Bourdeau Cycles and AMG: Small Builder, Big Bikes

Just east of Monterey Bay, California, lies a bucolic rolling grassland that seems perfect for easy-pace pedaling with plenty of opportunities to stop and admire the view. Apparently, others feel the same way, as every spring, a massive cavalcade of all things bicycle rolls in, bringing brands from around the world, countless bikes, and every level of industry celebrity and personality. Despite all that, one of the highlights of our Sea Otter Classic coverage in recent years has been a one-person framebuilder brand and the alt-cycling community that surrounds it in this corner of California.

At the center of this scene is AMG Cyclery, a homegrown, family-owned bike shop built around a passion for cycling, with a particular love of steel frames and knobby tires. Founded less than a year ago by Alex and Alisa Gonzales, AMG has quickly become a community hub. The four-person staff and their extended family share interests that naturally align with the bikepacking and the alt-cycling vibe. Alex and Alisa have a soft spot for old Bridgestones and other classic steel bikes, and Tylor appreciates anything unique, whether it’s from a boutique brand few have heard of or, as a fellow employee summed it up, “something so colorful it makes you question your own perceptions.” And framebuilder Jarod Bourdeau has a general interest in anything he can modify with a hacksaw and a torch. As Jarod described, “All this together under one roof serves as a kind of incubator that helps an alt-bike community grow. Don’t get me wrong though—there’s space for anyone, with any kind of bike.”

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One common sight among AMG’s employees and their extended riding crew is a variety of bikes sporting a shiny “BOURDEAU” logo emblazoned on the downtube… or wild, modified builds that Jarod had a hand in creating. For the past three years, we’ve caught up with Jarod and company pushing their unique bikes around Sea Otter after pedaling up from Seaside—and every year, the bikes seem to get more interesting.

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For those who missed our past coverage—all linked in the Further Reading grid below—Jarod Bourdeau has been building bikes for quite some time. His journey began in 2013 with a framebuilding course at the United Bicycle Institute (UBI) in Ashland, Oregon. However, limited by space, tools, and a sense of satisfaction from simply riding the bike he had built during that course, he didn’t immediately pursue the craft. It wasn’t until 2015, after taking a job at Silva Cycles, that he returned to brazing frames. Although the shop has since closed, Jarod credits Silva’s founders, Tahn and Bronson, with helping him get back on track and giving him the opportunity to pick up the torch again. By 2016, he had acquired his own space and equipment, allowing him to casually fabricate bike components—and eventually entire bikes—on his own. Even better, he began creating fascinating mashups by cutting up old bikes and combining them into one-of-a-kind builds, such as the Velo Orange Neutrino/BOB Yak trailer hybrid cargo bike we featured as a Reader’s Rig and the All-City Space Truck he made ahead of last year’s Sea Otter.

This year, we met up with Jarod and folks from AMG and captured several bikes he built or had a hand in. Let’s dive in below.

Oliver’s Drop-bar ATB

If you think this bike looks vaguely familiar, you’re right. There are a couple of shots of it within our 2023 Sea Otter coverage in a slightly different guise. In summary, Jarod built this monster-gravel rig for his buddy Oliver a couple of years ago specifically for their local bike-camping rides. After riding it with a clear-coated raw steel finish, Oliver eventually had the frame powder coated at Powder Coat It in Soquel, California. The vibrant pink and clean white accents brought it to life beautifully.

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The frame features Jarod’s go-to blend of Columbus and Dedacciai tubing, paired with a Paragon Machine Works head tube and dropouts for durability and precision. To keep things simple and have plenty of tire clearance and mounting points, Jarod opted for a Surly Krampus fork.

The build is centered around a SRAM AXS wireless drivetrain. Thinking ahead, Jarod added cable guides on the underside of the chainstay—just in case. One standout detail is the custom rear rack, which Jarod fabricated based on a detailed drawing provided by Oliver. A Surly 8-Pack handles the basket-hauling duties up front.

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Josh’s Bourdeau Bullmoose & Spoke Basket

For those keeping score, Josh Flores stole the show last year with his Bourdeau-made All-City Space Truck. It was an impressively interesting bike, although part of its charm was what admittedly seemed to be a perfectly timed nod to the state of the bike industry. This year, Josh rolled in on a Soma Rufus mini-velo with some really cool touches thanks to Jarod’s torch, including a custom set of bullmoose bars and a handmade Spoke Basket.

