Our final Reader’s Rig of 2025 comes from Paul in Berlin, who shares the Omnium Mini Max he resurrected after a car crash and modified to run 20-inch wheels front and back. Meet Paul and get to know a little about his one-of-a-kind Mini Max here…

Words by Paul Piegsa, photos by Josh, Paul, and Aldo

Hi, I’m Paul Piegsa from Berlin. I work in the bicycle industry as an industrial designer, currently at Schindelhauer Bikes and previously at Riese & Müller. I’ve been working in bike design for aluminium bikes, but my secret obsession is with steel bikes.

Custom Omnium Mini Max

I share a workshop in Berlin Lichtenberg with my Friend Tony from 20″ Ultras. At the workshop, I built the very first prototype for my Project ABES, a steel 20″ longtail, which I showed at Bespoked 2024 in Dresden. I want this bike to be produced locally in a small batch in 2026.

Custom Omnium Mini Max
  • Custom Omnium Mini Max
  • Custom Omnium Mini Max
  • Custom Omnium Mini Max

My bike, the Omnium Mini Max 20″ Mod, was first shown at Mini Bike Fest 2025 in Berlin. The Frame was a Gift from a friend working at a bike shop here in Berlin. The Frame had survived a car crash (luckily, without someone riding it) and was bent 15 degrees at the rear triangle. I cut it off while reusing the dropouts and the kickstand plate.

Custom Omnium Mini Max
  • Custom Omnium Mini Max
  • Custom Omnium Mini Max
  • Custom Omnium Mini Max
  • Frame/Fork: Modified Omnium Mini Max 20″
  • Rims: Kinlin MX8 – 20″ 406 – 36H
  • Hubs: SON 28 (front) / Shimano 105 (rear)
  • Tires: Maxxis 20″ Minion 2.3″
  • Handlebars: Contec Brut Select Riser 31.8mm, 30mm rise
  • Headset: Omnium
  • Crankset: Orbea OC1 175 mm + Garbaruk T46 DM
  • Pedals: Btwin MTB 900
  • Cassette: SS T15
  • Brakes: Shimano SLX – 160mm
  • Saddle: Selle Italia
  • Seatpost: 31.6mm
  • Stem: Custom brazed by Tony
  • Front bags: Custom Webbing by JucyBikeStuff

It’s kind of sweet that you see the original red parts of the frame, and the repaired and reimagined silver raw parts are clearly distinguishable. Instead of rebuilding the original seatstays and chainstays, I decided to have some fun with it, building a full 20″ version, GT style. Omnium sponsored some new white decals since the original black ones burned when I added mandatory bottle mounts to the downtube.

  • Custom Omnium Mini Max
  • Custom Omnium Mini Max

Also, I applied a clear coat (Protowax, applied with a brush, not spray-on, for an ideal surface finish) to the paint, which really brings out the metallic sparkles. Tony gifted me one of his brazed stems, which fits the bike’s character perfectly—all the parts were leftovers from other bike Projects. The headtube logo was updated with a Mini Bike Fest graphic, too. As my next project, I’m going to build this same style of bike as a 20″ fully.

You can see more from Paul on Instagram.

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