February 10, 2010 - Mike Creed's Frankenbike

Team Type 1 Professional Men team member, Mike Creed knows a thing or two about racing bikes. In his 10 years as a professional, Creed has ridden for 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist (2000), Prime Alliance Cycling Team (2001-2003), U.S. Postal presented by Berry Floor (2004), Discovery Channel Pro Cycling (2005), TIAA-CREF (2006) and Team Slipstream (2007).

Mike also knows how to work with a bike to make it do what he wants, both during the racing season as well as post-season. "I have an appreciation for people who do things a bit different. For people who put thought and process into everything they do," he observes.

Like many pro cyclists, Mike is constantly looking for ways to tweak his bike to make it better, faster and stronger. A millimeter lower here. An angle adjusted there. In cycling, it's the little things that make the biggest difference.

But in the case of Mike's Frankenbike, it's a big thing that makes a big difference.

The Frankenbike, aptly named after Mary Shelley's famed 19th Century monster, is big and whacky-looking. It's one part road bike, one part mountain bike and three parts weird. It's a 29-inch Niner aluminum mountain bike frame (most adult-sized frames are 26-inches) with no shocks. The rear derailleur, bottom bracket, wheels and cranks are mountain bike specific. And if it had a neck, bolts would be coming out of it.

Up front, the fork is oversized carbon fiber to allow for knobby mountain bike tires. The handlebars, shifters and brake levers are road components. And the stem is angled waaaay down to keep Mike's position on the bike similar to his road position. This makes the headset protrude in a way that makes one's teeth hurt to look at. "The stem is fine," he says. "It just looks a little crazier than it is."

"Every time I ride it, somebody stops to stare. It's kind of a weird niche. Sort of like what mountain biking used to be with the cruiser bikes on the trails. It's getting back to that angle of mountain biking."

What makes the Frankenbike unique is also its challenge to the rider. "It doesn't have any suspension. So when you're on a trail and you get in a rocky section and don't plan your exit, you're in for a ride. And being in the drops you have so much weight on the front that you have a really hard time un-weighting and letting the front wheel go where it wants."

"This bike is insane to ride! It handles like a tractor trailer. I feel like mad max!" he explains. "Because there's no suspension, it's really rigid on the mountains, so there's this "oh s***!" factor. And with road bars and no suspension you always feel on the edge."

And then there's the comfort factor: "On a two or three-hour trail ride I'd be in the drops and have such a tight grip on the bars that I'll have this monkey paw thing going on where my fingers would be cramping up afterwards."

Finding ways to train smarter and having fun along the way is the secret to Mike's success and his tell-it-like-it-is attitude. And riding a bike like the Frankenbike, it's no surprise that one fan calls Mike the last punk rocker in the peloton.