Jarod Bourdeau’s ORB “Off-Road Bike”

The little I knew about Jarod Bourdeau, AMG Cyclery, and Bourdeau Cycles was thanks to Evan’s 2023 Sea Otter coverage and Logan’s reporting from last year. Sometimes, it takes meeting people in person to really get a feel for the community and the folks behind it.

AMG Cyclery in Seaside, California, is at the heart of the alt-cycling community, and ever since the city’s largest bike shop closed down, they’ve been busier than ever. Jarod Bourdeau is one of four staff members at AMG, and when he’s not working there, he’s building custom bicycles under his bike brand, Bourdeau Cycles. With no website or way to purchase a bike, Jarod has been mostly building bikes for friends, and his latest build is an absolutely wild rigid mountain bike he calls his ORB, or “Off-Road Bike.”

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Growing up, Jarod always had a bike in the garage, but it was never truly a passion or focus. He skateboarded for a while, did nothing on wheels for a bit, and eventually got really into BMX but was never really that good. He found mountain bikes and started riding regularly with a friend after school and on weekends. His friend was a grade younger and knew some people at a local bike shop in San Jose, who wanted to hire him, but he was still too young. In 2004, Jarod swept in and was offered a job. For the most part, he has worked in bike shops ever since.

With a knack for fixing things, he naturally landed in a mechanic role. At a certain point, though, he wondered, “What’s next?” Jarod was inspired by a co-worker’s fillet-brazed bicycle and its smooth junctions and joints. He learned about UBI’s framebuilding course, and in 2012, he enrolled in a class. He built his first frame there and grew interested in finding a job where he could use his new skills. He landed an apprenticeship with Silva Cycles in Campbell, California, and his first project was fixing cracks that had developed on his first frame.

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After about a year working with Silva Cycles, Jarod moved to Monterey and was eager to put his new skills to work. He moved into a place with a one-car garage and started filling it with tools and fixtures to make his own bikes. That was 10 years ago, and Jarod has built a dozen or so frames and repaired many more. He has built his own bottle cages and really likes making racks. “They’re quick and easy,” Jarod explained, “Whereas frames are pretty daunting.” It takes him a few months to build a frame. After that, he’ll take a break, then get the bug again and start the next one.

I asked Jarod how long it took him to build his new ORB, and he said he’s always meant to keep track, but never does. He’ll often punch in and out of the project dozens of times during the day, placing or bending a tube, putting the frame in the jig, or sometimes just standing there for 15 minutes looking at it. He’ll do some filing and then return to looking at it. “I’m lucky it’s not my job, because it takes me way too long.”

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Jarod’s Off-Road-Bike is packed full of interesting details. The twin top tube was inspired by a bike he saw at Sea Otter once. He spoke to the builder, who gave him some tips, including advice to use 5/8-inch tubing instead of 1/2-inch tubing. He made a twin top tube bike for a friend, but he wasn’t a fan of the frame’s flex, so he added another tube to his. Essentially, his off-road bike now has three top tubes.

It’s a similar story with the dual chainstays: a single 5/8-inch chainstay wouldn’t be stiff enough to handle the extra weight of the Pinion gearbox. Jarod added another tube on top, creating a truss effect with a bunch of smaller tubes doing the job of one larger tube. Jarod is excited to log some mileage on his Pinion and see what the lifespan and maintenance intervals are like.

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Despite being his first Pinion frame, integrating the drive unit wasn’t a challenge for Jarod. He uses hand files to finish his tubes, and although the Pinion bracket is not as uniform or simple as a bottom bracket shell, he made it work with lots of little adjustments, filing, fitting, and re-checking his work. That was the most difficult part about building the actual bike, but integrating it into the design wasn’t a challenge.

