A Sweet Reflection
The sour purple haze: A two-wheeled, fun-having adventure machine. Just don’t call it a gravel bike.
I needed a new bike.
Let me rephrase. I wanted a new bike.
Very few of us need a new bike. But a lot of us desire one more bike in the collection. It’s the n+1 rule: the correct number of bikes to own is one more than the number of bikes you currently have. I have a bike that does this. I want a bike that does that. Or maybe that rule only exists in the minds of esoteric cycling nerds with mistaken priorites.
Nevertheless, I decided that one more bike was in my immediate future. I’d sold my road bike years ago, replacing it with a carbon cyclocross bike that was nearly as lightweight and had “big” tires, thus being capable of going more places. It was a gravel bike before the term gained prominence. And I rode it everywhere; it was a wonderful bike. But 35mm tires really aren’t that big, and rim brakes suck despite what Ultraromance tries to convince everyone ;) . So that bike went off to live a new life as a commuter somewhere else, and with it, my desire to own a drop-bar bicycle.
Enter the Sour Purple Haze
The MADE Bicycle Show is an exhibition of artisan and small production handmade bicycles from around North America and the world. The show continues for 3 days each summer in Portland OR, and once again Chariot Bikes was co-hosting a booth with Sour Bicycles. We needed show-quality display bikes for our booth, and I needed wanted a new bike. I’d been eyeballing the Sour Purple Haze model for months, and if one was to be welded and painted in time for the show I’d better get in the que. So I looked up paint codes, decided on a color and got my order in: one 56cm Purple Haze frameset with a pale green to raw steel paint fade.
Sour calls the Purple Haze their “go-anywhere do-anything big gravel bike.” It was one of the original models when Sour Bikes was launched, and as such it’s exceedingly versatile. It has generous tire clearance, a snappy wheelbase and a nice neutral head-angle. These all-around, good-for-most-rides characteristics are what drew me to it. I wanted a drop-bar bike that I could take on after-work dirt road adventures, load up for weekend bikepacking trips in the mountains, and commute to work on in between. This bike was to be a grab-n-go, drag through the brush, float on a packraft, roll onto a train, go on all the adventures bike.
Elegant Simplicity
My goal was to create a capable, classy bicycle that doesn’t require significant upkeep and maintenance. Electronic shifting, bluetooth connectivity and carbon wheels certainly have their place, but here I wanted technology where it counts (tubeless tires, 1x12 drivetrain, hydraulic disc brakes) and simplicity wherever possible (alloy rims, mechanical shifting, rigid fork and seatpost). I also wanted to support smaller companies that produce sometimes overlooked but beautiful components, like Astral, Thomson and White Industries. The result is a bike that is smooth and quiet, has a bit of timelessness to it, and requires nothing more than a tire pressure and chain lube check before heading out.
The Purple Haze has been exactly what I hoped it could be. I’ve ridden it on pavement, singletrack, and yes, even gravel. But it’s not a gravel bike. It’s an adventure machine that ushers me away from the realities of daily life. It brings me into an escape of mountains and nature. It gives me the feeling of freedom and motion that I’ve yet to experience any other way than upon a bicycle. It’s a bike that’ll stick around for awhile.
Build List
Sour Purple Haze steel frame/carbon fork, custom paint
Shimano GRX 820 1x12 mechanical drivetrain and hydraulic disc brakes
White Industries CLD hubs (purple anodized!) laced to Astral Outback alloy rims
White Industries crankset/chainring/bottom bracket and headset
Schwalbe 29x2.25 Thunder Burt tubeless tires
Oveja Negra Halfpack frame bag
King Cage stainless steel bottle cages
Yellow Bird Thread Works brass bar-end plugs (the final touch!)