David's Apex 120 Hardtail

I'm lucky to have local rider David as a customer. This is his third custom frame from Ahrens Bicycles, the first one was a custom single speed prototype with sliding dropouts. The second was a similar raw-finished hardtail to this one that was unfortunately involved in a traffic accident and needed replacement.

So now we've built up a modern hardtail capable of handling a 120mm travel fork. This bike is equipped with a handmade King mango wheelset with Sapim CX-Ray bladed spokes, Mavic 819 UST rims, Fox F32 120mm fork, 15QR front thru axle, Hope Tech X2 brakes with gold accents and braided stainless steel lines, Race Face Deus cranks and bars, Thomson stem/post, Crank Bros egg beater SL pedals and full XT drivetrain. As shown it weighs in at 24.6 lbs...not too bad for a stout hardtail.

This frame is outfitted with the limited edition white WiseCracker LITE bottle opener. Stickers are color-matched; the native material is silver metallic with custom digital printing (white base coat with gold and mango perimeter outlines) from VC Graphix....sweet.

The rear triangle contains all of the signature machined components. The tapered chainstays are straight gage and provide excellent cornering and climbing stability.

David opted for 'direct mount' shifters to keep the bars looking clean...

Ryan and David putting the final touches on the build.