Monē Bikes Singlespeed Disc Kids’ Bike at MADE Is What the Cool Kids Ride

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Velo doesn’t dwell on flat bar bikes much but there’s one man I always go see at MADE no matter what shape his bars are. Cjell Monē actually makes both flat bar and drop bar bikes so I suppose he’s in bounds anyway but it’s not so much his bikes that keep me coming back. Monē runs his business out of a 1990 Wonderbread truck generally located in New Mexico and he’s generous with his thoughts and knowledge.

I first ran into him as I looked for sources of information on the quality of Southeast Asian built bikes. He’s got a lot of stories to tell about his time in the area where he learned to weld in a way he didn’t think was possible. People who were, like him, generous with their time and thoughts and had a level of brazing and welding knowledge only possible when honed by a lifetime of production work. Since then I’ve found him to be refreshingly honest and generally a joy to talk to.

I think that personality comes out in his bikes too. He uses steel and loves single speeds. Not so much because it’s the best but, by his own admission, because that’s what he likes. He also leaves his brazing work on full display. As an artist there’s nothing more honest than showing your work so it’s not a surprise that’s the direction Monē bikes takes but it’s also beautiful to look at.

If you think I’m laying it on a bit thick, I invite you to shake his hand, look at his bikes, and see if you still think that. Once you’ve done it, I have no doubt you’ll fall in love. Or at least you will if you lean towards steel, brazing, and big tires.

No matter your predilection for bike styles though, this one is a fun one. It was part of our coverage at last year’s MADE show also but I’m revisiting the Minnē kids bike a second time. Last year’s bike was only a prototype with not quite enough clearance to really work. This year, it’s finished and available for sale. Monē doesn’t know if it’ll sell, and he doesn’t seem to care, but it’s clearly what the coolest kid would ride and it’s a beauty worth drooling over.

Of course this isn’t a cheap bike, it’s handcrafted out of brazed steel tubing and every detail is considered. Echoing conversations I once had with Isla Rowntree, founder of Isla bikes, Monē told me that much of the difficulty of making the bike was not in the brazing but rather in finding appropriate sized parts in the kind of quality that made sense for his bike. Tiny cranks and brakes aren’t easy to find and his solutions, such as the Tektro brakes, mirror what Isla bikes used to spec. Monē stays away from hydraulics though and instead uses cable actuated bars with TRP Sprye mechanical disc brakes and 140mm rotors front and rear. As expected, wheels are also a challenge. Monē told me that a significant part of the cost for the whole bike was due to the hand laced wheels he’s using.

At the front of the bike you’ll find a Ritchey headset but it’s the stem that’s more eye-catching. Once again, size is an issue but Monē found a solution in the Reverse components Youngstar stem. The trick to this stem is that it uses “Reverse Power Cube technology for mounting on the steerer tube. The Reverse Power cube is located inside the stem and clamps both the handlebar and the steerer tube with only one set of bolts on the front of the stem.” The Reverse components Youngstar is attached to BMC style bars and, of course, there’s beautiful brass bar ends.

If this all sounds like a very traditional kids bike, it both is and isn’t. As already mentioned it’s not a coaster brake bike which makes it both less traditional and easier for young riders but it also has another trick. “This frame and fork can build a sweet strider” which is the recommended way to help kids learn to ride and “when your spawn is ready to pedal” you can make the conversion. To say it a bit simpler, this might be a gorgeous artisan bike but it’s also a genuinely forward thinking bike that’s following best practices for helping kids to learn how to ride.

If you feel like doing a bit more than just drooling over the raw brazing, Monē reports that “Minnēs are indeed in stock. Give us a few weeks to get them on the site.”