I stumbled into this interview by accident. It was a rainy late September Saturday in Nagoya, Japan, the tail-end of a trip that had nothing to do with bikes. I had planned nothing more ambitious than coffee and hop to a bike-shop I really wanted to see. Circles (bike shop) shares its space with a great little café, which felt like the perfect brunch plan for a wet morning. I didn't know a Sklar Bikes pop-up was happening. My Japanese speaking friend did the translating, the buzz made sense and suddenly I was looking at arched top tubes and tidy welds while chatting with the creator himself: Adam Sklar
Adam Sklar's Start
Sklar Bikes is a small bicycle brand based in San Francisco, California, led by framebuilder Adam Sklar. Adam started building frames in 2014, originally in Bozeman, and has since shifted the brand to California, evolving from one-off customs to small-batch and production bikes.
Today Sklar is a two-person company (Adam and Nicholas), running lean out of SF and keeping the builder's touch in the lineup, focusing on thoughtful steel frames and blinking to titanium. The lineup is deliberately compact: the SuperSomething steel all-road/gravel frameset, its Titanium sibling, the PBJ rigid ATB/all-terrain bike, and the Tall Tale 29er hardtail, each aimed at familiar, versatile handling with practical mounts and thoughtful spec.
I sat down with Adam to dig into the design choices behind his signature subtly curved tube and how they showed up on Japan's wet, rolling roads.
How did it feel to ride and connect with the community in Japan?
It was amazing! After 12 years of working in the bike industry, my favorite part about it is still being able to show up in a new place and connect with people over bikes. It turns out bike nerds have a lot in common wherever you go and feeling at home across the world was a pretty special feeling, thanks to our bond over bikes.
Something special is going on with the bike movement here at shops like Circles and Blue Lug (in Tokyo).
Definitely, Japan has the best style in many things, bicycles included. There is a ton of excitement around US brands, especially northern California brands, where we are located, and it is really cool to see our culture reflected back in a way that feels cool and new.
You've collaborated with Circles before. How is the scene in Japan related to the Sklar ethos & spirit back in the US?
I have been working closely with Circles since 2018. For many years they offered my custom and handbuilt frames to Japanese customers. I would send raw frames and they would paint them in their paint shop and assemble them into bikes. Being able to watch the way they see my bikes and American framebuilding in general definitely helped me broaden my view of Sklar as a brand. Their connections with Nitto, Honjo and other Japanese artisans has always been a big inspiration to up my craftsmanship as well. They are inspiring to work with.
I saw that you're active on Reddit's r/xbiking. How do you relate with stuff being posted over there?
I think I did an AMA there many years ago but that was probably my last post on Reddit! I try not to read the comments too much but it is really cool to see bikes take on lives of their own, the places they go and the people to whom they become important parts of their lives.
How do you combine geometry and tubing for the right design or bike you have in mind?
I mean, that is the whole question right there isn't it? After I received my mechanical engineering degree I worked fulltime as a custom framebuilder from 2016 until 2023 when I built my last custom frame. I didn't realize it at the time but having designed and fabricated hundreds of different bicycle frames was an extremely good education for designing production bikes. The good and also the bad of custom framebuilding is that you do it differently every time. This gives you the opportunity to see an immense amount of variation that most designers never experience.
The combination of so many iterations as well as the hands-on experience working with materials gave me a deep understanding of manufacturability and context to think about all the scenarios a frame might go through. I have tried a lot of things over the years and I continue to do so building prototypes in my workshop and trying things out. I will always be learning more about geometry and material selection. Check out the Sklar Bikes Youtube page for our frame walkthroughs where I discuss this at length.
Has your sense of what a bike should feel like evolved since your early custom builds?
Definitely and it still does. I have gone down some deep rabbit holes on progressive and even regressive geometries and found that at the end of the day 99% of riders really want something that feels familiar. For that reason I aim for a ride quality that is mostly familiar but gives you a good dose of encouragement to push yourself and your bike in ways you didn't think possible. I think that is the part of the design equation that is more art than science and when you get it just right you end up with a really special bike.
