Julian's Chunk

Crumbworks is a shop in Tokyo led by a visionary bike builder, Keita. For the past five years or so, I've been watching build after build come together in his compact but efficient work space. His frame-up builds of our Bassi Bikes have been exemplary, with creative touches that regularly blow our minds here at C&L. 

In 2023, when I visited Japan and Taiwan with Roberto, we were generously greeted by Keita and his crew of Crumlins, similar enthusiasts who ride eccentric and tasteful bicycles. This in-person experience just added to my love of all things Crumb. 

When Keita announced last year that Crumbworks would be producing their very own frame, the Chunk, I knew I needed one before I even knew what it was. I already have two of Crumb's KT Bars and their house brand Magic Component's Moth Bar, and I was drawn in by the lure of getting the frame too.

The Chunk is an incredible balance of old and new, elegant and rough. These seemingly contradictory traits come together beautifully in a bike that mixes standards from different eras of bicycle history. I love the swoopy and delicately curved tubes, the very visibly handmade nature of a raw clearcoated fillet brazed frame, and of course, that it's a step-through! 

The frame was welded by Raizin Works, a framebuilder whose previous work has mostly focused on light and fast touring and classic randonneuring bikes, but whose talents lend wonderfully to this Chunk-y mountain bike worthy of its name. The headbadge is designed by Zenzay, a friend of Crumbworks and rider of a beautiful Bassi Rachel, among his other very cool bikes.

My build feels familiar and comfortable. It's a mix of some parts bin stuff that fits perfectly, and new parts that I wanted to try and thought would work just right. To accent the metal of the framebuild, I used brass and pewter finish parts here and there. Here's the spec, with a li'l blurb on each.

• Frameset: Crumbworks Chunk, M, Raw Clear
• Headset: Dura-Ace HP-7400, my favourite headset and the one on my first serious bike when I got into mechanics
• Crank: Rivendell Silver2, 38/24T, 173mm
• Rear hub: Shimano Ultegra FH-RS770, 28H
• Front hub: Schmidt SONdelux, 28H
• Rims: Velocity Blunt 35, ano grey, my third pair cause they're indestructible even after countless dents
• Tires: Panaracer Driver Pro, cause I wanted Super Yummys but wider
• Shifters: Suntour Power Ratchet thumbies, timeless
• Rear derailleur: Shimano XT, not Rapid Rise, sorry
• Front derailleur: Shimano 600, barely works but works!
• Brake levers: Dia-Compe 4-finger
• Brakes: Growtac Equal, they're as good as they say they are
• Stem: Salsa CrMo NOS, bin find from pal Winooski Wheels <3
• Handlebar: Crumbworks KT Bar, the perfect bar
• Seatpost: OneUp V3
• Saddle: Brooks Team Professional, my first from 2008 when I was 18, it needs some love but we do that!
• Light: Schmidt Edelux

The ride is incredible. It's not a modern mountain bike, but since I'm coming from a mountain bike that also isn't a modern mountain bike everything is relative! With gears, wider tires, and a dropper post, I can climb things I couldn't previously, and descend and send much quicker than before.

Thanks Crumbworks, thanks Keita, thanks Raizin Works, for my new favourite bike! 

Photos by Troy @killiskii