[31 / 9 / ?]
Crust bikes saved cycling and while it is fun to tease them I think we should take a moment to acknowledge Matt Crust's impact on cycling. Purple like to forget these things.
1. drop bars wider than 46cm: literally only exist because of crust bikes and their 66.6cm bars
2. They made tall ass stems cool in defiance of the racer "slam that stem" trend, major comfort
3. They brought back the Limp Dick stem which was promptly ripped off by everyone
4. They embraced 26" when all seemed lost and built their flagship Evasion to handle them
5. They built the best gravel bike in the world, The Bombora, which the Path Less Pedaled guy loved so much he bought it
6. They built a modernized disc rando bike when nobody would make one and surly fucked up the rat pack
7. They released a quill stem disc bike with 1" steerer which is the only way to make disc forks supple and the plebs still don't get it, maybe never will
8. They released a brand new canti frame just months ago, because they had big balls. sold out immediately
9. they released a low q factor fat bike when fat bones were stagnant and everybody ripped them off immediately
There is more. Their huge tire drop bar bikes basically shifted the entire industry and saved cycling from racerism. You might find fault in the naive and sometimes maliciously 5th column political engagements, but that's Matt's wife's fault, not his. He was just a based aussie who wanted to make bikes and get a gf. And he did it, he made his mark on the world. AND THEN, reaching a state of true enlightenment, he simply walked away.
That's the perfect ending. Matt is a stoic genius. The final statement of his project: "I changed cycling history, I was mocked, imitated, and stolen from. And nobody will remember. That is fine. Game and fortune mean nothing to me. All that matters to me is the friends I made."
1. drop bars wider than 46cm: literally only exist because of crust bikes and their 66.6cm bars
2. They made tall ass stems cool in defiance of the racer "slam that stem" trend, major comfort
3. They brought back the Limp Dick stem which was promptly ripped off by everyone
4. They embraced 26" when all seemed lost and built their flagship Evasion to handle them
5. They built the best gravel bike in the world, The Bombora, which the Path Less Pedaled guy loved so much he bought it
6. They built a modernized disc rando bike when nobody would make one and surly fucked up the rat pack
7. They released a quill stem disc bike with 1" steerer which is the only way to make disc forks supple and the plebs still don't get it, maybe never will
8. They released a brand new canti frame just months ago, because they had big balls. sold out immediately
9. they released a low q factor fat bike when fat bones were stagnant and everybody ripped them off immediately
There is more. Their huge tire drop bar bikes basically shifted the entire industry and saved cycling from racerism. You might find fault in the naive and sometimes maliciously 5th column political engagements, but that's Matt's wife's fault, not his. He was just a based aussie who wanted to make bikes and get a gf. And he did it, he made his mark on the world. AND THEN, reaching a state of true enlightenment, he simply walked away.
That's the perfect ending. Matt is a stoic genius. The final statement of his project: "I changed cycling history, I was mocked, imitated, and stolen from. And nobody will remember. That is fine. Game and fortune mean nothing to me. All that matters to me is the friends I made."
