Spotted At Sea Otter: Freaks, Geeks and Retro Bikes

Sea Otter is a bike expo and festival of racing that takes place in Monterey, California each year. We didn’t make the trip over there for 2023, but our US correspondent Fahzure Freeride dropped in to catch up with bicycle peeps of the world. He’s snapped you this collection of bikes on his way round. If you’re a bike nerd and get the chance to make the trip over for it, it’s worth doing – there are show ponies and retrobikes all over the place. Plus a few freaks.

Tec Gnar Evil

Never understated, Tec Gnar is a Utah based bike painter. And those are Versus tyres – another Utah brand.

Surely should have purple grips? Having covered a whole stack of very expensive components in fluoro paint, what this bike needs is a rider in a shell suit.

SE Floval Flyer

A vintage edition of a bike that’s still going today. If you want to be cool as you wheelie around town, this is the bike to have.

Swingbike

Choppers were too comfortable and too easy to ride. Make life better with a swing bike? The seat tube has a headset on it, and springs to centre it.

Sierra Nevada / Mone / Paul Components collab

This bike was available to win via a raffle. Lots of green anodising. Very Californian. Is it fabulously bonkers, or does it scream trying too hard to be kooky?

Moots Ti Gravel Bike

Liking the pipe cleaner race plate holder – an alternative to cable ties and possibly handy for cleaning muddy worms out of your cassette. With a suspension fork and tyres this big, is it a gravel bike, or a mountain bike?

Surly Instigator

Whatever you do, do not go over the bars. And do not ask this person to build you a bike. Indeed, who rides a bike like this? This is starting to feel like an episode of Through The Keyhole.

1987 Stumpjumper

Head straight to the comments to tell us you had one of these/gazed longingly at this in a catalogue. Nearly new standard bike, still with Biopace sticker on the chain ring and tyres that have miraculously not perished.

Very sexy bar and stem. Which is actually a sun faded black bar and stem. Not a problem we’re too familiar with in the UK.

5 Dev Ti Crank & Chainring

Bucking the trend here by including a bit off a bike. But costs as much as some whole bikes so gets a place here.

Bianchi S.A.S.S

This is the ‘Sick Ass Single Speed’. Possibly for someone more sensible than the Surly Instigator owner, yet still wild and kooky. We are pleased to see ‘sick’ and ‘baskets’ being used in close association. Enduro baskets are coming, just you wait. Good for keeping the front end down on technical climbs.

Ministry Psalm 150

That’s an attractive looking bike. It is. fight me in the comments. Bonded CNC machined hollow frame made in Vancouver, not yet available to buy but coming soon. Patented 3VO dual link suspension and modular construction for future proofing. Head over here to read more/ register your interest if your name is Tom Howard.

Chris Cocalis’ personal Jenna Hastings Replica

This was given to Chris Cocalis as a birthday present – a replica of the current DH Junior World Champion’s bike. Stay young, ride bikes.

Revel Rodeo protoype 3D printed DH bike

Here’s the bike we told you about a few weeks back, in the flesh, sort of. Head here to read more about this.

Custom Tall Bike Keg Hauler

Because if you’re going to haul beer around, doing it on a teetery tall bike is sensible… Or maybe for seeing over crowds and finding your way to your friends?

The Wooden Nickel

Wood, rather than bamboo. Possibly broom handles. Nickel plated lugs. Fun wheels too.

Rock Lobster Tandem

Family transport doesn’t have to be uncool! If looking at this bike doesn’t fill you with happy thoughts of family travels, please move along.

Bearclaw Ti Gravel Bike

Is it a gravel bike, or a mountain bike? Hmm. And did they buy this bike to grow into?

Frameworks Five Land/Cotic Bike

Cy at Cotic is proud to be part of the design story for this bike. It’s a steel front triangle version of Niko Mullaly’s Frameworks race bike, design by Cy and built by Five Land Bikes, mated to a carbon rear end. Ceracoted in Preston. Will this hold up to Niko’s riding?

Mullaly’s FTW Bike

This is the alloy front end that the bike above replicates. Nico Mullaly is struggling with metal fatigue issues on it – hence the steel experiment.

SAGE Powerline

There are lots of pretty Ti bikes out there, but this bike from Portland has a pretty interesting finish and is rather lush. For more than $5000 just for the frame, it ought to be. But, yum.

Turner Newsboy

One sad downside of not being at Sea Otter is that we don’t get to hear David Turner’s words of wisdom this year. I know I said the other day that I didn’t like the swoopy curvy Retrotec bike – so why do I like this? Hmm… This was a one off build for one of David’s friends, but it’s been so popular that he’s making it a limited production. Get yourself in the queue if you want one.

Survival Bike

Not sure what the long pole is for – fighting off raccoons? Poking at snakes from a safe distance? This looks like it was built for the apocalypse – apparently there will be electricity in the New Dawn.

1991 Women’s Rockhopper Townie

If you like this sort of thing, go and see our Back From The Dead’s Dieter. You too could be cruising happily around on something like this.

1999 Stumpjumper FSR

One of the first production full suspension bikes that actually worked. Belonged possibly to a member of the 2010 Yahoo! Cycling Team. Maybe. Or maybe just a name sticker on a bike, because it makes it look like you’re famous.

Hope

And finally, a frame that we’ve already had in Fresh Goods Friday! Check us out with the bling. Plus, some suitcases that you definitely wouldn’t be sad about if you picked them up by mistake. We’re going to assume these are tagged with trackers, and all the Hope staff anxiously follow them through the airport and onto the plane.

Ok, that’s your lot. For now, you’ll just have to imagine the warm Californian sun, the cold Californian wind, and the hubbub of Sea Otter. Maybe one year you’ll get to explore for yourself, maybe even take in a race?

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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