In mid-2010 I began shopping around for a custom ti builder to build a dream bike. I wasn't sure when it would happen, but I was certain I wanted ti, and if I was going make it 'dream bike' status, it had to be custom. I looked online, made phone calls, talked to a lot of folks. Then I found Hampsten Cycles, which just happened to be local for me. To make a long story short, I called Steve up, visited the shop the same day, and made the decision that he would be my builder.

A few months later I had the scrap to make it a reality so I took my current bike up to the shop. Steve and Max (The in-house welder and owner of his own brand https://www.333fab.com/) rode around the block with me a few times to get a sense of my riding style and what I liked and disliked with my current bike. Back at the shop they took measurements and plucked them into a bikecad program to create my virtual bike. Deposit made.

Cue to now, and after a lot of waiting, paint, and component decisions, I finally have my frame. Max's welds are perfection, and Spectrum Powder killed it with the powder/paint job. I also want to give props to Richard at Fairwheel Bikes and Weston at Dash Cycles. I'm sure everyone will be happy that the bike is done and they won't be receiving anymore emails from me

The wheels are still a week or so out, but I wanted to share what I had now. Also, if you have a Hampsten, please post it!







Steve and Max


I went up today and assembled what I could. The wheels are Steve's and are were only put on to see how it looked.




I'll post proper pics once the build is totally completed, and provide a parts list. Its looking like it will come in around 14 lbs +/-...hopefully -.

Dreamy!! Goregous looking bike!! Belongs on the front cover of a magazine!

yep... damn purdy!

Beautiful bike! Not that I'm a weight weenie, but what's the weight on a frame like that?

X...That bike is way, way AWESOME! What wheels are you going with? Custom lightweghts no doubt...

Very, very nice. I do like Ti frames and I like Andy Hampsten (though I don't know him). Winner.

That is badass, congratulations!

I don't recognize those brakes, but I'm betting that was one of the components you sourced from Fairwheel?

I like it a lot!!!!!!!!!!!

So the angry pig is almost finished! Looking great so far!

Dude WOW!!!
the bike looks great , luv the brakes.
sadly I must ask.....how much????
and No, I cannot afford it.

nice bike and nice fotos

Uber gorgeous!!! Love the Evil Pig!! Just curious, can the top headset be pressed in more to remove the gap between headtube and headset??

did you get the 'eriksen' Ti upgrade? ...just wondering if you did (or didn't), what was the rationale (as it's offered on their website)

lovely pics...enjoy the mix of blk n white with colour....enjoy your lovely steed.

nice frame.

bebop pedals.

Beautiful bike. As a fellow owner of a Ti frame welcome to the club.

smoking hot cant wait to see it with the wheels. mad fibers looked kinda out of place on that bike. the enves should be stupid light and look great though. well done.

I actually went with the FeatherTech tubing upgrade. We touched on the Moots/Erikson ti briefly when choosing tubes but I never considered either since I wanted the lightest option (With the paint, it came in at 1190 grams.) I'm not even sure what is different or special about them to be honest. When Hampsten first started they would have Moots, Erikson, IF, etc. build the frames to their specs, but now he has Max to weld in-house. I guess they leave that option open, but it is kinda odd.

The outline/highlight color is actually a cream. Makes the red really pop...I love it. I tried getting the red to match the darker anodizing of the components and the metallic Enve decals. It's hard matching everything though...so many shades.

I bought my Parlee Z4 from Steve when they were discontinuing the stock Parlees. He's a great guy to work with. Maybe some day I'll go custom.

Since nobody else besides the OP has posted about Hampsten Cycles, let me share my experience with them:

It all started in October of 2011, about a month after my trip to Italy as a guest of Cinghiale Cycling Tours, the touring outfit run by A. Hampsten and Co....

While riding in Italy, I talked to Andy about the dream of replicating the geometry of my Eddy Merckx TSX bike but with more modern materials, making it stiffer, yet still having that same magical century geometry feel and handling that all Merckx bikes seem to have. Andy looked at my fit and said it was good but ideally, the headtube should be about 1cm higher.

While in Italy, Andy had given all of the 14 guests a small trinket from Rifugio Bonetta, at the top of the Gavia--I was cleaning up all the maps, papers, etc. and filing them away after getting back to NYC and I had no idea what to do with the small badge so I decided what better than build up a new bike?

So that's how it all started.

I contacted Steve Hampsten in mid-October 2010 and we discussed materials. I was really intrigued with XCr (stainless steel) but both Andy and Steve hinted that Ti was the way to go, after telling then that my top 3 wants in terms of the ride were: 1) A Go-To bike that 2) I could travel often with 3) would not have to worry about the wear and tear from riding a lot and traveling a lot.

The time from the first e-mail, pre-deposit, to receipt of the finished project took under 12 weeks. The geometry was completely custom; I let Steve take care of the smaller aesthetic details.

I assembled the bike myself but S. Hampsten took care of the headset.

In 6 months, I have travelled 3 times with the bike, once to a different country...

This is me in California:


This is the Hampsten in South Korea:


The S&S couplers do take about 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours for me to pack neatly, as shown below:


However, one caveat is that HampCo. bikes might not be for everyone. These are not magical bikes--they are just good, simple bikes, key-word being "simple". This does not mean outdated or bad in any way. If one needs an exotic paint-job, like half pink, half polka-dot, crazy and wavy seat-stays, etc. this is probably not the builder to go to.

Steve and Andy and Co. have been around bikes a long time--heck, they've been riding more years than I've been alive, each! So it's best to just trust they know what they are doing.

It's like when I was riding in Italy and wanted to tackle the Gavia after doing our morning ride on our "easy day"--Andy offered me his jacket and at first I refused. Andy knew I would be cold so after his second suggestion, I sort of got it. But then I really got it when he he had the guide taking me up the Gavia take care of me with refreshments at the top, knowing I'd be hungry as well!

The process of creating the bike was similar. I asked Steve and Andy about all the options, like butted tubes, lighter fork, different materials, etc. They hinted on what they felt was a good option and I went with their word. One thing that really impressed me was when Andy remembered, specifically, months after talking to me, recommending the head-tube on the Hampsten to be 1cm or so higher than the Merckx.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with how the bike turned out. Special props goes to Max Kullaway, HampCo.'s chief Ti welder, who did an awesome job!

It is not the lightest bike, the stiffest bike, nor the cheapest, but it does fulfill my three main requirements in every way, and then some: 1) A Go-To bike that 2) I could travel often with 3) would not have to worry about the wear and tear from riding a lot and traveling a lot.

Cool story! I really want to do one of Andy's tours. Thanks for posting!

Stunning bike. Well done.

Way Cool X. Well thought out..

Those welds just look so awesome!

Oh, and nice bike too! Hope you ride the heck out of it...

Superb.

Must be a pleasure to work with a local builder who builds locally. Love the workshop shots.

Many safe rides.

holy *****. i have seen a few BF rides and this one is near the top. well done. later.