“Is it just me, or does it seem like the focus of big industry bicycle manufacturers is to make expensive bikes that are unnecessarily complex, harder to service, less customizable, more proprietary, and prone to obsolescence?” Christopher Wahl from Seattle’s Mischief Bicycles is giving a sidelong glance to the trend.
“We’re small, old and slow…our bikes definitely aren’t,” says Wahl, owner and builder at Mischief. Begun as a collaboration between Wahl and master Pacific Northwest constructeur Bill Davidson, Mischief marries the artistry, craftsmanship and quality of the hand-built titanium frame to performance geometries and thoughtful, enduring builds.
Mischief sprung from a cold call. “I was feeling pretty trapped in the day to day of my day job as an orthopaedic surgeon and looking for a path to follow a more creative muse. I love cycling and love working with my hands, so learning to build a bike seemed like an antidote.” But Wahl recognized that building a bike and being a builder are two very different things. He rung Bill Davidson (a master Pacific Northwest builder with a 50-year legacy building exceptional custom bicycles) and volunteered to work in Davidson’s shop for free. The two developed a fast friendship, and after several months, Bill made the doc an offer he couldn’t refuse: “Why don’t you just buy this business, and I’ll stay on teach you how to run it?” Wahl hadn’t envisioned going part time in his day job to pursue the “most expensive hobby ever”, but it was a golden opportunity to learn the craft from an amazing artisan, machinist, and teacher.
Mischief’s aesthetic demanded an evolution of the classic Davidson builds but maintains the renowned attention to detail and craftsmanship. Wahl designs bicycles he yearns to ride: performance gravel bikes that don’t behave like barges (the “Mrdr”) and lightweight performance road bikes with a focus on speed, light weight, and comfort (the “Muginn”). Shorter wheelbases and bigger tire sizes demanded an evolution of Davidson’s workflow. There’s been a fair bit of re-tooling around the shop – bent seat tubes, 3D-printed chain stay yokes, and tapered tubes. “Innovation keeps things interesting for Bill, who at heart a master machinist looking for problems to solve. For me it is the kind of apprenticeship in machine work that I think really distinguishes the exceptional frame builders – building great bikes requires building better tools.”
Mischief leans heavily into the unique benefits of titanium, with a focus on corridors of the industry where the material offers advantages over what’s commercially available. “Gravel is huge. Titanium offers ride characteristics that are unequalled on rough terrain. Also, carbon offroad frames require a heavier layup, so there’s usually little to no weight penalty when we build using butted titanium tubes and light componentry, but the ride is undeniably more magical.”
The latest Mischief project is a deep dive into the golden era of the constructeur: the ironically named ‘the ordinary’ – a lightweight 650b-specific randonneur. It’s the all-road, all-weather light backpacker/commuter that is the bike everyone wants but they just don’t realize it yet. Randonneurs are an area of indifference in the bicycle industry, though arguably the forebear of endurance and bikepacking. It’s a platform where titanium shines, maintaining the mystical ride quality of the classic steel predecessors but offering lighter weight and superior corrosion resistance.
When it comes to outfitting the bikes, Mischief isn’t always buying what big industry is selling. They pride themselves on staying abreast of innovation but not jumping on every tech bandwagon. Electronic shifting, hydraulic braking, internal routing and integrated components have advantages, but for some riders tech has solved problems that didn’t really exist and introduced problems that didn’t, particularly in terms of self-servicability, fit, travel, and future proofing. “We’re not retro grouches, but we’re punk enough to recognize that for some riders and purposes, analog slays” says Wahl.
Bespoke hand-built bikes were traditionally “made of unobtainium”, but the ballooning costs of high-end mass-produced bicycles has considerably narrowed that margin. “It is possible to order a bespoke hand-made custom bicycle from an independent builder at a similar price point, and it’s likely to fit better, ride sweeter, have more personal style and survive a few industry swings,” says Wahl. “The small artisan builders are saving the soul of the bicycle. It is a craft and legacy worth preserving.”
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For more information, visit Mischief’s Seattle shop located in the heart of Fremont, check out the website (mischiefbicycles.com), drop an email ([email protected]), and follow the progress of new builds and community events on Instagram (@mischiefbicycles). Mischief bicycles will be exhibiting at the MADE Bike Show in Portland, August 23-25, 2024.
