New year, new bike, even madder - more furiosa!

This time, Dangerholm is drifting in a completely different direction and is dedicated to science fiction and the post-apocalypse. Inspired by the “Mad Max” film series and the more recent films in particular, Dangerholm was particularly taken with the action scenes and vehicles. These crazy creations impress with enormous superstructures, lots of shiny metal, sharp and dangerous things on all sides and a good dose of rust. Although they appear to have been taken from the nearest scrapyard, they look extremely stable and quite brutal.

Dangerholm wanted to use this visual and formal language for his latest construction. And so the idea for the Wasteland bike was born.

Bike Presentation

Even though Mad Max is more about gasoline and balls, Dangerholm reinterprets this without hesitation and uses the SCOTT Solace Gravel eRIDE e-bike frame for this project. This gives him a potent base that can also be brought up to speed. In addition, the Solace is a lot of fun even in its regular form and configuration - the current drive system with the TQ HPR50 is extremely powerful and in terms of geometry and riding feel, it is extremely close to the Addict RC gravel bike.

An old “Silverfish” Scale RC frame from the Nino Schurter Edition was used for the additional tube in the frame triangle. This was a returned bike with crash damage that had spent an inglorious existence at SCOTT's Swedish headquarters. It was cut open and the top tube machined so that it fitted into the frame triangle of the Solace. During this process, the drive unit mount was also modified and a protective metal plate was added.

Dangerholm had to come up with something for the paintwork. As great as a carbon frame is - in this case it has the bad characteristic that it absolutely can and will not rust. Fortunately, the world of special paints is diverse and creative. There are paints that actually rust because they contain a kind of iron powder. After application, the paint is roughly sanded and sprayed with an activator that accelerates the rusting process. Once the bike has been washed or left out in the rain, it will rust and take on new colors and textures.

The components are also quite difficult to turn into old and used condition. What's more, this work demanded quite a bit of effort from Dangerholm, as he usually handles his parts quite carefully. In this machining process, the components were wrapped in paper towels soaked in caustic soda to damage or completely remove the anodizing. They were then machined and sanded with a Dremel or even sanded along asphalt and concrete edges.

Only the Brooks saddle and the steel fork have a real patina. The Brooks saddle has served Dangerholm's commuter bike well for years and has survived many a fall.

The most visually striking part of the bike is clearly the fork. Of course, the Solace's carbon fork is perfectly fine - but it has nothing in common with the Mad Max universe. Something more menacing was needed. Something with two levels had to be created so that the usual stem could be dispensed with. A handlebar of the type used on MotoGP motorcycles was also to be fitted to the bike. The challenge was to maintain the geometry and riding position.

Of course, Dangerholm also has a contact for such conversions: Cjell from Monē Bikes. This one-man operation based in New Mexico, USA, manufactures frames and components in his very own style from brass and steel.

Dangerholm provided basic drawings and some technical advice, and Cjell got to work.

The result was a fork/handlebar combination unlike anything else on the market - with many amazing details. The aerodynamically shaped tube of the fork crown matches the headset cover, which holds the fork in place, and is made of Damascus steel. The coins serve as fork tube and handlebar ends, and the arrangement of the brake mount with its special cable routing is a small work of art.

The geometry of the fork increases the wheelbase by 10 mm and corresponds to the use of a 120 mm stem. The handlebar height and the rear handlebar angle are naturally adjustable thanks to the bolt-on design. An unexpected bonus is that they can be inserted into the handlebar tube.

The brakes on this bike are mounted on a circular saw blade. Dangerholm turned to BrakeStuff for the production. As BrakeStuff not only manufactures its own brake discs, but also produces for other brands, there is plenty of in-house expertise. What is exciting, however, is that BrakeStuff also offers the production of customized brake discs. Individualized brake discs - for example, according to standards that have long since become obsolete - are therefore no problem. Brake calipers from Paul Component are used for the brakes themselves. These are manufactured in Chico, California, and are a common sight on custom bikes. Their old-fashioned design language also fits perfectly on this bike. A positive side effect is that metal housings - such as the Jagwire Elite Link shown here - can be used for the brake lines instead of plastic hoses. A sodium bicarbonate bath gave the Jagwires their raw surface back - they are ultimately held in place by brass wire.

The HPR50 system from TQ is the heart of the whole thing and offers 50 Nm of torque, paired with a 360 Wh battery hidden in the down tube. The crankarms come from Rotor and the chainring is a customized version of the TQ-compatible model from Garbaruk.

The cassette and chain come from the e-bike-proven SRAM X0 Eagle Transmission. The matching X0 Eagle Transmission rear derailleur was coupled with SRAM Wireless Blips, which act as tiny shift buttons and are hidden in the retro BMX grips by Fly Bikes Ruben Alcantara.

The rear derailleur was fitted with a CeramicSpeed OSPW X cage. Saving watts wasn't the goal this time, but the great quality along with the cool look of the solid Alpha Disc wheels fit right in. Matching the frame and other details, they were painted in the special rust color that gives them an iron rather than aluminum look.

The wheels center around a Paul Component front hub and a DT Swiss 350 rear hub. Velo Orange Voyager rims were used, the brass nipples are from Monē. The rims are quite modern in design, but have a boxy and old-fashioned look. The idea behind using chrome rims was simple, to make the wheels more visually striking and create a nice contrast to the rest of the bike.

For the tires, Dangerholm opted for an Onza front tire and a Continental rear tire, which he fitted with normal inner tubes. The brass valve caps again come from Monē. The Syncros seatpost has been modified with brackets for a King Cage Oliver Flask Cage, which was specially made to hold a Stanley bottle. On the down tube is a King Cage Manything Cage, which is normally used as a pannier rack, but here holds a retro Elite bottle with leather straps.

In retrospect, the project turned out even better for Dangerholm than he had originally imagined. This was due in no small part to the excellent partners who helped him with the realization. But the best thing about it is that it is actually a lot of fun to drive. Not just because the SCOTT Solace Gravel eRIDE frame still makes it a great bike, but because of the view of the fork, the handlebars and the rusty top tube while riding.

The only thing Dangerholm has not yet been able to find is the matching bike clothing 😊