Our Reader’s Rig of the week comes from Brooke in Wisconsin, who shares the Crust Wombat she built for last year’s Single Speed Cyclocross World Championship. Meet Brooke, read her thoughts on making cycling more inclusive, and see her one-geared ripper here…

Words and photos by Brooke Carey

Hi there! My name is Brooke. Originally from Minnesota, I now call Madison, Wisconsin home. I work at a bike shop called Motorless Motion Bicycles, where I wrench on bikes, sell bikes, teach people about their bikes, and, my favorite part of all, lead group rides with some pretty amazing humans.

Crust Wombat

I love all types of biking, with a special affinity for bikepacking in faraway places and goofing with friends, more often than not both at the same time! But mostly, I am just a gal who wants everyone to be excited about bikes and to know that they belong on a bike, no matter how you ride or what kind of bike you have. When I started biking, I knew next to nothing about bikes, and it felt like an impossible feat to learn to work on my own bike. The bike world can be an incredibly intimidating space that still lacks diverse representation.

  • Crust Wombat
  • Crust Wombat

When I looked around, I saw a bunch of dudes talking to each other about their fancy bikes, and I just couldn’t see myself among them. Now, working at a shop, I hope to create a radically inclusive environment for everyone who comes in, especially those who don’t see themselves represented in the bike industry. Seeing more women in the bike world, riding bikes, working on bikes, and building bikes, has allowed me to see myself in those roles and has made all the difference to me. So, hopefully, seeing more types of people on beautiful bikes can inspire you! More people stoked on bikes means more people out riding bikes, and I am pretty sure that is what a world we all want to live in looks like. Bikes for all! 

Crust Wombat
  • Crust Wombat
  • Crust Wombat
  • Crust Wombat
  • Frame/Fork: Crust Wombat
  • Rims: Custom anodized Velocity Cliffhangers
  • Hubs: Shimano Parallax, scavenged
  • Tires: Maxxis Ardent 27.5 x 2.25″
  • Handlebars: Bassi Bobby Bars
  • Headset: Velo Orange Sealed Bearing Threadless Headset
  • Crankset: Sugino with 36T chainring, Wolf Tooth chainring bolts
  • Pedals: Giant Pinner Elite Flat
  • Rear cog: Sinz Racing, 18T
  • Brakes: Velo Orange Grand Cru levers, Shimano XT brake arms, scavenged
  • Saddle: Fizik Aliante
  • Seatpost: Ritchey Classic
  • Stem: Velo Orange Tall-Stack Stem, 31.8mm
  • Front bags: Swift Industries Zeitgeist
  • Frame bags: Oveja Negra half-frame bag
  • Rear bags: Revelate Spinelock with random stuff sack
  • Accessory bags: Outer Shell feed bag
  • Other accessories: Oveja Negra water bottle, reflective strawberry made by my friend Anna

Onto the bike! On a random impulse, I signed up for the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championship 2024, as it was slated to take place in Madison (woohoo!) This started my search for a single speed bike, and the Crust Wombat frame just spoke to me. Maybe it was the color or the cartoon wombats on the frame, or maybe just the all-around vibes, but I ordered it and got started on the build. I wanted to make a klunker that could zip around town but also rip on some mountains. I also knew that I wanted to build this with a combination of new and used parts.

Crust Wombat
  • Crust Wombat
  • Crust Wombat

There are so many old parts in bike shop graveyards around town that I knew I could make use of, so thanks to the help of many bike shop friends, I scavenged some absolute gems. I was able to find hubs, cranks, chainring, a cog, brakes, handlebars, a seat, and a bottom bracket from the basements of some local shops. Then, I ordered a bunch of sparkly new parts, like the anodized Cliffhangers from Velocity, the headset, brake levers, and stem from Velo Orange, and the Wolf Tooth chainring bolts and seatpost clamp. After getting it built, I “competed” in the SSCXWC24, bikepacked around Northwest Arkansas, and, best of all, goofed around town with my friends.

You can keep up with Brooke on Instagram.

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