The Smitty

The Smitty Urban Transportation and Everyday Cycling Bike

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The Smitty rose out of Greg’s desire for an “everyday cycling” bike that could be many things and do them all well. A Magic Carpet Ride for the city while still being competent on the off-road foray! The basic idea for this rig had been floating around in his head for several years now but the success of the Shark, and the desire to expand the Schlick Cycles line, meant that the time was right to really let the cat out of the bag. Besides, John wants one and what John wants, John gets!

In designing the Smitty our primary considerations were/are:

Light weight but strong – The True Temper Verus HT tubes are light but strong and, of course, steel. Light and lively but able to hold its alignment, steel will survive many more seasons than aluminum while giving you a better ride over potholes and on urban city streets.

Great ride quality – Again, specing the VerusHT tubes really brings out the strengths of a steel frame. S-bend seat stays give you a bit of compliance where you need it and oversize chainstays make power transfer seem effortless. Couple the fantastic tube set with a well thought out and thoroughly tested geometry and you get an unbeatable combination. Well, you could probably beat it with Titanium but our goal here is to keep the Smitty affordable and help you keep a roof over your head!

29’er…better, of course! Bigger wheels roll better, bigger tires have better feel and ride better. By riding a 29’er you become a better person. The more you ride the better you become. See? Better!

Lots of attachment points – You’re commuting, you’re touring, you’re racking up the miles. If you need to take stuff with you, fear not, the Smitty has you covered. Peep these braze-ons:

  • Three h2o mounts on the frame
  • Fittings top and bottom of seat stays for rack
  • Extra eyelet on drop out for fenders
  • Threaded fittings in bridges for fender

Versatile – drops or flats, fat tires or skinny, the choice is yours. Heck, you can even do an Internal hub (our personal choice is the Rohloff Speedhub!) or a double or triple chain ring coupled with a traditional derailleur. We aren’t Burger King but you can still have it your way! For your cable routing pleasure see below:

  • Double stop under the downtube by headtube
  • Two loop guides under bottom bracket
  • Split stop under chainstaty on both sides (This lets the cables get around an under the downtube h2o mount and also converts to front and rear derailleur cables if you want to run a traditional derailleur

Low maintenance – an internally-geared hub like the Rohloff Speedhub, coupled with a front disk brake, strong wheels and a steel frame all make the Smitty a bike you will ride, not wrench on.

Top-notch components – It is easy to spec a ride that will set you back several thousand dollars but how about intelligent components that give you the ride, performance and reliability you need with out shooting a hole in your wallet and the skin next to it? Follow me here camera guy, cause we got you covered.

Sex Appeal – These are hand made in the US of A folks. You know what that means? Well besides great workmanship, it means you don’t have to settle for one color just so the manufacturer can keep his cost down and make a few more bucks. We want you to be happy, so, if you aren’t hip to our stock colors, and can hang on for a while, we’ll slap whatever color you want on your Smitty! How cool is that?

Not feeling our speced components? We wouldn’t make this awesome ride without letting you roll your own if that is, well, how you roll. Start with a Frame and Fork and build the goodness on to your hearts content. Just make sure you send us pix and a story! Good ideas and next years inspiration often come from you!

Schlick Smitty