Snek x SaltAir Gravel Bike

While Salt Lake City hosts many cyclists and cycling brands - hand-crafters of cycling products are few. Together, Matt Nelson of Salt Air Cycles and Jonny Hintze of Snēk Cycling brought their finest work to a joint bike build that showcases each of their styles and careful attention to design details in this beautiful gravel/cyclocross bike.

"As I recall, I met Jonny in the days leading up to the 2017 North American Handmade Bicycle Show. The Show was being hosted in Salt Lake City, our home turf, and I had entered one of my customer's bikes in the ENVE 'Builder of the Year' contest. I told him a bit about the bike and left off that we should stay in touch.

Weeks later, I met up with Jonny and he introduced me to the SNEK brand he had started. I was excited to see another 'hand-made' cycling brand in my region and was eager to brainstorm some brand partnering between SaltAir and SNEK.

Initially, Jonny's background in graphic design, having a keen eye for a 'clean/modern' cycling culture aesthetic, led us to collaborate on a kit design that Summer.

When he later brought up the idea of SNEK x SaltAir gravel bike, I was definitely on board." - Matt Nelson

Bi-laminated seat tube lug adds reinforcing to the seat tube junction and is hand carved and filed for that SNEK aesthetic

"I wanted a bike that I could race cross on but also had enough clearance for higher volume tires for longer gravel rides. After talking with Matt about the bike, I knew Salt Air cycles was the perfect fit. Not only was Matt local, making his products in the same town, but the first frames that he built were cross frames.

Integrated seatpost binder, drilled and tapped at the top of seatstays

While Matt hashed out the geometry and details of the frame, I got busy designing the paint scheme. It's not every day that you get to do a custom paint job on a bike for yourself. I knew it had to be something special. I wanted to do something classy.

After numerous concepts, I came up with a design and color scheme that walked the line of traditional and modern. I choose a classic chevron stripe layout and a few earth tone colors, then added the bright red accent stripe to give it a modern pop of color. To help keep things on the traditional side, I chose classic silver Chris King parts and WTB tan wall tires. The build was finished with a modified Ultegra group for a 1x setup with low gearing. Completed with ENVE gravel wheels, fork, and cockpit, to make it ride as comfortable as possible."

"It has been great partnering with Matt to promote our brands. We've coined the term Salt Lake City Handbuilt since our products are both made here in Salt Lake City, Utah. What's been even better is working on this collaboration bike with him." Stated Hintze.