Builder Profile – Wyatt Bicycle Company – LaCrosse Wisconsin

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Just before the Holidays hit (with a thud), I day tripped out to where the cheese curtain meets the mighty Mississippi River to visit the Wyatt Bicycle Company in LaCrosse. Back in the day, LaCrosse hosted mtb races out at a private campground called Blueberry Springs.  Way back in like nineteen 89? a bunch of us went there to race and Len Ayala broke his fork clean off. This is a town with trails that are on the gnarlier side of singletrack (graded on a midwest curve). The rocky bluffs along the banks of the big muddy provide the topography and local trail volunteers have built some of the best technical trails in the state. These are the trails that inspired the owner of Wyatt Bicycle Co. Wyatt Hrudka, to create the new Maverick 7 v2 fat-bike that our BBR test pilot, Aristotle is testing this winter.

We’ve known Wyatt for a few years now. Sven interviewed Wyatt back in the summer of fourteen and we also interviewed him on the Weekly Dose of Fat Podcast Show No. 10.  Wyatt grew up all the way on the opposite side of the dairy state in Manitowoc. In a wild coincidence, Wyatt worked alongside George Kapitz (owner of Broken Spoke & 509 Cycles) at a shop in Manitowoc when they were younger. George was the person that introduced Wyatt to fat-bikes on a ride that went from the woods out to the beach. Wyatt shared that all it just took was just one ride and he was hooked. What are the odds that these two would then go on to found two of Wisconsin’s newest bicycle brands?

The first thing that sets Wyatt apart from most other brands is that they manufacture their bikes in the USA, rather than having them made in Taiwan or China. Wyatt feels that they can be more responsive to changing industry standards by keeping their fabricating in house. They also have in house powder coating just down the hall from the frame shop.

Their newest fat-bike is the Maverick 7 v2. They designed this bike around the 120mm Wren Inverted Fork with a 68.5-degree head tube. The rear triangle features sliding dropouts that provide 445-465 mm chainstays. This is not your dad’s purple Pugsley.

These photos of the raw frames remind me of classic Norcal Mountain Bikes from builders like Turner. Foes, & Ventana. Burley Beads and Burly Bikes! There’s something about this look that says to me ‘strong and built for speed!’

They machine their own Chainstay Yoke, Sliding Drops and Headtube and the frames are made with a 7005 aluminum double butted tubeset.

As I mentioned, we’re testing the new Maverick 7 and we’ll be working on a review. A very talented rider with a remarkable bag of tricks (Aristotle) will be wringing this bike out this winter and we’ll have a review in a couple of months. In the meantime, let’s take a look at the demo bike that Wyatt built for Aris to test.

Maverick 7 v2 Aluminum – The Build Spec’s

FORK Wren Inverted 120mm

WHEELSET Sun Ringle MULEFÜT 80SL V2

TIRES Schwalbe Jumbo Jim 4.8

AXLES Thru Axles

SHIFTER Box Two 11 Speed Twin Shifter

DERAILLEUR Box Two 11sp X-Wide

DERAILLEUR HANGER Paragon Slider

CASSETTE Box Two 11-50

CHAIN Box Two 11sp Chain

CRANKSET Race Face Aeffect

CHAINRING Race Face Direct Mount NW Cinch

BOTTOM BRACKET Race Face Team XC

BRAKES Shimano Deore M6000

ROTORS Shimano RT66

HEADSET FSA Orbit ITA

STEM Race Face Chester 35

HANDLEBAR Race Face Chester 35

GRIPS Ergon GE1 Evo

SADDLE WTB Speed Comp

SEATPOST Race Face Ride

SEAT CLAMP Box Two QR

PEDALS Race Face Chester

TOOLS Fix It Sticks

MSRP (as built) $2,695

This will be the first time that we’ve had the opportunity to ride a Box drivetrain. I rode the Mav 7 a couple of times before handing it over to Aris and the shifting worked great. Box gives you all of the gear range of a one by twelve in an eleven-speed cassette that’s been reported to be compatible with Sram and Shimano eleven speed spacing. We shall see very soon. We like the Shimano stoppers. They just work (unlike Sram). We’ve always been fans of RaceFace components and our demo came with Bar/Stem/Seatpost/Pedals all named Chester apparently. (I ride Chester pedals on Ten Beers). The Mav 7 even comes with a Fix It Sticks multi-tool to help you make trailside repairs.

Wyatt also offers a 30 Day Moneyback Guaranty and the Maverick Frame and Box Drive Train come with a limited Lifetime Warranty. If you’re looking for a rad fatty, that’s made in the USA and you like personalized customer service where you get to work with the owners of the company, Wyatt Bicycle Co. Should be on your list.

Our Product Tester, Aristotle will be riding, hucking and wheeling our demo Maverick 7 v2 through the winter so stay tuned for a full review in the coming months.

For More information about Wyatt Bikes visit – https://wyattbikes.com/