Adam's new Silver PBJ

Colors are hard.

Despite months of drawing and refining the shape of a dropout, or waking up in the middle of the night to think about a chainstay profile during the very long process of designing a bike frame from scratch, the one thing people will always notice first is the color. That makes it really important. And as a business, a good color can leave us sitting on a pile of less-desirable-color frames. Should I order more of this one and less of that one? Will I be the only one who likes this? Should I just finally cave and make a black bike? The process is agonizing and often filled with many screenshots texted to various graphic designers and art-minded friends whose eyes I appreciate. You may notice the Sklar palette has a lot of colors that are in-between: a blue that is almost grey, a green that is almost white, a yellow that is almost green, a red that is almost brown, and so on. I have always been drawn to these colors.

This bike is my new silver PBJ, and it is a bit of a deviation from our standard earthy liminal palette. The inspiration came to me from a '90s Diamondback Mean Streak, a super cool lugged frame that briefly passed through my hands back in college. My best friend in Bozeman had a key to the bike co-op, and we would build up all sorts of wacky bikes for a few weeks before swapping them out for something else.

Today you can get anything you want in terms of paint — I personally find all of the options overwhelming. Back in the day, though, bike manufacturers were limited to a smaller palette of auto paints, and I love to look back at the colors that were being used in the '70s and onward. They feel restrained, and I live by the mantra that the best design shows restraint (put Dieter Rams quote here).

Bikes like this old Diamondback Mean Streak really inspired the PBJ when I would ask myself, "What if this bike was actually good?" To be honest, I think I pulled it off. Every few years I get the itch to build up a vintage MTB because they are beautiful and cool, and after a few minutes of riding I am abruptly reminded — oh yeah, I have a bike just like this that rides a million times better. And that is sort of the whole point of the PBJ.

That old Diamondback looked something like this, if I remember right...

Anyhow, here is my new silver PBJ built up just how I like it: PBJ bars, of course a dropper and mechanical 12-speed drivetrain, and a new alloy wheelset that we're testing out as an option for new completes. I have been loving the 2.6" Vittoria Mezcal tires for Bay Area riding. I tried these tires back in Montana maybe 5 or 6 years ago and hated them, but they rule for our smooth mixed terrain. They are fast-rolling with lots of volume so you can make it through anything.

This is my go-to bike for a day out on Mount Tam or an after-work cruise on the townie trails on Mount Sutro. I think the new silver color is really fun and it definitely reminds me of those fun old bikes I would cobble together at the Bozeman Bike Kitchen, but then I can also feel good riding it down gnarly trails or load it up for an overnighter.

Learn more about the PBJ Here.