I love how cyclocross brings out the truly creative bikes. In every field there’s someone who really gives a shit about their bike. And in ‘cross, this tends to mean something more interesting than it does in weight-and-aero-obsessed road culture – a culture which tends toward exclusion and away from joy.

I’ve been eyeing this sparkly, twin-downtube machine for some time, and finally got a few photos of it after the race at Bubblecross. It’s the handiwork of one Hunter Creel, an artist, educator and racer. Hunter built this bike while living in Iowa out of available materials at his university’s metal shop. The downtube is chainstay stock – clever.

I’m in love with the details of this bike – the seatpost is custom-made out of titanium by a friend, and designed to use Thomson hardware. It’s got spokey dokes. It features one of my all-time-favorite parts, a White Industries MR30 crankset.

This bike has me thinking about how to bring some fun to my next build.