My name is David Ellis Wages, and I’ve been building Ellis Cycles for the last 5 years, before that I spent over 10 years working in production shops where I honed my skills building thousands of custom frames. What was missing in my time at these larger shops was a personal connection with the rider, and I relish the opportunity to work directly with my riders at Ellis. From the initial discussion of your riding style and preferences to the note I get after your first ride on your Ellis, the direct feedback from the rider is my favorite part of the job. I look forward to chatting with you about your new Ellis!
Bob’s new Ellis will see duty both as a commuter, light tourer and all day rider. He choose my “Classic” style stainless head lugs along with polished stainless chainstays and rear dropouts. A polished fork crown and custom front rack top things off along with some of Jason Sanchez’s flawless paintwork.
For my first solo visit to NAHBS I built this frame as my vision of the classic road frames of the 70′s and 80′s combined with the most modern materials available, hence it’s name, The Modern Classic. It’s gone on to be one of my most popular models, and I’ve built it in quite a few different colors and shapes, but the polished stainless rear triangle, head lugs and chrome fork still resonates with folks.
I was really pleased to have this bike chosen as “Best in Show” at the 2010 NAHBS, and Dr. Tea was lucky enough to be there when his bike was chosen as well. It was a great surprise for us both!
Travis’ Modern Classic style randonneur bike won “Best Road Frame” at the 2011 NAHBS.
My concept for this bike was a modern take on the classic rando. It features a full stainless KVA MS2 tubeset, Di2 shifting and couplers for easy travel. Since it’s showing at last year’s NAHBS, it’s seen quite a few hard miles, including this past year’s Almanzo 100 gravel road race in Minnesota!
The Strada Fango will be part of my display at this year’s NAHBS, it’s a monstercross bike that has clearance for 29 x 2.0″ tires. It was inspired by the Strada Fango Spring Classic, a mixed terrain race in far Northern Wisconsin in April. At last year’s race I was under-prepared for the rough terrain with my standard cross frame and 32c tires, this year I’m ready to rock with the Strada Fango, fatter tires, disc brakes and Di2 shifting, can’t wait!