Anyone else own a Black Mountain Cycles bike?
 

I don't see them talked about too much around here. @dr_lha turned me on to the company/Mike Varley when he did his MonsterCross build.

That led me to do a road bike build of my own which has turned into my favorite bike I've ever owned.
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I like it so much that I've decided to sell off my gravel bike and my touring bike to fund building up a single gravel/touring bike next using his forthcoming MonsterCross frames.
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Anyone else out there own one of Mike's cool bikes?

Me! Tho its nowhere finished yet..

I heard the new batch should be arriving soon...What colour were you thinking of getting? The last batch version of pink is awesome! Right now I'm gathering my parts for the build..I'm looking to be finished next spring..John

Yup. I've had a Black Mountain Cycles monstercross as my main bike for the last two years. I've put about 7,000 miles on it so far - it's a great all-rounder bike. I bought the frameset (a grey one, 62 cm) and built it up myself. Mike Varley is great to work with.

http://www.ajprice.net/photos/IMG_4168.JPG

http://www.ajprice.net/photos/IMG_4171.JPG

I am planning a new steel bike purchase sometime soon. I am considering the road or monstercross. Not sure which one I would use more. I have most of the parts laying around except brakes for either model. All of the BMC owners rave about the frames.

Ack... Was editing my post to add photos and accidentally deleted it. Retyping from memory...

I have had a Black Mountain Cycles monstercross (62 cm, grey) as my main bike for the last two years. I've put over 7,000 miles on it so far. I bought the frame and built it up myself with a mix of old and new parts. It's a great all-rounder, and Mike Varley is great to work with.

Originally I was going to get the road frame, but since my old Dura-Ace brakes were short-reach and I needed to get new brakes anyway, I decided to get the monstercross frame so I could run bigger tires. I run Compass Barlow Pass extralights (38mm). Talk about a comfortable ride! :-)

http://www.ajprice.net/photos/IMG_4168.JPG

I am planning this year too :-)

Here's some pictures of mine (as alluded to in the post). Lovely bike, just makes me wish that I had more time to ride it and more gravel paths to ride it on! Right now it's got slick tires on it and is my winter road bike.

http://imgur.com/OKRlTIE.jpg

http://imgur.com/XE67W8R.jpg

http://imgur.com/Wze6H8A.jpg

Nice pics in here. I'm hoping to have my new red one by February.

i like the idea and the look, looking to replace my alloy gravel/monstercrossy thing soon. right now, the TwinSix Standard Rando leads, hopefully the BMC will be offered with disc brake mounts before i make a move. the pink is definitely my favorite (for both, actually).

ajp... pray tell, what is the light mount???

light mount
 

It's a Topeak Bar Extender, with a pair of Ixon Core lights from Busch and Muller.

The Topeak is pretty adjustable for placement, but it's only for lightweight accessories. I wouldn't mount even a small handlebar bag to it, but it holds the lights solidly even on rough roads.

I ended up ordering an orange road frame.

You're going to love it. I sold off some nice bikes after putting some miles on that frameset. I've talked to another guy who did the same.

My next bike is somewhere in this room today :)

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Woo, I like this red :)

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I don't. Just looked at their site, it appears they only make steel frames, so I won't ever own a Black Mountain bike.

The build is on :)

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Where are those frames made? I suspect Maxway.

Got me. Finished product:

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https://farm1.staticflickr.com/381/3...562c78ca_k.jpg
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8287/...f3dbd386_k.jpg

Got a leftover 65cm frame last fall and built it up over a month's time.
H plus son archetype rims to 105 hubs with butted spokes, 105 derailleurs, gevenalle 11sp shifters, c17 saddle, origin8 gary os sweep bars, shimano cx50 crank with a 34 inner ring, and a wolftooth roadlink to allow for an 11-36 cassette.

I loved building it up and it rides as well as hoped. The frames have an excellent finish to them with tight welds, great paint, and all mounting points were chased/faced cleanly.

At the closeout price, it was a steal.

I do wish i got the pacenti pbp fork crown on the new frame run, but i really love the black cherry color i ended up with.

Mike Varley was great to talk to on the phone and email too. Very accomodating and helpful.

There were a handful of adventure/mixed terrain/gravel bikes i considered, but building one from his frameset was exactly what i wanted.

Perhaps. Its Taiwan for sure since its labeled as such. Whatever place he picked does solid consistent work for sure.

Wow, that black cherry is an awesome color! Sweet looking bike. I see you built it yourself. That is like icing on the cake!

Those are nice looking bikes/frames. I will be in Point Reyes end of May and will have a look.

Mike, the owner, genuinely seems to walk the walk. He helped design bikes for Haro and Masi before opening up his bike shop. He gets out and rides, and is active in the local cycling community.
I'd for sure make the trek to his shop if i were anywhere in the bay area for a couple days.