The dropouts are from Paragon Machine Works, and Jarod landed on them because he didn’t like the looks of the other sliding dropouts available. As soon as Paragon announced its closure, he stocked up on sliding inserts and spares. Most of the other parts on the build came from a bike Jarod already owned—a refreshing approach after a week of photographing bikes with all the newest, unused parts available. He had to modify a few things, including his Ergon grips, because they were too long for his Pinion grip shift. He also sourced some longer Shimano Trekking brake levers from the UK in order to reach his brake, with the shifter taking up so much space. He used four-piston brakes to achieve proper braking power when hauling down hills with it loaded.

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Jarod’s ORB “Off-Road Bike” Build Kit

There is a lot to dig into, but Jarod’s bike is sporting a Steve Potts Siskiyou Ti handlebar, Eriksen Sweetpost Ti, and Jones Ti Truss fork, all anodized by Peter at Agave Finishworks. He’s running a Pinion C1.12 transmission with Yoshimura Chilao pedals, a Schmidt SON28 dynamo hub, and a Supernova E3 light set. Dig into the complete build kit below.

• Frame: Bourdeau ORB (Off-Road Bike) w/ Paragon Machine Works dropouts
• Fork: Jones Ti Truss fork
• Cranks: Pinion forged boost 170mm
• Drivetrain: Pinion C1.12 with Gates CDX stainless belt rings
• Shifter: Pinion grip-shift
• Rims: Derby AM 35i 27.5″
• Front Hub: Schmidt Son28 150mm
• Rear Hub: Hadley 148mm
• Tires: Schwalbe G-One All-Round 27.5 x 2.8″
• Headset: Cane Creek 110 w/ Bentley Components Ti top cap
• Handlebar: Steve Potts Siskiyou Ti
• Stem: Paul Boxcar 7/8″ 70mm
• Grips: Ergon GT1 large
• Saddle: Brooks C17 Special
• Seatpost: Eriksen Sweetpost Ti 27.2mm
• Brake Levers: Shimano BL-T8100
• Brake Calipers: Shimano BR-M8020
• Rotors: Shimano RT56 180mm
• Pedals: Yoshimura Chilao
• Lights: Supernova E3
• Handlebar Bag: SimWorks Konbini
• Bottle Cage: King Cage Ti by Hot Salad Bicycles

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He hasn’t had a chance to load it up to go bikepacking yet, but he’s excited to give it a go soon. He has the fork bags for the Jones truss fork and a saddle bag, and he says the 2.8″ Schwalbe G-One tires roll surprisingly fast given their width, making connecting gravel with pavement a little less tedious. It’s not quite a mountain bike, but Jarod says it will be perfect for the all-terrain riding he’s into.

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One thing he wasn’t stoked on was how the lower top tube got in the way of a frame bag. Thankfully, the top tubes were specifically designed to hold an additional bottle, complete with a little strut that fits in the recessed section of the bottle. The beer can spot was a happy accident, and although it wasn’t designed with that in mind, the bottle and can aren’t going anywhere.

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Jarod is excited to take this top-tube layout further with his next build. He’s already scheming a build with even more tiny tubes connecting larger tubes, and a friend who wants a mini-velo keen on a Moulton-esque style bike with a truss-style frame. Jarod said, “I feel like I have momentum with all these little tubes, so we’ll see.”

Jarod’s Cassette Gauge

Informally known as Count Sprockula, this boombarang-looking device is a nifty cassette gauge that Jarod created, developed, and tested over the last few years to help mechanics quickly determine the tooth count of the lowest gear on a cassette or multi-speed freewheel. Jarod said the gauge comes in handy when working on dirty, gunk-covered cassettes.

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The Cassette Gauge has flanged edges for easy positioning on cassettes and multi-speed freewheels, an easy-to-read scale ranging from 23 to 54 teeth (future-proof!), and a wooden pinch grip. There is also a ball bearing gauge on the handle, a notch to make it easy to hang in your shop, and it’s built from stainless steel, so it’ll last. The best part: it’s made in the USA, just like Jarod’s ORB. You can purchase your own cassette gauge at AMGCyclery.com.

Further Reading

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