December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125

PeterD — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 00:14:00 +0000

This month we are featuring a Hammerhead HH125. What is a Hammerhead 125, you ask? Good question…

Hammerhead is a small company in Austin, TX that has been facilitating custom geometries for bikes. They use a variety of big name builders (Titus, Ventana, etc.) to put together the bike. This frame is similar to the Ventana El Saltamontes.

As always, click on photos to see high resolution version of the picture…

The customer previously owned a Ventana El Salt and really wanted another Ventana-made bike. But the 5” bikes in Ventana’s line at that time didn’t meet his needs. he heard about Hammerhead through MTBR, and one thing lead to another and before long he had a bike being built for him.

The customer arranged for the frame, even down to having custom paint and designing his own logos for it. After a few false starts, it then arrived on Charles’ bench in pieces (even to the point of just having holes in the frame where the threaded water bottle holder would go). Charles then worked his magic.

The customer went with a fork and shock that were PUSHed. This company takes what are already decently performing equipment, and rebuilds them to be even higher performance. Kind of like taking a Porsche and rebuilding engine for racing.

How does it ride? Here’s what the customer has to say:
“There are more details to this story, but I’d rather focus on the ride. It’s sweeeeeeeeet!!! This bike handles so well that I forget that it has 5” of travel. I am absolutely happy with it. It is confidence inspiring. The only limit is me. I really feel like I have a bike that I can grow on as a rider. I’ve already jumped a few things this year that I wouldn’t have touched last year and recently cleaned some sections at Demo on Sawpit that spooked me before. If you’re thinking about a sweet-handling 5” travel bike, check out the HH125.“

Highlights from the Build List
Frame	Hammerhead HH125 with custom paint
Fork	PUSHed Fox TALAS RLC
Shock	PUSHed RP23 with high volume air sleeve
Brakes	Magura Marta SL Carbon (7” front, 6” rear)
Wheelset	Chris King Hubs, Hope Quick Releases, DT Supercomp Spokes, Mavic XM819 Rims, Brass nipples
Shifters	SRAM X9
Front Derailleur	Shimano XTR
Rear Derailleur	SRAM X0
Headset	Chris King
Stem	Thompson X4
Saddle	WTB Pure V Team
Pedals	Crank Bros Candy SL Titanium
Bar	Answer TaperOS carbon
Grips	ODI Rogue Lock-on
Seatpost	Thomson Masterpiece
Tires	Specialized Enduro front (2.3), Resolution rear (2.1)

ps – slightly delayed posting – but better late than never, eh. But we have some more bikes in queue for BOM’s, so we will also have a January BOM up (hopefully) shortly.

"December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125" by charles coker

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:54:02 +0000

Hey Michael.. a friend that used to live in Austin and now lives near you forwarded me this link.. very cool and glad you are digging the bike!!!

"December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125" by PeterD

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:00:06 +0000

Oops. My mistake. I have fixed it.

"December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125" by Michael Perez

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:34:49 +0000

Oh, BTW Peter, the seatpost is a Thomson Masterpiece.

"December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125" by Michael Perez

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 03:49:24 +0000

Hey Daryl!

How about “Jaws?”

Michael

"December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125" by wddung

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 04:13:44 +0000

I like the thoughtful touches—Supercomp spokes, red chainstay wrap, custom paint and decals. Have you given the bike a personal name? :P

Passion Trail Bikes, Belmont, CA - specialists in quality bike service and custom-built mountain bikes: December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125

December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125

"December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125" by charles coker

"December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125" by PeterD

"December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125" by Michael Perez

"December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125" by Michael Perez

"December Build of the Month - Hammerhead 125" by wddung