Bike Check: Ty’s Naked X15
It’s no secret that around Broad Street Cycles we love Naked Bicycles, so we were very excited to have the opportunity to bring a run of Sam’s Naked X15 cyclocross frames into the store. Naked Bicycles are all hand built on Quadra Island by Sam Whittingham. One of these X15’s made it’s way into Ty’s hands, and he’s been riding it in a couple different set-ups, including as a disc steel gravel bike.
Naked bikes don’t exactly keep a low profile – their clean lines and steel tubing stand out in a crowd of beefed up carbon wonder-bikes. Even more impressive than their initial appearance is that they look even better up close. While Sam’s pulled off some stunning, incredibly detailed paint jobs (like the Naked Factory Racing team bikes, of which Mical’s recently garnered some attention internationally at an international race, or scroll through the Naked Bicycles website for much drool worthy material) we think the silver and white colourway on Ty’s X15 suits the steel cx frame beautifully.
Ty’s outfitted the X15 with an assortment of parts suited to a hand built steel frame. Bontrager xXx rims have been built around Chris King hubs. Handmade Ti seatpost parts from Colorado builders, Moots. Cyclocross specific chainrings from boutique American chainring producer, WickWerks. Before the introduction of 1x drivetrains, WickWerks solution to poor front shifting was … better front shifting. What a novel idea. A mix of SRAM bits fill out the rest of the drivetrain, with the exception of Shimano’s benchmark XTR pedals. Still the best for their light weight, low stack height, and excellent mud shedding skills. More trick bits decorate the other side of this Naked X15, with SRAM’s rival hydro disc system bringing Ty to a halt whenever he chooses.
The silver/white/black scheme on the Naked actually works really well with the Bontrager xXx wheels
Sam signs every frame that comes out of Naked Bicycles Quadra Island workshop
When every bike is custom, the model names can be relatively straightforward: X15
Steel is real, except for this Whisky carbon disc fork. Oodles of clearance for wherever you ride
Naked Bicycles: proudly made by hand in Canada
Stunning hydro and cable internal routing ports adorn the X15
And look just as good where they emerge again above the bottom bracket
WickWërks Chainrings: That’s not tooth wear, each tooth is shaped for improved shifting
Very nice looking dropouts, including fender eyelets. Ride this thing allllllll the time
Chris King headset, and a swanky looking barrel adjuster for the X15
Moots Ti stem and headset spacers keep the hand made theme going
And their seat post sustains it, with a nice seat clamp from Salsa to round things out
Chris King hubs are also made in the U.S.A.
Here, the King’s are built up to Bontrager xXx rims, and the red spoke nipples are a nice touch
SRAM’s new hydro hoods, on PRO Vibe7 bars
Hydro Road, SRAM’s escalation of the disc road game
Whisky’s carbon disc fork keeps everything going up front
The smooth curves of the X15 rear triangle are a Naked staple
SRAM Red cranks, with Shimano XTR’s attached
There it is: Ty’s Naked X15 cyclocross weapon. Look for it at COTR races all fall
