7 Questions with Paul Components

7 Questions with Adam Sklar

   Adam Sklar has been making super tasteful bikes for 11 years now. We also think he's really nice and pretty handsome with his cute curly hair. Let's ask him those hard hitting questions you want to know:

1. I think the first time we really got to hang out was when you came to PAULCamp that one year, and you were the youngest framebuilder in attendance. What started you on your bikebuilding path, and how long has it been now?

   Adam: PAUL camp! What a fun memory. I think I was 24 or 25 and mostly freaking out that I was getting to hang out with all of my framebuilding heroes and even just to be at PAUL. I built my first frame in 2011. I had gotten into singlespeed mountain bikes in high school after a series of converting old road bikes into fixies, riding them for a few months and then selling them to college students in Boulder where I grew up. I used that money to buy a used Gunnar off of craigslist and someone recommended that I get a fork from some guy called Waltworks. When I went to pick up the fork it was the first time I realized that people actually make bikes and my mind was blown. Eventually Walt ended up giving me a little brazing lesson. I built some frames for myself and then friends and then friends of friends and before I knew it total strangers. Sklar Bikes became an official business in 2014 and I have been doing it full-time since 2016.

2. It seems like you aren’t doing custom, built to order frames anymore, but all Taiwanese framesets and bikes. Can you explain a little about the transition, and why you’ve landed where you have?
   Adam:  I took my last custom frame order in 2019. It took me until 2022 to clear out the build queue and that was also the time that I began working on my first run of production bikes. The transition from one-off to production bikes was above all an effort to make a better product. Custom frames are beautiful pieces of art but part of that beauty is that all of the hard design work goes out the door with the frame. Because they are one-of-one you also can't justify really investing in case specific materials and components. With the production bikes I am able to make these investments into things like size-specific tubing, casting my own yokes, dropouts, small parts. Making my own fork blades and frame tubes that make the bikes ride really, really well. Then they are fabricated by the best frame builders in the world and come in at a price point that is accessible to so many more people. It is a product I can really stand behind in a way I never felt like I could with custom bikes and I can't see doing it any other way.

3. You moved from Montana to San Francisco a year or so ago, which seems like a pretty huge cultural change. How’s that been working out for you?
    Adam: I love San Francisco. I am finding the balance here that I was always searching for but could never find in Montana. The access to nature is like no other city I've experienced and living somewhere that I get into a car maybe once every 6 weeks has been life changing. I get to be surrounded by different kinds of people and ideas and food and music and art and also go ride my bike in the woods like I always have. My new shop is in an amazing zone with a bunch of creative bike-adjacent people like OuterShell bags, Chris McNally & Tunitas. I feel really lucky to have landed here.

4. We’ve had a real nice time bike camping, so here’s a couple questions in that vein. If a friend of yours was trying to choose between your Supersomething and your PB&J frames for bike camping, how would you help them decide?

   Adam: Both the PBJ and the SuperSomething make great campers and I have used both extensively for such. If you are leaning more roads and dirt roads with the occasional singletrack then the drop bar SuperSomething is your best bet. I rode my SuperSomething with 700x 2.1" tires on the first 800 miles of the Tour Divide a few summers ago and I found it to be the perfect bike for that riding. I would not have changed a thing.
The PBJ is best if your bike camping is more doubletrack, dirt road, with a healthy dose of trail riding. The PBJ is an expedition ready bike designed around 29x2.6" tires. I primarily tour on this bike because I am OK pushing a bigger tire all day for the reward of care-free descending. You earn those downhills on a loaded bike so you might as well enjoy them!
Here are some links to photos of those bikes: https://sklarbikes.com/blogs/blog/super-something-on-the-tour-divide-adams-tour-divide-rig.

5. Describe your bike camping sleep system, along with any modifications you make depending on weather and distance.

   Adam: These days I am pretty much tent free. My typical setup is a bivy - I have a super light one from Mountain Laurel designs and I use a 20 degree bag. Also I am usually a Z-rest guy because I have gotten too many holes in inflatables and it is also nice to unstrap it from your rack at lunch and have a nice place to lounge. I always bring a tarp as well incase of rain and to use as a place to lay out and organize things. I've been pretty cozy and dry through some rainy nights with the bivy/tarp combo. I also recently joined the down pants club so if it is really warm sometimes I will do just down pants and jacket in the bivy or if it is really cold then in the bag! Very modular.

6. What’s the most beautiful bike ride you’ve ever been on (so far)?

   Adam: I have been lucky to ride my bike in some seriously beautiful places. The first place that popped into my mind right now was the section of Tour Divide between Banff and Ferny. Those are some stunning mountains to move through.

7. If aliens came down from outerspace and gave you 48 hours to enjoy your favorite sandwich before they vaporize the planet earth, what would be your ultimate favorite last sandwich ever?

   Adam: Hmm that is a tough one. I think the reason I like sandwiches so much is because they are pretty much always good. I rarely eat the same one twice. If it was my very last one I might go for something sentimental like a Turkey with mustard cheese and pickles like my dad used to make me. Classic.