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Up front, the Bourdeau Spoke Basket is a real conversation starter—made from about 30 spokes, a dozen nipples, and some stainless tubing. It’s a quarter-pound lighter than a comparable Wald basket, but Jarod eventually stopped making them since they weren’t quite tough enough for heavy-duty use. There are only about 14 out in the world, making it a pretty rare and rad piece of kit.

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These particular Bourdeau bullmoose bars have a 100mm rise and reach and originally stretched out to a wild 900mm wide before getting trimmed down to a more reasonable 840mm. They’re built from 4130 chromoly and use a clamp from Paragon Machine Works for a super solid feel.

Jarod’s Immaculate 26″ Rando

Although he says it was finished earlier this year as a “reliable around town kinda bike,” you’d think Jarod’s personal 26 x 2.5” bike is a made-for-show randonneur. Jarod mentioned that he built it to replace an old Trek 930—the only bike in his fleet with a frame he hadn’t made himself. The frame features a mix of Columbus and Dedacciai tubing, with dropouts from Paragon Machine Works. The fork blends a Crust fork crown with Columbus blades and Paragon dropouts and was the first fork Jarod built from the ground up.

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Jarod leaned into creative expression with this build, adding a variety of embellishments and reinforcement pieces to dial up the flair. The component list is equally thoughtful and eye-catching: a silver-themed ensemble highlighted by a Campagnolo tandem hub with oversized steel axle and sealed bearings, his first set of White Industries cranks, custom-fit Honjo fenders reshaped from 650b to suit 26” tires (inspired by a Velo Orange blog post), and a pair of Bullmoose-style handlebars—the first set of handlebars he ever made—complete with a tricky, brazed-on cable hanger that tested his skills.

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The frame was finished using a patina made specifically for stainless steel—a technique and product Jarod learned working at a metal fabrication company—and then finished using a clear polyurethane. It looks quite stunning in the California sunlight!

Alex’s Bourdeau All-road/Gravel Bike

Co-owner of AMG Alex Gonzales’s Bourdeau gravel bike was made for just about anything—from big gravel rides to bikepacking trips to hitting the mountain bike trails around the nearby Fort Ord. Alex wanted clearance for 50mm tires and a SRAM Transmission drivetrain, so Jarod used Paragon’s full-mount/UDH dropouts for the first time (and had to grab a couple of new tools to make it happen). As such, the bike’s wireless-specific, a first (and maybe only for Jarod), and even though Jarod’s inner mechanic secretly hates internal routing, he admitted being happy with the end result. “He wanted the brake hose routed inside the down tube, so I obliged. I’ll admit, It does look pretty clean,” he said.

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Alex built it up with some special parts, too: a Rodeo Labs Spork fork, We Are One carbon rims with Chris King and SON hubs, the new Paul cranks, a needle bearing headset, and SRAM’s Force AXS/GX Transmission setup. The head badge is a cool extra detail—it’s based on a gothic window design Alex sent over to Jarod prior to the build.

The Tallish Bike

Neil spotted a couple more “shop bikes” at AMG while passing through Seaside. One of them was the “Tallish” bike, so named because it’s not quite a traditional tall bike. Instead of placing the bottom bracket at the seat tube/top tube junction like most tall bikes, Jarod constructed the Tallish with the bottom bracket tucked a little bit below the seat clamp, using an X-stay within the frame for support. The result is more visually interesting and makes it more approachable for folks interested in trying their hand at tall-biking since it’s easier to mount and dismount. The Tallish bike was also designed with gearing that allows it to be pedaled in either direction to propel it forward!

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The 1xE

Last but not least, the 1xE is a hybrid made from two scrapped bicycles—a pair of bikes that couldn’t be more diametrically opposed: a wrecked and totaled Gazelle e-bike and a Surly 1×1. Basically, Jarod was able to salvage all the electronics and then build them into an old Surly singlespeed-specific 1×1 frame. It’s now AMG’s go-getter bike for around-town errands.

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Small Builder, Big Bikes (Video)

Before the show in California last month, Neil met up with Jarod to check out some of his bikes. Watch it below for a closer look at the AMG Cyclery and some of the incredible bikes Jarod has built:

That’s a wrap from Sea Otter Classic 2025! Tell us which coverage most caught your eye in the conversation below. If you missed the earlier posts, be sure to check out our four roundups and five-part video series from this year—plus more from past shows—at the #seaotterclassic tag. Thanks for following along!

Further Reading

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