Dale Katechis, owner of Oscar Blues Brewing Company, is passionate about beer and bikes. He's an avid mountain biker who had the bad luck of having his singlespeed stolen several years ago. Katechis rose the occasion, turning lemons into lemonade by creating his own bicycle company. (If you didn’t pick up on it yet ‘REEB’ is beer spelled backwards.)
Katechis partnered with Denver-based Generic Cycles to build frames for REEB. Until recently REEB only had one bike in their line, a belt drive-compatible 29er offered in four stock sizes called the SFP. REEB is adding two new models to their lineup: a monstercrosser and a fat bike. Both types of bikes seem to be in abundance here at this year's North American Handmade Bicycle Show.
The Sam’s Pants
First, the name. 'The Sam's Pants,' certainly one of the stranger names for a bike, is an inside joke about a friend of the company. The monstercrosser on display belongs to Chad Melis, who handles marketing for the brewery as well as for REEB. Melis’ bike is certainly no trailer queen; it’s still caked in mud from recent off-road adventures.
The chain stays have clearance for a 29x2.0in tire with plenty of room for mud
The Sam's Pants will be available in two sizes: small/medium and large/xl. Both sizes have similar geometry, with 71-degree head angles and 73-degree seat tube angles and top tube lengths optimized for drop bars.
REEBdonkadonk
There’s no shortage of fat bikes at this year’s show. The REEBdonkadonk has 170mm-wide rear dropout spacing and is able to accommodate Surly’s massive 4.7in-wide Big Fat Larry tires mounted to 100-wide Surly Clownshoe rims.
The belt-driven REEBdonkadonk on display weighed in at 30lb. By swapping out the drive-side Paragon slider for one with a derailleur hanger it could also be run with a 1x drivetrain. There are no cable guides for a front derailleur.
Like The Sam’s Pants, the REEBdonkadonk is currently only offered in two sizes: medium and large.
All three of REEBs models are constructed from True Temper OX Platinum steel tubing, with Paragon sliding dropouts for tensioning a Gates carbon belt or chain, and retail for US$1,500.
