The Best Bikes: A Stinner that can do it all
I was drooling over the blue Geoff McFetridge designed Mudfoot Stinner I kept seeing online for weeks. Talking about that on a team ride I realized my teammate Tom Mikolinski had already purchased one Stinner, had another mountain bike on order. He couldn’t stop raving about them, so he put me in contact with Gary their CFO at the time.
I always had an idea of creating a one-by crit machine. I really didn’t need a small ring for the races around NYC area. A custom bike was a good opportunity to try this concept. (This was the year before Specialized announced bikes like the Allez Sprint) However, towards the start of the build I freaked out about spending so much money on a one-purpose bike and asked to increase the bottom bracket height and the tire spacing. I basically turned the whole concept into an all-purpose-built gravel bike.
Fortunately for me, a month after I placed my order Stinner decided to offer a batch of ten bikes in titanium. It was a no brainer for me, so I reached out and upgraded to the titanium option. This build was truly becoming a dream bike.
There are a slew of bikes painted in gradient color schemes around these days, but I’m pretty sure this was the first gradient bike with exposed titanium that Stinner did. I wanted a sunset gradient from purple to orange with the orange matching the mango orange Chris King hubs and other components. There is also sandblasted graphics on the chainstay as well as the seatstay.
Being a custom titanium bike I wanted to keep everything classic - no electronic shifting here. Sram Force one by was ordered with 51t in the front, but recently I swapped it with a Wolftooth 42t. (However, I kept to option of being able to run two by if one wanted.) The whole cockpit is Enve with a color matched seatpost.
The wheels are Jones Precision carbon wheels. John Jones is a Mavic Pro team mechanic / wheel builder that opened up his own shop next to Stinner. They collaborate on a lot of projects. I felt that a boutique bike like this needed a boutique set of wheels like Jones. The images show the bike with 33 MXPs, however I have 38mm Bontragers set up tubeless on them at the moment.
Even though at this point this is not my main bike to ride I truly enjoy this bike every time I take it out. Titanium has a very nice ride quality, but the best thing about riding this bike is the attention I get on coffee rides. At this point this bike has probably between 500-1000 miles.
Life priorities change, babies happen, bikes come and go. So, I recently decided that I need to reduce the number of bikes I have at home. So, for anyone interested, this bike is for sale at the moment. You can contact me at dperker@yahoo.com
Specifications:
Frame: Stinner titanium (gradient color scheme, exposed titanium, sandblasted logos on the chain and seatstays.)
Fork: Enve
Shifter: SRAM Force 1
Brake Caliper: SRAM Force HRD
Rotors: SRAM Centerline, 140mm
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Force 1
Crankset: SRAM Force 1
Chain Ring: Wolftooth, 42t
Cassette: SRAM PG-1170, 11-32t
Chain: SRAM
Stem: Enve
Handlebar: Enve road bars
Seatpost: Enve
Saddle: WTB Volt titanium
Pedals: Shimano XTR PD-M9000 SPD
Wheels: Jones Precision Carbon
Tires: Bontrager LT2 TLR 38mm
Daghan Perker is a creative director, photographer, and an athlete. You can see more of his work on his instagram handle @dperker He is also a founding member of tobedetermined.cc
