First in our employee bike series – and probably the most unique bike in the fleet – is Saxton’s 1996 Trek Calypso. Saxton has developed a reputation at BBP as the authority on BMX bikes, old Schwinns, and anything heavily modified. His personal bike reflects those aesthetics as well as a priority on building a fun bike.

The frame came from a local pawn shop. Saxton said the shape caught his eye one day and he felt he had to come back to get it. He got the bike for “a shop vac, a pro scooter and $80.” Then the fun started. Saxton said at this point, almost everything has been swapped out for parts from BBP. For the drive-train, he is running an American-to-English bottom bracket adapter, vintage RaceFace cranks, and a fairly modern Shimano rear derailleur. Saxton is trained as a welder and added the derailleur hanger himself! The rear triangle was originally spaced to 126 mm OLD (over locknut distance) and had to be “cold set” (that is – bent carefully) to accommodate a more modern 135mm axle.

The cockpit and handlebars also got swapped, with their own set of compatibility problems. Older cruisers and BMX bikes use a headtube size that people call 1 inch, but is a slightly different size than 1 inch headtubes found on road and mountain bikes. Saxton was able to get the headset he needed to make the setup work online. He found a cool carbon fiber straight blade fork with the long steerer he needed at BBP. The handlebars came off a K-2 bike, and have developed nickname “budget Jones bars” around BBP, mostly due to Saxton’s advocacy.

Friends at Bullmoose Bikes in Twin Falls found him his Hite Rite® -- the original dropper post – designed by Joe Breeze himself.

What does Saxton do with this fully custom rig? Well, he says it can do it all. It can get you to work and shred the gnar in the foothills later that same day. Saxton reports it does not make climbing easy, but going down is way fun. He rode it about 100 miles over two days for our pedal-powered employee retreat last year. Overall the bike is a testament to Saxton’s skill and style. The bike hearkens back to the klunkers built in the 1980s – where mountain biking got its start – while also being a completely unique machine.

Ride on Saxton!
-Wes