Sklar Bikes: A Custom Builder’s Shift to “Mass” Production

It’s rare for a small but well-established custom bike builder to make the leap to overseas-built production bikes, but Adam Sklar has done just that. While it might be easy to romanticize the idea of a custom hand-built bike made by a single builder, Adam speaks very openly about the ways running that version of Sklar had ceased to feel like the way he wanted to bring bikes into the world; the challenges (and high points) of building custom bikes; coming up with a production lineup after years of making such varied custom offerings; and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:Adam’s founding of Sklar (3:07)Turning Sklar to a business from a hobby (5:22)The custom era (6:34)Surviving as a custom builder (7:58)The custom bike-building process (9:33)Evolution of Sklar’s custom business (19:22)Adam’s North American Handmade Bike Show winning bike (21:28)Material selection (22:33)Working with titanium (25:26)Moving to production bikes (28:06)Sklar’s stock offerings (31:35)Overseas production (34:40)Lessons learned in production (39:18)Dangle Supply (41:10)RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ MembershipBLISTER+ Real World TestimonialsBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTEDHappy Hour Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.