Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
This week’s Reader’s Rig comes from Danish framebuilder Mads Hulsroy of Hulsroy Cycles, who shares the prototype TIG-welded Boat Anchor he built for riding trails in 2019 and has since converted to his dad bike, complete with a customized, painted-to-match BOB trailer. Check it out here…
Words and photos by Mads Hulsrøj Jæger
I’m Mads, a framebuilder and designer from Aarhus, Denmark. I am stuck somewhere between loving clean, simple, and stylish bicycles and trying to keep cycling fun!
Currently, I am cycling leisurely and locally with my kids and wife. On Wednesday evenings, I train with my friend, trying to stay somewhat fit. I look forward to returning to long day rides and bikepacking when family life allows it.
I built the Boat Anchor in 2019, just before leaving the UK and moving back to Denmark. We had just bought an incredible Miller TIG welder at work, and although I normally prefer fillet brazing frames, I just had to make a bike with this new machine. The result was a rigid MTB for bikepacking and pootling around XC trails. As the years went by, the bike ended up being converted into a dad mobile with racks -> baskets -> slick tyres -> dynamo lights -> mudguards.
With our first child, I was using my cargo bike a lot, but as we moved outside the city and the commute got longer, the cargo bike made less and less sense. I was doing 80 percent of my commutes without kids on the bike, and a trailer was a better choice. I could leave the trailer at my son’s daycare and have a faster and more fun commute on the ATB, although I enjoyed talking to my kids when they sat out front on the cargo bike.
- Frame/Fork: Hulsroy Boat Anchor Prototype
- Rims: Stans Crest something
- Hubs: Shimano dynamo (front) / Hope Pro 2 (rear)
- Tires: Schwalbe G-One Speed 2.4″ (622×60)
- Handlebars: Gusset Stash + Ergon GA3 grips
- Headset: Hope
- Crankset: Rotor Rex + Stridland chainring
- Pedals: Busetto Pro
- Cassette: Something cheap from Sunrace, 11-42 or 11-46
- Derailleur(s): Shimano XT 10-speed
- Brakes: SRAM Level TL (a million years old but still work great!)
- Shifter(s): Shimano XT 10-speed
- Saddle: Selle Italia Flite
- Seatpost: Zoom Lightweight
- Stem: Custom steel thingy
- Front bags: Carradice or Ortlieb panniers
- Frame bags: Wit Slingers custom
- Rear bags: Wit Slingers custom + Carradice bagman support
- Accessory bags: Wit Slingers custom
- Other accessories: Custom Wit Slingers Happyman flag!
The trailer is a heavily modified Bob Ibex. I built a new rear end for it so I could use my 20″ dynamo wheels from the cargo bike and extended the attachment piece as the trailer was originally for 26″ bikes. This summer, I had the Boat Anchor and trailer repainted after some mods. I also got some new wheels built, got new Honjo mudguards, built a new rack, and, most importantly of all, I asked Wit Slingers to make me a new frame bag to tie the room together. He also did the little Happyman flag for the trailer, which is a reminder to keep cycling fun!
For more, you can follow Mads on Instagram.
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Further Reading
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