What does the SuperSomething represent for you, both technically and philosophically?
The SuperSomething holds a special place in my heart. I have spent some of my best days on a bike aboard a SuperSomething. Philosophically it draws from the gravel bikes that really got me into endurance riding and underbiking, two of my favorite activities. It embodies the open ended freedom that so many people find in bikes. You can take it anywhere and it is fun and fast and simple and reliable. All the things a bike should be.
Technically, especially with the new revised SuperSomething that is arriving in November, it is the bike I could never build as a custom framebuilder. It takes all of the best parts of framebuilding—a deep understanding of which tradeoffs are worth it or not and the feedback of hundreds of real life customers—but also has the advantage of scale. Because I am making more units I am able to invest in custom tubing, cast parts instead of 3D printing them which is stronger, lighter and more economical, and make higher quality bikes than I ever dreamed of as a framebuilder. The new SuperSomething is really the nicest steel gravel bike you can buy and I am very proud of it.
With the new Ti version, what were you chasing in terms of performance and character vs the steel version?
Titanium is a really interesting material and there is a lot of excitement around it these days. As a custom framebuilder the majority of my work was Titanium and I learned a lot about the material in that time. Offering the SuperSomething in Titanium was a way to draw on that experience with the material and provide a nice light bike for riders who prefer its unique ride quality. I think there are some misconceptions about Ti out there as a kind of super material. I would not say it is better or worse than any other frame material but anyone who has spent time on a high quality Ti frame can tell you it is a cool riding experience. Building a Titanium frame that isn't too stiff or too flexy is a hard needle to thread and I think we struck a really good balance with the tube spec on the SuperSomething Titanium. The most recent version also pushed me to work on sourcing our new carbon fiber forks that ride really nicely and I am excited to be able to offer those with the new steel frames too.
Does titanium bring something different to the Sklar voice?
I think so, Titanium was a big part of my framebuilder days and it is nice to draw on my expertise there. I will probably always keep some smaller runs of Ti frames around for the brand.
How do you keep that original sense of craftsmanship alive as the brand grows?
I am not sure how it would ever go away. I have made a lot of bikes with my two hands. These days when I design a new model I have already built myself a prototype in the shop before conversations with the factory even begin. I have also been enjoying building a frame as I draw out the 3D CAD and work through production. That keeps everything fresh in my brain and also helps me see issues that might come up, find limits for materials, see things in real life etc. Also the frames are as hand made as ever. I have had the opportunity to visit our factories in Taiwan and in California and the artisans making the frames are doing the same things I always did just at a higher volume with much better precision and skill.
The arched top tube is almost a trademark of Sklar bikes. Is this a functional decision and will stay forever?
It is! Never say forever but whether I like it or not it has become a signature. I always aim for my frames to be recognizable without paint and I think that is certainly part of that equation.
What do you think keeps small-scale framebuilding relevant today as new builders and technologies show up?
Small builders will always be the first to try new things. They are nimble and able to adapt and listen to customers in ways that larger operations just can't so for that reason they will always have a lot of influence on the bikes we ride.
Any hints about what's brewing in the workshop: new materials, concepts, or even another tour?
I am not trying to make Sklar humungous and three models is feeling like enough to keep us busy. I have a few frame designs on the horizon though—all just bikes I want to ride. The most exciting thing coming soon is a lightweight rear rack that will mate up really nicely with all of the models. I've really been liking a rear rack on tours for a sleeping pad and a dry bag or some micro panniers. Oh also the new Steel SuperSomething will be here any day now and I am really excited about that bike.
These days most of my tours are leaving from home. I am hoping to do some longer ones in northern California next summer and maybe head south to the desert this winter. I am lucky to live near so many amazing places to ride.
If you could build one bike that breaks your own rules, something completely un-Sklar, what would it look like?
This one is tough. After visiting Japan I was pretty intrigued by the utilitarian mamachari bikes. I have been thinking about building a lightweight one of those for my new commuter. There are no rules though! Only bikes that are fun and cool.
