Alliance Bicycles

[Gaucho410]

That color of green on the past few bikes is really great, you're putting out some serious lookers!

[AllianceBicycle]

Originally Posted by William

Erik, have you fabricated any frames utilizing the Gates Carbon belt drive drivetrain yet?





William

I haven't yet, but I get inquires about them a few times a year. There are trade offs to be made in the tire clearance and chainstay length on both cross and mountain bikes. The "chainring" is very big in the front compared to the equivalent chainring that would be used in a traditional setup. This either requires that the chainstays be pushed inward to avoid it, or some heavy cutting away of the driveside has to be done. In the end, everybody has gone with a traditional setup.

[AllianceBicycle]

Originally Posted by Gaucho410

That color of green on the past few bikes is really great, you're putting out some serious lookers!

Thanks Gaucho, I've got some other cool colors that are on the NAHBS bikes this year. I'll post pictures once they are built up.

[eolson124]

Last year I purchased Alliance Bicycle's "Project Bike," which Erik Rolf displayed at the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show. After putting two thousand miles on my new acquisition, I wanted to provide feedback to the cycling community.

In his Project Bike, Erik demonstrated innovative design, skillful framebuilding, adroit componentry selection, and superior attention to detail. The bike is a joy to ride.

The frame design hits a sweet spot that is missed by both road racing bikes and cyclocross bikes. The Project Bike combines the essential elements of a road racing frame with certain characteristics of a cyclocross bike. While remaining torsionally stiff and responsive, the frame has clearance for larger tires and has a slightly higher bottom bracket. This combination provides a supple road-bike-like ride on city streets and across washboard. My only comment is the frame does not have braze-ons for disk brakes.

Erik cut no corners in his componentry selection. Although I'm a Campy Record guy, the Dura-Ace group is silky smooth. The compact crank and 11-28 cassette permit me to climb the steepest hills. The Chris King hubs and bottom bracket are top of the line. The Ritchey post, stem, and handlebars are light, strong, and comfortable. The Grand-Cru brakes are responsive, never mushy, and stop in the rain. Although I would have selected a more traditional rim, the Stan's No Tubes rims provide a smooth ride on rough roads. I replaced the Fizik Arione seat with a Brooks Team Professional leather saddle (which I ride on all of my bikes).

The Project Bike is aesthetically pleasing. In the sun, the paint job sparkles and jumps. The red spoke nipples and red cable caps show the pride that Erik takes in his work.

Communication with Erik regarding my purchase was straightforward and problem free. He shipped the bike as promised and there were no surprises. Based on my experience with his Project Bike, I recommend without hesitation Erik Rolf for your bike and framebuilding needs.

[OldGloryMTB]

Interview with Erik Rolf of Alliance Bicycles and his titanium 29er hardtail

[crankles]

I have two of Eriks rigs. I bought the all-road from his 1st NAHBS and recently had the ratrod built. I've put about 15k miles on the all-road and it recently become my commuter rig with the addition of a pass&stow + ILE bag. The ratrod is my go to bike for the 2 hours hilly rides that are the norm for me these days.

Erik is fun to work with and delivers an excellent product....on time! He also builds damn fine wheels.

[timto]

Originally Posted by crankles

I have two of Eriks rigs. I bought the all-road from his 1st NAHBS and recently had the ratrod built. I've put about 15k miles on the all-road and it recently become my commuter rig with the addition of a pass&stow + ILE bag. The ratrod is my go to bike for the 2 hours hilly rides that are the norm for me these days.

Erik is fun to work with and delivers an excellent product....on time! He also builds damn fine wheels.

That black beauty is my all time favorite Alliance.

[crankles]

@timto. Mine too

[roguedog]

Nice bikes, crankles.

Did the all road have rack mounts on it? Can't see. (Looks like but jus' asking)

Thanks for the pointer to ILE. Hadn't heard of them. How do you like yours?

[crankles]

@roguedog,

the all road has fender mounts and does the woundup. the pass&stow is mounting to them. The ILE is a nice, well made bag fabricated down the street from where I work. The Freight baggage bag looks nice too with more bells and whistles, but I went for the local dude as he was able to add a suggestion on the spot. I think the freight baggage bag might be better though when the bag is really full and it's raining.

[William]

Hot ride.




William

[crankles]

Schwing-aling-aling!

Originally Posted by william

hot ride.




William

[gt88]

Howdy - I just wanted to chime in too and say that Erik is great to work with and his bikes are super rad. I have two and I have no complaints with either. The man himself is also very fun to talk to and offers great communication through the build process. You can tell that he truly loves building bikes, and it is fun to hear his enthusiasm and get his input.

The first is a steel all road with a steel fork. This is a great handling and versatile bike. Perfectly capable as a road bike, but loves to ride off road too. Lately, I have pressed it into trailer duty and it does that well too!

The second bike was featured at NAHBS this year and is a steel road bike with ENVE 2.0 fork. I have had the bike for just over a week and I am totally in love. I have ridden it 6 times in 9 days, it is that good. I told Erik that he should sell everyone this exact bike when they want a road machine. It rips. Completely, fantastically rips.

[AllianceBicycle]

That's a good looking line up GT! You've got the bases covered with those two. Thanks for the feedback, it's always great to hear how they ride.

[cbass]

Originally Posted by crankles

I have two of Eriks rigs. I bought the all-road from his 1st NAHBS and recently had the ratrod built. I've put about 15k miles on the all-road and it recently become my commuter rig with the addition of a pass&stow + ILE bag. The ratrod is my go to bike for the 2 hours hilly rides that are the norm for me these days.

Erik is fun to work with and delivers an excellent product....on time! He also builds damn fine wheels.