO built with SRAM Force 2x Wide, hand-built Chris King hub / HED Belgium 32-spoke wheels, and Easton EC90 AX carbon bars.
A 3-Star Niner RLT 9 RDO Rival AXS build personalized with HED Emporia GA Pro wheels, Easton carbon bar, and custom bar tape. How a few swaps make a stock build your own.
A Niner RLT 9 RDO custom build with SRAM Force XPLR, power meter spindle upgrade, HED Emporia GA Pro aluminum wheels, and Easton EC90 AX carbon gravel cockpit.
A stock Santa Cruz Blur CC XO Trail build — with the latest Fox 34 SL Factory fork and new SRAM Motive Silver brakes that Santa Cruz’s website specs don’t yet show. SRAM XO Transmission, Reserve 28 XC carbon wheels, Maxxis Rekon tires. Confirm the spec before you order.
The Cervélo ZHT-5 came in with a GX drivetrain and left with full SRAM XX Transmission, Reserve XC28 carbon wheels, and Fox Factory suspension. Two years in, three riders, some races — and it’s staying in the stable.
A custom Moots Routt RSL gravel build — double-butted titanium, Chris King throughout, hand-built HED Belgium+ wheels, and Shimano GRX 12-speed.
Build Overview This Salsa Spearfish custom build is set up as a more all-around, trail-focused version compared to the XC-oriented Spearfish build we shared previously. Fall is the season where we get creative in the shop — sifting through takeoff parts, leftover pieces from other custom builds, and mixing them with new parts to put … Read more
Build Overview This Salsa Spearfish custom build is a dialed-in, modern XC bike with 120 mm travel front and rear, progressive geometry, and the latest SRAM XX Transmission drivetrain. Built for a customer, this one is already sold — but we’re sharing it to show what’s possible as we plan more Spearfish builds for next … Read more
Build Overview This Niner AIR 9 RDO started life as a 3-Star build, which normally includes a GX drivetrain, Fox Factory suspension, and carbon touchpoints. For this one, we mixed in some 2-Star components from custom aluminum AIR 9 builds to hit an unbeatable price while keeping the core performance parts intact. The result is … Read more
Watch the full custom build walkthrough on the Maklin Bikes YouTube channel This started as one of Steve’s demo bikes — a Cervelo Caledonia he’d been riding with Easton wheels — and when it came time to flip it to its new owner, we reconfigured it for what that rider wanted. Same frame, but with … Read more
Build Overview This is our XC version of the custom Niner AIR 9 2-Star build. We created two configurations from the AIR 9 2-Star platform: a Trail build (covered in another post) and this lighter, snappier XC-focused version. The goal was to give riders who want a fast, efficient hardtail another strong option at a … Read more
Build Overview This is a custom 2-Star Niner AIR 9 that we configured into a trail build. The stock AIR 9 2-Star is already a great value, but for this setup we made a few upgrades to push it toward a more capable trail bike. We’ve also built an XC version of this bike, which … Read more
Build Overview This is one of our custom-built 3-Star Niner AIR 9s — the aluminum version. Niner doesn’t offer this configuration, but we ended up with extra 3-Star parts kits from AIR 9 RDO carbon builds and realized we could create some really strong budget-friendly hardtails by pairing those kits with the AIR 9 alloy … Read more
A custom build on the new-generation Jamis Renegade — GRX 800 2×11, HED Emporia GA Pro wheels, and 45mm Challenge Strada Biancas. Steve expected not to like it and came back from the first ride won over. Why he sized it as a 54, and where the Renegade fits in the gravel spectrum.
Watch the full custom build walkthrough on the Maklin Bikes YouTube channel This might be Steve’s favorite build yet — a red TIME ADHX 45 custom built for a customer, running a full Whisky cockpit and wheelset with a Campagnolo Ekar 13-speed drivetrain. Here’s the frame, the wheels and tires, the drivetrain, the touch points, … Read more
This isn’t a stock Jamis Portal. Steve rode this one himself through the fall — his first real time on the Portal platform — to demo it and decide whether the shop should bring more in. The answer, in his words, was “yes, by the way.” It came from the factory all Shimano, and it’s … Read more
Watch the full custom build walkthrough on the Maklin Bikes YouTube channel This customer already owns a Niner MCR set up as a gravel rig and loves it — the kind of bike you can ride for hours. Rather than keep swapping wheels and tires, they wanted a second MCR set up more pavement-oriented for … Read more
Build Overview This 56cm Niner RLT 9 RDO was built alongside the 53cm version as a custom pair for a couple upgrading their bikes. This build lands at what we’d call a “2.5-Star” configuration—primarily an Apex drivetrain with some smart upgrades, including a Rival rear derailleur and a few component swaps that make the bike … Read more
A 53cm Niner RLT 9 RDO built frame-up — a mostly 4-Star GRX bike with an aluminum Easton crank and SLX cassette to hit the rider’s price point, on a Stan’s wheelset with a Niner carbon post and Salsa Cowchipper bars.
A pre-UDH TIME ADHX 45 closeout frame built with SRAM Rival XPLR 1×12, Boyd aluminum wheels, and Easton cockpit. A TIME gravel bike at a price that undercuts most big-brand stock builds.
A Jamis Portal C3 demo bike converted from Shimano SLX to SRAM GX Eagle AXS, then sold with DT Swiss M1900 wheels. One of the more surprising trail bikes Steve has ridden — efficient pedaler that can also take a hit.
Niner Jet 9 RDO 2-Star base upgraded with SRAM GX Transmission AXS, Shimano SLX 4-piston brakes, Race Face Arc 27 XC wheels, and Maxxis Rekon tires. Better than a 3-Star build for the same money.
A Niner RIP 9 RDO 2-Star base rebuilt with Shimano SLX 12-speed drivetrain and brakes, DT Swiss XM1700 wheels, and Race Face crank. Niner doesn’t offer this from the factory — we do.
Lynn’s Niner AIR 9 RDO converted to drop bars for the Badlands Gravel Battle — SRAM Force wireless, road crank, Fox 32 fork, aluminum Easton AX50 bars. The story of how a mountain bike became a rowdy gravel rig.
A Cervélo Áspero rebuilt through the shop a few times — from an Apex build to 11-speed GRX mechanical to GRX Di2. Why 11-speed Di2 made sense, the Áspero-5 carbon bar swap, and what full Di2 wiring takes on a gravel bike.
Watch the full build walkthrough on the Maklin Bikes YouTube channel A frame-up custom on the Niner RLT 9 steel frame — the latest Shimano GRX 12-speed drivetrain, a shop-built wheelset, and a classic, understated steel look. One of a run of RLT customs going out the door, and one that looked too good not … Read more