Happy New Year, faithful readers. We hope your celebrations were a blast and are now ready for a big year of riding and enjoying the world’s most beautiful bikes with The Spoken — starting with this Killer V by Japan’s masters of eclectic: Blue Lug.
The Blue Lug conglomerate of bike shops has a prolific output of custom builds. It seems every day an exceptionally-curated assembly appears on their social channels, and the component choice and style of every single one is astounding.
Being based in the country that produces many of the frames and parts that they throw together with such creativity is obviously one of their advantages, but their love for practical and well-made bicycles is another.
While the majority of their customer’s bikes are stock frames from both large-scale manufacturers and smaller custom builders, occasionally a collector will bring in the bones for a special project — like this late-90s Cannondale Killer V CAD3 M900.
Not content with a straightforward period-correct resto-mod, Blue Lug Hatagaya installed a pair of Crust Bikes‘ divisive Clydesdale cargo forks, topped with one of the most elegant milk crates we’ve ever seen.
If they’re looking for a new product to add to their line of proprietary goods, these milk crates should definitely be considered.
Shimano’s Deore drivetrain and hubs are a reliable and affordable option and — coupled with Velocity’s Dyad rims and Maxxis gum wall tyres — will provide miles of carefree and funky commuting.
A Nitto MCR65 stem and special edition 3-piece bar add to the eccentric setup, but it’s one we would happily throw a leg over, especially on a late-night ramen run. See more on the Blue Lug Flickr.