I got to meet up with Collin who is the owner/builder at Matter Cycles at this year’s North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Louisville. He brought along three bikes for the show. Two of which were mountain bikes. The first ride I checked out was his blue Slayride 27.5. The bike features True Temper steel tubing built up to be slack and low in the right places. The headangle is 66.5 degrees and is designed for a 160mm fork. The rear end is a short 413mm.
The Slayride is what Collin wanted to build for himself for the riding he likes to do. He eventually made a few frames for his friends and their friends and then he started a bike company. The Slayride frame he’s building now is version 3 as he’s honed and refined the features, geo, and tubeset.
Collin knows what it takes to make high performing machines from his previous work in the moto industry as a welder and machinist.
The fat bike Matter had on display is called the Benefat. Collin said he developed this frame for a year and half trying to get it just right. He designed it to handle like the Slayride but have fat tires. He aimed for trail bike geometry with a 420mm rear end and 68 degree headangle.
Collin enjoys riding this bike on the snow as much as regular dry trails. He’s even been known to dirt jump his Benefat.
