Quail Bike (A collaboration with Abbey Campbell)


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I had been enamored with the Ibis Szazbo's design for a while before picking up this frame. There's something about the curves and URT that puts it a very specific middleground between elegant and awkward. While its obviously meant to be a flat-bar bike, I thought it would be fun to give a nod to Ibis's earlier days by dressing it up with an LD stem and some dirt drops. This whole build was very impulsive, with almost every decision resulting from a 'what if?'. I picked up a used Velo Orange Cigne stem and didn't like the contrast of the black with the frame, so I decided to color match it to the frame. I think Ibis called this color 'Warm Beer' but I was pleased to find that it was nearly identical to Toyota Desert Sand Mica (which happens to be the color of the two matching Camrys that were passed around from cousin to cousin in my friend Murray's family). After seeing the stem on the bike, it reminded me of the head feather of the California Quail so I painted one on the back of the stem along with the sillouette of a family of them on the particularly clapped out XTR rear derailleur I picked up for the build. For the cockpit, I wanted to have a shifter setup like you would have seen on an old Potts or WTB, and Multi Mounts are exceedingly rare (and better suited to true restorations) but I figured the Kelly Take-Offs were the next best thing (and still handmade in CA). For the seatpost, I picked up a generic titanium setback post from AliExpress and did some custom anodizing to give it the choco chip camo treatment. You'll notice that there's a matching headset spacer. The containers I normally use for anodizing weren't deep enough for the post so I had to cut the top off a smart water bottle to submerge the whole thing.

I initially chose some colorful woven bartape from BTP but didn't love it once I saw it installed. My partner Abbey is a very talented weaver and I had asked her at some point if it would be possible for her to weave bartape on her loom. She did a lot of research to determine the feasibility of making something so narrow and long, and ultimately figured out that the best tool would be a very specialized type of loom from Gilmore (also handmade in CA) and tracked one down. She took inspiration from the plummage of the Quail and wove a very striking pattern of grey, reddish brown, cream, and black. This is her first attempt at making bartape, and while its still in the prototype phase (she wants to do some more experimentation with different yarns), you may be able to commision her to make you some in the future.

Abbey's first test for the bar tape ended up being far too narrow to use, but we both remarked how it would be a neat material to use as binding on a bag. This sparked a whole new project, a matching miniature rando bag. I found a good pattern and we thought it would be neat to dye some canvas with the black walnuts that are all over our neighborhood and make the bag out of that. This whole project took place in the two weeks before the bike show at the LA invitational so it was a bit rushed but Abbey powered through with the last minute sewing work.


You can catch a brief interview with Abbey and I about this bike on the Team Dream Telethon from the 2025 LA Invitational

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Footnote:

If you're observant, you may have noticed symmetrical cracks in the frame where it clamps around the suspension pivot. I almost didn't build up the bike after noticing these but found an email address for John Castellano, the frame's designer, and reached out to get his opinion. I was very psyched to get a response (attached below). I have heeded his advice and avoided particularly sketchy terrain but so far, so good.

Hi Nate, sorry for the delay. The bolts got overtightened at some point. They are supposed to be only "two finger tight". In hindsight, I should have used a much smaller bolt.

I would see how tight they are by backing them out a little bit, then tightening with just your thumb and index finger on the allen wrench. That will probably close up the cracks.

I haven't thought of a good way to repair it. This is more common on the Schwinns.

I've never seen one fail completely, but there's always a first time. I would ride it, keeping an eye on it, and maybe avoiding big drops. Depends on your weight too and terrain too.

Thanks, John Castellano
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